The first edition of the #team237mag launched officially on the 19th of October 2016 in Buea with the founder and CEO of Alpha Better Records Salatiel making the first cover.
The mag which is already available on news stands sees Salatiel share his journey of how he has turned his passion for music into a business with lots of other entertaining headlines.
Kinnaka's Blog sat with the founder of the #team237mag to talk on what the magazine is really about and why they picked out Salatiel for the first cover.
Hello Ngoh Dalida, how are you doing?
I am very fine thank you.
What inspired you to do an entertainment magazine?
Literally, the magazine is just spiced with entertainment. The #team237mag was initially created to spotlight and give young innovative Cameroonians turning passion into businesses, a platform to share their journeys with the world.
Thus inspire the younger generation to believe in their dreams and know they can create careers for themselves too from their talents and passions, rather than wait on our very unreliable government to employ them. This generation is so blessed with super smart young people.
I mean flashback 10 years, most people depended on the government and traveling overseas for job security, but today our generation has changed the game.We are achieving dreams, turning passion and talents into something bigger. Take Bandy Kiki for instance, you love creativity, it is your talent and passion so you risked it all to create this platform which today competes with the famous Linda Ikeji's blog.
You are a game changer, you have a story of how you got here that can inspire young Cameroonians, which we will be glad to one day share in it. So that's the original idea behind the magazine, celebrating and sharing in the stories of 237 game changers. We do have a lot of entertainment in the magazine too, which is to push forward the entertainment industry in Cameroon by making Cameroonians see and cherish our own music, movies, actors, artists, it's our way of ensuring our culture stays intact which is almost being lost due to the excess foreign content on our streets.
Ok, so why did you pick Salatiel for the first cover?
Well I am glad you asked, so those who haven't watched the TV or listened to the interviews I have done so far can read here. Surprisingly people think Salatiel made the first cover because I have something personal with an Alpha Better recording artist which is so not true.
Salatiel has a very inspiring story as can be seen in the interview he granted us. His passion for music is so strong that he went against the odds to pursue a career in it. For someone who dropped out of medical school to do music, he faced challenges but fought on to become the founder of one of the best record labels 237 has today.
We just couldn't help but celebrate him in the first edition. Picking Salatiel was not based on anything personal but for his inspiring story. He is a game changer and the #team237mag is happy to celebrate that.
what is the reaction you and your team have been getting so far concerning the magazine?
Well so far so good I must say, we are glad by the response from our public. Everyone who has gotten a copy has had nothing but appreciation for its content and quality especially the #craziest social media post we have in there.
For those who haven't got their copies yet, how can they get it?
For now, the #Team237mag is available at the Messapress (newspaper & magazine stands) in Buea, (Clerks Quarters) Limbe (half mile) Kumba (opposite the old Treasury Buea road) and at the EM Jay supermarket near Lina's in Molyko. It will soon be in Douala and Yaounde too, we are working on it. For more info they can inbox us via our Facebook or call 674106383 / 661175910 /674304091
When is the next one hitting the shelves and who will be on the cover this time?
The next one, everything being equal will be in January 2017 because we are printing quarterly. For who will be on the next cover, sorry but we will only unveil that when it is ready (laughs) but what we can promise is that the next one will be spectacular because we are planning something huge for our readers.