Life in this Nso’ (N.W. Cameroon) is very difficult. Life on this earth is getting more difficult. When you have, you’re in trouble; when you lack, you’re in trouble. That is the chorus of this song that is entirely in Lamnso’. But it is not just a gloomy reflection. It is a song akin to the lament Psalms of the Old Testament, ultimately ending in faith and trust. That is why the last part of the song is the Our Father.

This song, composed by Emma Buri (Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ngoran Burinyuy) finds its immediate context in the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon. Its inspiration came while Emma Buri served in Mfumte Parish, living the real life situation of the war. But the song goes beyond this to talk about the challenges being faced by many people. Such difficulties had been compounded by the war. No wonder the song ends with a repeated invocation: “grant us peace!”

It was produced by Nsay ki la, fusing Rumba with Makossa; it was mixed and digitally mastered by Dijay Kay.