Ndukong Godlove Nfor (born 24 October 1983), known by his stage name Jovi, is a

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

ian

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

, entrepreneur, and record producer (under his producer pseudonym Le Monstre). Jovi graduated from the

University of Yaoundé II The University of Yaoundé II ( French: ''Université de Yaoundé II'') is a public university in Cameroon, located in the capital Yaoundé. It was formed in 1993 following a university reform that split the country's oldest university, the Univer ...

(Soa), with a BA Hons in Economics and Business Management. Jovi's debut album '' H.I.V (Humanity is Vanishing)'' was described by Kangsen Feka Wakai in ''Bakwa'' magazine as “the long awaited arrival of a self-assured emcee very conscious of his abilities, the vacuum in the genre, his audience’s expectations, and the right dose of hustle to assert his place.”

Music career

Cameroon's music industry has remained conventional for a very long time with genres like,

Makossa Makossa is a Cameroonian style of urban music. Like much other late 20th century music of Sub-Saharan Africa, it uses strong electric bass rhythms and prominent brass. In the 1980s makossa had a wave of mainstream success across Africa and to a ...

and

Bikutsi Bikutsi is a musical genre from Cameroon. It developed from the traditional styles of the Beti, or Ewondo, people, who live around the city of Yaoundé. It was popular in the middle of the 20th century in West Africa. It is primarily dance music ...

dominating the musical scene. Jovi's first single "Don 4 Kwat", followed by "Pitié", featuring Congolese musician

Tabu Ley Rochereau Pascal-Emmanuel Sinamoyi Tabu (13 November 1940 – 30 November 2013), better known as Tabu Ley Rochereau, was a leading African rumba singer-songwriter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was the leader of ''Orchestre Afrisa Internatio ...

, released under Mumak record label, which he co-founded, is part of a new wave of musical content in Cameroon. “Don 4 Kwat” received heavy airplays on Trace Urban and Channel O, his second single, “Pitié” featuring Tabu Ley Rochereau, stayed on the charts for months on pan-African BBC’s Destination Africa hosted by DJ Edu, staying in the top 5 at its peak. In January 2013, Jovi left Mumak record label to launch New Bell Music, with Rachel Burks. Both Jovi and Rachel are signed to their label New Bell Music. In September 2014, Jovi released his video "Cash" (Mets l'argent à terre) to wide acclaim across Cameroon. In December 2014, Jovi released his video "Et P8 Koi," which became a hit across French-speaking West Africa, getting heavy rotation on Trace Urban, and debuting at No. 1 on Trace Urban's premiere episode of "Hip Hop 10 Made in Africa." In 2015, Jovi was nominated for an MTV Africa Music Award (MAMA) for Best Francophone artist. On 20 May 2015 Jovi released his sophomore album, ''Mboko God'', which was nominated for a 2016 Kora Award for Best Album. Jovi's music videos are played regularly on

Trace Urban Trace Urban (formerly MCM Africa then Trace TV) is a French pay-TV music video television channel owned by TPG Capital. It is the parent channel of the various Trace music channels. It is the third most distributed French television channel in t ...

, and in 2015, Jovi was featured on Trace TV in "The 15 artists to follow in 2015," and "One of the 10 African Rappers You Should Definitely Know." Under his pseudonym Le Monstre, Jovi produces his records and is renowned for his compelling fusion of traditional hip hop and classic Cameroon/African sounds and instruments with new contemporary sounds. Jovi's lyrics are in English, French,

Cameroonian Pidgin English Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole ( wes, Wes Cos, from West Coast), is a language variety of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok (from 'Cameroon-talk'). It is primarily spoken in the North West and South West English speaking r ...

and

francanglais Camfranglais, Francanglais, or Francamglais (portmanteau of the French adjectives ''camerounais'', ''français'', and ''anglais'') is a vernacular of Cameroon, containing grammatical and lexical elements from Cameroonian French, Cameroonian Engl ...

(a fusion of French, English and Cameroonian Pidgin English). Jovi also produces music for artists in New Bell Music as well as for international artists. Jovi co-wrote and co-produced

Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P ...

's song "Shine the Light," which Akon released as a video on 26 January 2016. Jovi has been regularly featured in the online music magazine OkayAfrica. On 29 February 2016 Jovi was featured in an interview with

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

, which featured the world-premiere of his single "Bad Influence." In a

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down producti ...

magazine article published on 28 June 2016, author Natelege Whaley states Jovi is one of the African artists "flipping trap and taking it to new heights sonically." Jovi has one of the biggest fan base in Cameroon music known as MBOKOGANG Jovi's third album, ''16 Wives,'' was released on 16 February 2017. On 30 June 2017 Noisey (the music branch of

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

) named Jovi's 16 Wives as one of "The 30 Best Overlooked Albums of 2017 (So Far). Jovi released his sixth EP ''Yaje Vol. 1: Black'' on 27 August 2017. Jovi is regularly featured in Apple Music Playlist and was interviewed on Beats 1 Radio’s first African music show “A-List-African Music” on 16 December 2018. On 18 February 2019 Jovi released his 4th studio album ''God Don Kam''.

Discography

Albums

* H.I.V (Humanity is Vanishing)

012 012 may refer to: * Tyrrell 012, a Formula One racing car * The dialing code for Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassie ...

* Mboko God 015* 16 Wives 017* God Don Kam

019 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

EPs

* Kankwe Vol. 1

014 014 may refer to: * Argus As 014 * BIND-014 * 014 Construction Unit * Divi Divi Air Flight 014 * Pirna 014 * Tyrrell 014 The Tyrrell 014 was a Formula One car, designed for Tyrrell Racing by Maurice Philippe for use in the season. The cars wer ...

* Kankwe Vol. 2 015*Raps 2 Riches 015*Puta Madre 015*Bad Music

016 HV-016 is a former military unit of Norway, that was a part of the Home Guard. It was established after 1985 to "stop terror- or sabotage actions that could weaken or paralyze Norway's ability to mobilize its military and its ability to resist". ...

*Yaje Vol. 1: Black *God Di Kam *Raps 2 Richs Vol.2 *YAJE Vol. 2: Sun Yellow *Pressure

021 021 is: * in Brazil, the telephone area code for the city of Rio de Janeiro and surrounding cities (Greater Rio de Janeiro) * in China, the telephone area code for the city of Shanghai. * in Indonesia, the area code for the city of Jakarta ...

*Wlk D Tlk 02344]

Mixtape

* Young Vizu Annointed Mboko Supreme

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jovi Living people 1983 births Cameroonian hip hop musicians Cameroonian rappers