Calabash Music has announced the release of The EP “Rise Again: The Lockdown EP” by award-winning Cameroonian singer, Wax Dey, on June 5 2020.
‘Rise Again: The Lockdown EP’ is a playlist of 6 positive and uplifting songs inspired by the Lockdown due to Covid-19, or recorded during this period.
On the release Wax Dey departs from his recent urban pop offerings and forays into more soulful and jazz compositions. For example, the title track ‘Rise Again’ is a guitar-based acoustic piece that benefits from thought-inspiring saxophone riffs. Its starkly appropriate message calls on African leaders to facilitate ‘Africa Rising’ post-corona by embracing the values of Love, Hope, Peace and Justice.
Wayo Wayo features Nigerian-South African award-winning jazz guitar virtuoso, Kunle Ayo. The song delivers a sombre yet comic audition of a jilted lover who must face the lockdown alone, without the warm embrace of his loved one.
And if Wax Dey’s bare piano-voice rendition of ‘Tomorrow’ leaves you reminiscent of Covid-19’s darkest days, it does share hope for the future and pays tribute to those at the forefront of the fight: “Tomorrow we go be together again; tomorrow our nurses and doctors will be heroes”.
The themes are not all deep - Wax Dey’s bilingual musical heritage comes through in the Dijay Karl-produced Congolese Rumba-inspired French love song ‘Condamné à vie’ (Life sentence). Then he joins forces with producer Cornel for a playful afropop love song “Face” - a lyrically naked, somewhat cheesy, yet beautiful love letter co-written with young singer/songwriter, Naomi Mbenkum – “I run go on top Buea mountain, all that I can see is your face” sets the tone.
“Rise Again: The lockdown EP is a call for Africa to use the experience of Corona to rise out of the myths and shambles that have long constrained us. I think above all, Corona is a reminder that we are all vulnerable, yet all intrinsically resilient, whether black, white, African, European, Asian, blue or red,” says the singer.
“Corona has taught us to be less tolerant of injustice and inequality. This partly explains the revolutionary stance taken by the entire the world against the racial injustice exemplified by the murder of George Floyd. But it is also time for Africans everywhere to stand up and say, we can no longer accept to be mediocre; we want better leadership, better services, better infrastructure, more accountability and justice. The song Rise Again invokes our sense of culture and identity so that we can fight harder for those ideals that we deeply desire,” Wax Dey adds.
“But it is not a dark EP. Songs such as Face and Condamné à vie remind us that life must go on – we must fall in love, find new ways to interact socially and enjoy ourselves. Corona, just like 9/11 spells a new era – not a death sentence for the good life,” he concludes.
As part of the roll-out of this EP, Calabash Music is working on a mini-documentary, in partnership with Local Youth Corner Cameroon, to showcase successful and hardworking Africans working towards the emergence a new Africa, with a stronger sense of culture and identity.
“I think music has a key role to play at this very trying moment. The "Rise Again" project is very important because it capture key values of building peace and it demonstrates the ability of young people to collaborate to face a common problem,” said Achaleke Christian, Founder of Local Youth Corner Cameroon.
Rise Again: The Lockdown EP is available now on all streaming and download platform worldwide and on Wax Dey’s official website: www.waxdeyofficial.com
END
Contact:
Email: calabashent@gmail.com
Tel: +237 694900071
Rise Again: The Lockdown EP links
Buy MP3 download/physical copy by Credit card, Momo, OM, Paypal: www.waxdeyofficial.com
iTunes: https://apple.co/2MwSnQh
Apple Music: https://apple.co/2MzEvEM
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3gUUDyF
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/album/150834172
Bandcamp: https://bit.ly/30i0Wqt
TRACKLIST & CREDITS
Rise Again. Written and arranged by Wax Dey (Nde Ndifonka). Produced by Dijay Karl x Wax Dey. Rhythm and keyboards: Dijay Karl. Guitar: Wax Dey. Piano: Leo Assila. Bass: Michel Nganso (The Finger). Sax: Ernest ‘Sax’ Kamga. Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Dijay Karl at KbHood Muzik Studios, Douala, Cameroon.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/VIhiP7meXAc
Wayo Wayo ft Kunle Ayo. Written and arranged by Wax Dey (Nde Ndifonka). Produced by Dijay Karl x Wax Dey. Rhythm and keyboards: Dijay Karl. Guitar: Wax Dey. Additional guitars and solo: Kunle Ayo. Piano: Leo Assila. Bass: Michel Nganso (The Finger). Sax: Ernest ‘Sax’ Kamga. Kunle Ayo guitars recorded at Kcool Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa. Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Dijay Karl at KbHood Muzik Studios, Douala, Cameroon.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/YgL6vGTHM5U
Tomorrow. Written and arranged by Wax Dey (Nde Ndifonka). Piano by Timothy Ngale. Mixed and mastered by Emil Ngomba at M1 Studios, Buea, Cameroon.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/kMeaNhfRwL8
Condamné à vie. Produced, arranged, recorded, mixed and mastered by Dijay Karl at KbHood Muzik Studios, Douala, Cameroon.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/NbhFIl3rzRo
Face. Written and arranged by Wax Dey (Nde Ndifonka). Co-written by Naomi Mbenkum. Keyboards by Cornel. Guitars by Blaise Strings. Produced, mixed and mastered Cornel at HT Studios, Douala, Cameroon.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/xxOQs5qH0S0
Rise Again (Instrumental)
Youtube: https://youtu.be/JVGAau_CtBw
About Wax Dey
Wax Dey, born Nde Ndifonka, is a Cameroonian singer, writer, TV producer and activist. He was nominated for Best African Pop Artist at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) and nominated in the category of Impact Artist at the 2019 Cameroon Heroes Awards. In 2016, Wax Dey won Best Male Artist, Central Africa at the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) and was named by Avance Media among the 50 Most Influential Young Cameroonians. In 2015, Wax Dey was nominated Best Humanitarian Artist and Best Dancehall at the Africa Music Magazine Awards, and Best Male Artist at the Cameroon Eleganzza Entertainment Awards. In 2014, he was awarded Top 35 African under 35 by Young People in International Affairs (YPIA) and won the award for Best African Collaboration at AFRIMA. He sings in English and French, and has headlined shows with Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Blackstreet, Knaan among others. He has also collaborated with a host of African artists including Ben Decca, Yemi Alade, Runtown, Cassper Nyovest, Master KG and Mr Leo.
