robertoluoch oluoch
June 21, 2019
Daphne Njie Efunden, professionally known as Daphne, is a Cameroonian singer and songwriter who was born in Buea, Cameroon. She was however raised in Douala, Cameroon. Some prefer to call her ‘French Bjork’. She has resided in a couple of places such as Yaoundé, Poitiers and outside Cameroon. Daphne has always been an enthusiast of Maurice Ravel, Henry Purcell, and Mozart. She also likes Sting and Stevie Wonder even though the former does not influence her style of music. Another huge influence of hers is gospel singer Cece Winans. For her, the most fundamental thing while writing her work is getting a good tune since ‘tunes carry emotions’.
Music Career
Daphne began singing in church. When she started doing music professionally, Daphne was inspired mostly by Reggae and Dancehall music genres. She later on realized that Afrocentric music will do her better. Her music then became a blend of a variety of genres such as Afrobeat, Afropop, Reggae, R&B, Makossa, and Bikutsi. All these plus her beautiful vocals create very awesome music. Most of her songs therefore became hits in Cameroon and started making their way to the international music scene.
In 2014, Daphne released her first EP titled ‘Reflection’. This consisted of tracks such as reggae song ‘Rastafari’ and ‘Ndolo’ which has a Cameroonian sound. In 2016, she released her debut album dubbed ‘Here to Stay’. She also featured renowned Cameroonian Makossa artist, Ben Decca, in the remix to her song ‘Ndolo’. In 2017, she released the track ‘Calee’ which became a mega-hit. After that, she released ‘Promet-moi’ and Jusq’ua la gare’ which both became critically acclaimed in the music scene. This earned her much recognition internationally, and she became a star. These songs, which are love stories, became favorite wedding jams.
Her other songs include ‘My Lover’, ‘Better Boyfriend’, ‘Mother’s Love’, ‘Ne Laches Pas’, ‘Alleluia’, ‘Madingwa’, ‘Allez’, ‘Avec Toi’, ‘Na Lingui Yo’, ‘No Way’ and ‘Comme ca (A Nous Deux). She has worked with artists such as Boy TAG, Ambe, Salatiel, Fanicko, Chidinma, Young D, Tobi Grey, Numerica, Les Featurist, DJ Sly, Teni, Skales, E.L, and Kifra L. She is signed to Steven’s Music Entertainment LLC. She became the first musician in Cameroon to hit a million followers on Instagram. She has had successful performances both in her country and other countries such as Gabon, Madagascar, the United States (Dallas) and Switzerland (Geneva).
Awards and Nominations
In 2016, she won an award at the Afrikan Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA) as the Best Female Artist in Central Africa. In the same year, she was nominated for KORA Awards in the Most Promising Female Artist Category. In 2018, she won yet another award at AFRIMMA as the Best Female Artist in Central Africa. Daphne won the same category at All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) in 2018. She triumphed at the Canal D’Or 2019 Awards as she scooped four awards: Best Female Artist in Cameroon, Best Digital Performance (over 54 million views), Best Popular Song and Best Female Urban Hit.
