Education
Jovi the rapper and Le Monstre the producer) Jovi graduated from University of Yaoundé II (Soa), with a Bachelor Honours in Economics and Business Management.
Jovi the rapper and Le Monstre the producer) Jovi graduated from University of Yaoundé II (Soa), with a Bachelor Honours in Economics and Business Management.
Jovi"s debut album, 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.” Cameroon"s music industry has remained conventional for a very long time with genres like, Makossa and Bikutsi dominating the musical scene. Jovi"s first single "Don 4kwat", followed by "Pitié", featuring Congolese musician Tabu Ley Rochereau, 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 airplay on Trace television and Channel O, his second single, “Pitié” featuring Tabu Ley Rochereau, stayed on the charts for months on pan-African British Broadcasting Corporation’s Destination Africa hosted by DJ Edu, staying in the top 5 at its peak.
Jovi produces all his records, and is renowned for his compelling fusion of traditional hip hop, classic Cameroon/ African, sounds and instruments with new contemporary sounds.
Jovi"s lyrics, like many other Cameroonian musicians, use the hybrid language called francanglais (a fusion of French, English and Pidgin-English lingo). In May 2012, Jovi left Mumak record label to launch New Bell Music, with Rachell Applewhite.
The record label"s mission statement is, “We love music, and we aim to bring you the most unique artists from Cameroon, Africa, and around the world..“Le trou noir”– There is space for everybody.”. Both Jovi and Applewhite are signed to their label New Bell Music.
Other artist signed to New Bell are: Reniss,Shey and Pascal.
In 2015 SadraK left the label after an altercation with Jovi and Tilla Raps left for personal reasons. In the wake of Jovi"s nomination for the 2015 Music Television Africa Music Awards, controversy broke out over Jovi"s non-attendance of the ceremony which took place in Durban, South Africa in July 2015, leading to contradictory press releases being published by New Bell Music and Magali Palmira Wora (French Talent Representative at Music Television Base).