Mezik Ya’jal

Preserving the Musical Heritage of Peoples in Cameroun and Central Africa


Based in Yaounde, Cameroon, Azania Way Culture is a Civil Society Organization, specialized in culture preservation, operating as a production, publishing and distribution company for musical works.


What is our mission?
1) Mezik Ya’jal provides high quality traditional and modern African music from Cameroon and Central Africa.
2) Mezik Ya’jal educates the world about the peoples and cultures of Cameroon and Central Africa


Our goal is to preserve the musical heritage of Central Africa in general and of Cameroon in particular.
Created and managed by Artist Eric Nelson EFA, the organization has dedicated itself to bringing this musical heritage back to life through:
★ Production of CDs and DVDs, including documentaries about music and results of research conducted in villages.
★ Conservation of digital files in Cultural Centers, Town halls and Museums
★ Planning of conferences and exhibitions about its products throughout the world at cultural institutions, universities and festivals.


PROJECT: ORIGIN AND OBJECTIVES
Praised as "Africa in miniature", Cameroon has more than 240 tribes. Each ethnic group has its own musical culture, origin and differences. However these different cultures are dying out due to a lack of heritage preservation. In this context we found it necessary to set up a way to protect these musical genres which, for the most part, have not been transcribed or have remained a myth, unrecognized by today’s music industry and youth, both in Cameroon and throughout the world.
Therefore, Azania’s mission is to travel across villages with a light audio/ video production team to record pieces of music which will then be archived, produced and published.


AZANIA’S INITIATIVE: THE IMPACT

★ Social impact
On the social level, this project allows for a revaluation and recognition of the traditional musical artist–the so-called ‘griot’–who is at the core of this project. It allows him to project his own culture to the world‘s nations and to blossom through his art. Our recording sessions in villages are splendid occasions for entertainment of old people who are filled with emotion by taking part in the project and by singing again all their songs of days gone by.
★ Cultural impact
This project is part of the preservation of the musical heritage of villages in Cameroon through the production of digital media, allowing today’s and future generations to get access to this traditional music through CDs, DVDs, Museums and Cultural centers.