The 237 Golden Pen Awards: Is Christian Hip Hop A Thing In Cameroon?

For a long time Christian hip hop in Cameroon has been silent.

Not many Christians knew Gospel Hip Hop artists.

For some of us who love Gospel hip hop, while searching for good Christian hip hop songs we found artist like Lecrae….

However, the 237 Golden Pen Award was the first to bring Christians together who ministered good Christian hip hop songs.

The 237 Golden Pen Award was organised on 28^th October 2023 in Douala, Cameroon.

It was it’s first physical edition.

The first edition was held virtually in 2020.

As stated by its Ceo Mr Babila Wumfo who is a Rapper and Gospel artist it was an award to look forward to.

My brief background story of hip hop

Before I delve deep into this amazing event.

Let me give you a little memoir about my love story with hip hop…

While at the university of Buea, being a Christian my friends and I searched for good Christian hip hop which :

-Firstly gave God Glory

-Were Faith inspired

-As well as shared truths consistent with Gods word.

A lot of the artists we found were out of Cameroon.

We listened to good christian hip hop songs from artist such as Lecrae, Triplee, Andy Mineo, Sho Baraka, Jai, Kb, Flame, Vee Rose, Jin, Da truth, Rhema Soul, Mali Music, Tedashi and the list goes on……

My love for gospel hip hop music hasn’t fizzled rather it’s still aflame😊.

I also really like afro beat.

Let’s get back to the 237 Golden Pen Awards.

Getting to know about the 237 Golden Pen Award, I was thrilled.

I travelled on the same day of the award with one of my close friends Luc, from Limbe to Douala.

On My Way to the 237 Golden Pen Award

On arriving Douala in the evening we didn’t experience a lot of traffic, sigh of relief.

The event was held at Real Worship and Gospel Center (centre Equestre Bonaberi).

The event kick started with Prayer and Worship. Of course it’s all about acknowledging and giving God the Glory.

I did arrive at the award when it had already began, but it was far from over.

I noticed the red carpet section had a well designed backdrop acknowledging its partners.

Also within the venue it was properly lit.

The turn out of the event was great (impressive), both the lower and upper section of the venue was filled with attendees.

I enjoyed the different performances from the Gospel artists who graced the stage such as G4, Simple Kid, Dsaint Livingston, Young Louizy, Yangbillie, Karen Twist, Lady Heart, Evangelist Ben Awabi…….etc.

Award Categories and Winners

Several Glitches In the Award Event

To begin with, I noticed most of the attendees who came for the 237 Golden Pen Award weren’t really Christians Hip Hop enthusiast. it seemed they came for the event because it was organised in their venue (church).

Also, there was a technical glitch with the sound. There was a little delay with the sound being put up in time for artist ministrations.

Moreover, I observed when the Mc called an artist to perform, when the latter got on stage they stood for quite a while. This made the artist seem like he came to give an award.

In addition, I noticed the artists were given 2-3mins to perform which was short. This didn’t provide the artist enough time to demonstrate their art, by engaging with the attendees, to create a memorable experience.

Several Edges of the award

1) To begin with, the Coordinating team ensured the award commenced by 5 p.m., kudos to them for the early start.

2) Also, having this initiative to carry out such an event deserves a round of applause, because this platform brings the best Christian hip-hop artists together and creates an environment to know good Christian hip-hop songs.

3) In addition, the intention to celebrate these Artists and push forward the growth of gospel hip hop in Cameroon is another admirable gesture demonstrated by the 237 Golden Pen Award.

4) Furthermore, the award serves as an avenue to encourage and recognise artistry in different displines such as hip hop, afro beat, spoken word, dance crew, comedians and makeup artist.

5) Moreover, another positive i noticed was, the Awards given were beautifully designed and classy.

6) Lastly, I loved the dress code. The ladies were elegantly dressed in Stunning gowns and the gentlemen were in suits. It was indeed a ceremony of Kings and Queens.

My Suggestions

– More publicity should be done for the next edition so that more awareness is created thereby increasing the attendance of more Gospel Artists.

– For the next edition, the coordination could do a brief biography of each artist who is to grace the stage.

The coordination then gives these biographies to the mc’s, who inturn shares this with the attendees. By so doing it will give the attendees an insight on who Is performing  and how much effort they have put in to their artistry.

This will further create more awareness for these Gospel artists.

Concluding Words

Its worth noting that as earlier stated this is it’s first edition, despite some minor flaws the award scored so many good points in other areas.

I will say the 237 Golden Pen Awards brought together a beautiful Gathering of Saints.

Also, with the Artists I saw on stage it’s quite obvious that Christian Hip Hop in Cameroon is a THING.

However, the Gospel Artists in Cameroon don’t have much exposure (many are still unknown).

Final Remarks

Enjoy the video and some pictures posted below of the event.