TIPTOPSTARS

All roads will lead to Buea on 17 April 2010. Blessed are those who will be there. For, they shall see the wonders of BAAM. BAAM, the Cameroonian group that recently won hundreds of thousands of hearts, following the great show down on TRACE will be launching its maiden album.

 According to the boy and two girls, Arise Africa is already packaged and is ready tfor consumption. "It took us three months to compile Africa Arise," BAAM's Mabel revealed. During this time, Buea's M-One studio was constantly active.

It is the result of sleepless nights spent voicing and turning the buttons that the public of Buea and guests to the launching will be savouring come 17 April at the Alliance Franco Camerounaise  (AFC) performance hall. "I feel nervous ahead of the event since it's the first time we are going to be putting an album in the market," Mabel said on the line to Buea. "I keep asking myself how the public is going to react to the album and that makes me panic," she said further. "However, I am convinced Arise Africa is a good packaged."

Songs in the album include, BAAM Prayer, Bounce to This, Arise Africa, Dance to My Culture, Stand Up, Be Strong, Wind Break and Twist and Paddy Man. The theme of struggle is prominent across the songs. "We are simply telling young people to dream and see such dreams come true. Not to be obstructed by detractors," said the BAAM singer.

Featuring at the 17 April launch will be Willy de Paris and Elchic Echondong aka Amumba. Soon after the launch, we were told, BAAM will embark on a six African countrries tour (27 April to 17 July). "Then we shall be ready for any other proposal thereafter," Mabel said.

It should be recalled that BAAM came to the limelight in 2007 when the group won the NESCAFE song competition whose final took place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Part of the fallouts of the victory was a TRACE-sponsored single, Stand Up that hit the airwaves of the popular Parisian entertainment channel last year, causing the Buea group to attract hundreds of thousands of new fans worldwide.