Cameroonian musicians fail to make BET Awards nomination list

The BET Awards 2017 has released its list of nominations and once again, no Cameroonian musician was found on it!

The list of nomination for this year’s BET Awards was released few months ago with Beyoncé leading with seven nominations followed by Bruno Mars with 5.

In the category for “Best International Act: Africa”, unfortunately, no Cameroonian music star could get a nomination. Instead, Nigeria walked home with four nominations, followed by South Africa with 2 and Ghana with a solo nod.

ALSO READ: Cameroonian musicians absent on Forbes List of Africa’s Top 10 Music Money-Makers 2017

Despite so much effort put into the music business in the last three years, Cameroonian musicians are still found wanting when it comes to international recognition. Do they still have so much work to do to qualify for a BET Awards nomination or is this about consistency?

Its clear why Nigerian artists top this category year in year out. BET Network considers Nigeria to be a huge market space for them and with a huge population as theirs, which company won’t want to cater for such a massive clientele; who consume their products/programs more? But how about helping other smaller countries to grow and build to become profitable too?

Makossa music from Cameroon used to be big back in the day but over the years, we can’t deny that the Afro beat music from Nigeria is the what keeps the continent afloat. The urban sound is no doubt picking up on the charts and ruling the airwaves but are Cameroonian musicians now juggling between having an original sound and/or combining it with the Nigerian rhythm to make a difference?

Is this costing them their originality?

ALSO READ: 15 highest earning celebrities in Cameroon

This year, no Cameroonian musician has been nominated for the awards show which was created to celebrate black musicians and “black music” and the black culture. But because Cameroon is not the biggest consumer of DSTV cable channel (pretty expensive) which airs BET Network, her music stars are probably not considered as being part of the family.What do Cameroonian musicians have to do to pick up a nod at the BET Awards or even more international recognition for their music efforts?

Here’s the Full List of Nomination below:

Best International Act: Africa

Aka 
Babes Wodumo 
Davido 
Nasty C 
Stonebwoy 
Tekno 
Wizkid 
Mr Eazi

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist 
Beyoncé 
Kehlani 
Mary J. Blige 
Rihanna 
Solange

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist 
Bruno Mars 
Chris Brown 
The Weeknd 
Trey Songz 
Usher

Best Group 
2 Chainz & Lil Wayne 
A Tribe Called Quest 
Fat Joe & Remy Ma 
Migos 
Rae Sremmurd

Best Collaboration 
Beyoncé Ft. Kendrick Lamar — “Freedom” 
Chance The Rapper Ft. 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne — “No Problem” 
Brown Ft. Gucci Mane & Usher — “Party” 
Dj Khaled Ft. Beyoncé & Jay Z — “Shining” 
Migos Ft. Lil Uzi Vert — “Bad and Boujee” 
Rae Sremmurd Ft. Gucci Mane — “Black Beatles”

Best Male Hip-Hop Artist 
Big Sean 
Chance The Rapper 
Drake 
Future 
Cole 
Kendrick Lamar

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist 
Cardi B 
Missy Elliott 
Nicki Minaj 
Remy Ma 
Young M.A.

Video of the Year 
Beyoncé — “Sorry” 
Big Sean — “Bounce Back” 
Bruno Mars — “24k Magic” 
Migos Ft. Lil Uzi Vert — “Bad And Boujee” 
Solange — “Cranes in the Sky”

Video Director of the Year 
Benny Boom 
Bruno Mars & Jonathan Lia 
Director X 
Hype Williams 
Kahlil Joseph & Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

Best New Artist 
21 Savage 
Cardi B 
Chance The Rapper 
Khalid 
Young M.A.

Album of the Year 
24k Magic — Bruno Mars 
4 Your Eyez Only — J. Cole 
A Seat at the Table — Solange 
Coloring Book — Chance The Rapper 
Lemonade — Beyoncé

Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award 
Cece Winans 
Fantasia Ft. Tye Tribbett 
Kirk Franklin Ft. Sarah Reeves, Tasha Cobbs & Tamela Man 
Lecrae 
Tamela Mann

Best Actress 
Gabrielle Union 
Issa Rae 
Janelle Monáe 
Taraji P. Henson 
Viola Davis

Best Actor 
Bryshere Y. Gray 
Denzel Washington 
Donald Glover 
Mahershala Ali 
Omari Hardwick

Youngstars Award 
Ace Hunter 
Caleb Mclaughlin 
Jaden Smith 
Marsai Martin 
Yara Shahidi

Best Movie 
Fences 
Get Out 
Hidden Figures 
Moonlight 
The Birth of a Nation

Sportswoman of the Year Award 
Gabby Douglas 
Serena Williams 
Simone Biles 
Skylar Diggins 
Venus Williams

Sportsman of the Year Award 
Cam Newton 
Lebron James 
Odell Beckham Jr. 
Russell Westbrook 
Stephen Curry

Centric Award 
Fantasia — “Sleeping with the One I Love” 
Kehlani — “Distraction” 
Mary J. Blige — “Thick of It” 
Solange — “Cranes in the Sky” 
Syd — “All About Me” 
Yuna — “Crush Ft. Usher”

Coca-Cola Viewers’ Choice Award 
Beyoncé — “Sorry” 
Bruno Mars — “24k Magic” 
Drake — “Fake Love” 
Migos Ft. Lil Uzi Vert — “Bad And Boujee” 
Rae Sremmurd Ft. Gucci Mane — “Black Beatles” 
The Weeknd Ft. Daft Punk — Starboy”

Best International Act: Europe 
Booba 
Mhd 
Craig David 
Emeli Sandé 
Giggs 
Skepta 
Stormzy 
Wiley

The BET Awards 2017 holds at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles TONIGHT, Sunday, June 25  and will be will be hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Leslie Jones.

Performances will be from Bruno Mars, Mary J. Blige, French Montana, Gucci Mane, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Migos, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, Future, Trey Songs, DJ Khaled and Big Sean.

Tribute will be given to the Late rapper Prodigy of Mobb Deep by his rap partners Havoc and Lil Kim.