Congolese Rumba

Congolese Rumba

origin:

The Congolese rumba was born in the 1930s, on the banks of the Congo River, after the arrival on the African continent of the Cuban rumba. it's a kind of music sung in Lingala mixed with some words in French. And recently with the new generation some songs are completely in French. Very popular in Congo and after all over Africa for years. It is the most listened musical genre in Africa.

Rumba is a musical style originating in Cuba and which has its roots in Afro-Cuban culture.

The Cuban rumba was transplanted to Congo in the late 1930s, travelling back and forth between the Caribbean and Africa. the passage of transatlantic cargo ships through the ports of West Africa, and through exchanges with Cuban sailors who bring them the GV discs. This music penetrates inland, following the course of the Congo River, as far as Kinshasa and Brazzaville. This music steeped in Congolese culture is rich in the diversity of themes inspiring the songs. Different themes covered in this music: love sung in different ways, women, the problems of Congolese society, the education of children. Congolese rumba has an impact that goes beyond the musical framework. Impossible to disconnect it from the dances that accompany it and constantly renew themselves, or even from its clothing component, it's more of a lifestyle!

THE  PIONEERS

 “Franco Luambo Makiadi”

It was not far from Kinshasa that François Luambo was born on July 6, 1938 in Nsona-Mbata in Lemfu country in the current province of Kongo Central, from an Anamongo father and a Ne-Kongo mother. This mixture of tribes and ethnic groups of the country can be found in his phonographic works and in the rhythm of his orchestra. If he was born François Luambo, Makiadi is the nickname given to him by his mother at birth because of the fragility of his health often shaken by childhood and tropical diseases. We note that for a moment, he will bear a name that has nothing to do with the Congo. When he converted to Islam in 1981, he became Aboubakar Sidiki. This West African surname that has never been engraved on his records is disappearing at lightning speed. Many of his own fans never knew him. The man also has many other nicknames: Le Fou (so nicknamed at school because of his turbulence), Franco, Franco Demi Amor, Uncle Yorgho, Grand-Maître, Ya Fuala (big brother François), Sorcier du guitar. In the United States, African Americans call him The big brother from Zaire. He took his first steps in singing at the age of 15. By dint of hard work and willpower, the young Franco became the Grand Master, whose mere mention of his name inspired respect and admiration.  He quickly moved on to OK Jazz, his lifelong orchestra. He is almost everything at the same time: singer, guitarist, songwriter, publisher, storyteller, disturber, leader of men.

When the orchestra was founded in 1956, the Fiesta style flooded the market with the flavor of its sounds. The African Jazz school created by Grand Kallé was then the only school known for modern Congolese music. But little by little, OK Jazz eats into the musical space and makes its way. It commands admiration and respect. A second school was born. It stands out completely from the style of Joseph Kabasele. Congolese music now has two schools to which artists-musicians claim to belong. Franco, who is open to other musical winds, diversifies the styles in his works. He plays pell-mell the cha-cha-cha (Cha cha erique, cha cha cha demi amor), the bolero (Maladi ya bolingo, Mbanda ozui kizunguzungu), Kongo folklore (Ma nkewa, Fuala mbombo ngulu kadia) or sakata ( Obwa osud djeme), calypso (Tokeyi kobina calypso, Calypso de nostro amor). But by recruiting several members of the African Jazz clan, OK Jazz ended up alienating this style for a while, especially with the arrival of Michelino Mavatiku (Missile, Salima). In the frantic search for artistic success and to ensure the success of his group, Franco does not hesitate to surround himself with talented soloists like Mose Fanfan, Dizzy Mandjeku or Papa Noël. The man has never been afraid of competition on the contrary, he has always been in favor of emulation within his group. He died on October 12, 1989 and a bronze statue was erected where he performed most often in Matonge.

PAPA WEMBA

Papa Wemba was born in 1949 in southern Congo, in the Kasai River region. At a very young age, he left his countryside to live in the city, integrating into the modern world.  His father, a former soldier who fought in the Belgian army during the Second World War, became a hunter and often went into the forest. His mother is a professional mourner, an essential traditional element of all funeral evenings or wakes. By regularly taking her son with her, she introduced him to music and singing, which fascinated the child very early on. Nevertheless, his father is totally opposed to his son becoming a musician and dreaming for him of a career as a journalist or lawyer.
In 1969, he founded with friends the group “Zaiko Langa Langa“. They are inspired by many currents: Afro-Cuban music, rock, rhythm and blues... But, in the independent Zaire of the 60s, the trend is for traditional music. And, even if the elders criticize it, the youth identify with this rebellious music which shakes up the traditional rumba.

In 1977, Papa Wemba founded a new group "Viva la Musica" (named after a title by Johnny Pacheco). Personal touch, he begins to use the lokolé: "It is a hollow tree trunk that is struck with two sticks to communicate from one village to another" and decides that he and his musicians will have a flawless look. He then created the Society of Ambianceurs and Persons of Elegance (SAPE), which was joined by young Congolese from all over the world. “Thanks to the undermining, explains Papa Wemba, we have acquired an identity. But I'm not a fashion slave. I am above all a singer, not a sapeur“.

In the 1980s, Papa Wemba sang more and more in Europe and became the ambassador of World music.  At the start of the 1980s, Papa Wemba came more and more often to France, where the Zairian community was very large. In spite of numerous recording studios in Kinshasa, the means and the quality of the material are, in Europe, infinitely superior. It is therefore for these reasons that in 1982, his producer sent him to France. But after several months of absence from his home, rumors begin to circulate about a possible assassination. True prophet in his country, almost a myth, Papa Wemba is received as a head of state when he finally returns.

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