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The latest video of Solange Knowles, Losing You, seems to be set in Congo, but I found out that it was actually filmed in Cape Town. It features men and herself dreesed in La Sape style. 

Here is some information on the video took from the site okayafrica

"Solange flew to Cape Town to film the video for her break-up single “Losing You,” a synth-flanked ballad co-written and produced by Blood Orange‘s Dev Hynes (who’s been racking up those production credits). Notably featured are a band of hyper-sharp sapeurs inspired by Daniele Tamagni‘s Gentleman of Bacongo book. In an interview with Fader, Solange delved on the video’s Congolese inspiration:"

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An interisting article was brought by the Guardian pointing the african music artists to watch in 2013.  Unfortunately none of the artists are congolese. But I think it is  valid and worth to post foward anyway.

The majority of artists cited comes from Ghana and Nigeria. 

I really liked the video and the music by angolan dj Djeff wich mixes house and kuduro. The nigerian D'Banj is also  interesting.  But the one witch I most enjoyed is the hip hop combo Tumi and The new volumes from South Africa.  They have a very funky beat! Here is an extract from the article on them:

"Recorded over two nights, TATV's 2004 album Live at the Bassline became their definitive work, although they would later release two studio albums, one self-titled and 2010's Pick a Dream, to critical acclaim and amass followings in places such as Reunion Island and France.

There is no doubt that Tumi, at the helm of his newly formed ensemble, will make it his mission to prove with the next album that it's still high quality business as usual, and as soon as possible."

Here is the link to the list 

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I found this nice article on the history of congolese music. Unfortunately the name of the website, World Music Network, is horrible. We hate the term world music to explain the diversity and cultural musical phenomena. 

Here's an interesting extract from the article:

"The music scene really came alive in 1953 with the inauguration of African Jazz, the first full-time recording and performing orchestra. Three years later, 'Franco' Luambo Makiadi and colleagues formed OK Jazz. African Jazz created an international-sounding fusion whereas OK Jazz was rootsier and drew on traditional folklore rhythms and techniques. African Jazz, featuring guitarist Nicholas 'Dr Nico' Kasanda, ensured musical immortality with the 1960 release of 'Independance Cha Cha', which celebrated the end of colonial rule.

The 1950s and 60s saw constant movement of musicians between the Belgian and French colonies and a mood of optimism gave the region its good-time reputation. Hundreds of dance bands formed following independence in 1960, including the group Afrisa."

Read the full article The Music of Congo here

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There's a funny glitch in the beginning of this video, but here's a presentation of Sam Mangwana, former frontmen of African All Stars and TPOK:

Sam Mangwana, born February 21, 1945, is a Congolese musician, born to a Zimbabwean migrant father and an Angolan mother. He is the frontman of his bands Festival des maquisards and African All Stars. Mangwana was a member of François Luambo Makiadi's seminal band TPOK Jazz, andTabu Ley Rochereau's bands African Fiesta, African Fiesta National and Afrisa International.

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Hello, it has been a while and I hope everyone had an excelent new year's eve. Returning to the activities here is one of the best and most unusual music I've heard from DRC, the incredible Konono nº1

I took some essential informations from wikipedia as usual:

"Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé (a traditional instrument similar to the mbira) with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard. The group's amplification equipment is equally rudimentary, including a microphone carved out of wood fitted with a magnet from an automobile alternator and a gigantic horn-shaped amplifier. The group achieved international renown beginning in 2005, with its DIY aesthetic appealing to many fans of rock and electronic music. They played this same year at the Eurockéennes festival in France."

Today I present their first album, "Congotronics", released in 2004: 

"Congotronics is the official debut album by Konono Nº1. It was released in 2004. by Crammed Discs. It has won the band massive favour in the dance and alternative rock scenes as well as in world music circles and in the North American and European media."

Konono nº1 - Congotronics

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http://www.universrumbacongolaise.com/artistes/vadio-mambenga/

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Prince Onago & Princess Muana & Native Drummers of the Belgian Congo: The Drums of Africa 

I found this music browsing in this very interesting blog and I decided to copy the information and the music which is very good! Down below:

"The cover intrigued me as did the story and picture of Prince Onaga and Princess Muana. As the credits say this music was recorded with native drummers of the Belgian Congo, but in reality the recordings were probably more designed for the Silver Screen and the adventure of Stereo."

Apparently the guy found out this collection on african drums in a trip to japan. He stated that the album where he got the information above is called The Drums of Africa 

Here is the two tracks by Prince Onago & Prince Muana:

Prince Onago & Princess Muana & Native Drummers of the Belgian Congo -Flirtation Song

Prince Onago & Princess Muana & Native Drummers of the Belgian Congo -Congo Syncopation

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And finally today, I'm posting something on Zaiko Langa Langa. Since my last post was on Papa Wemba it was about time to share something about one of the most important bands of Congo DR. Down below there is an information I took from wikipedia that explains the meaning of their name:

 "The word "Zaiko" is a portmanteau for the lingala phrase Zaire ya bankoko, meaning "Zaire of our ancestors", where "Zaire" must be read as a reference to the river by that name, now called Congo. The meaning of the phrase "Langa Langa" is controversial; according to the band's website, it means "marvelous" or "almighty" "

Similar to other bands such as TPOK and Orchestre Afrisa (so many other bans from the seminal soukoss birth) they are also configurated as a big band in a jazz style _ with many instruments and members_ and therefore, that's why these kind of band is also known as a orchestra. Here's another information there I've extract from their entry at Wikipedia:

"Founded in the early 1969 by D.V. Moanda, Marcelin Delo, Henry Mongombe, Olemi Eshar-Eshar dem'belina and Andre Bita, Zaiko Langa Langa survived into the 2000s (decade), and have been largely popular through the decades. Because of their "rebel" and "hippie" attitude, and their innovative approach to soukous, they became a symbol of the new generations of post-independence os Zaire (now Democractic Republic of Congo).

The band was formed in 1969 with the provisional name "Orchestra Zaiko". The original lineup was composed of Papa Wemba, Mavuela Somo, Evoloko Lay Lay, Teddy Sukami, Oncle Bapius,Zamuangana le meilleur and Manuaku Waku (also known as Pépé Fely) and N'Yoka Longo. The band also had a pop section, which was playing before the soukous section, with Bimi Ombale, Mbuta Matima and Mashakado Mbuta. Moanda, Mongombe, Marcelin, Waku, Longo and Bita were all from a former band called Bel Guide National.They were mostly students coming from upper-class families of Kinshasa.

The sound of Zaiko Langa Langa was revolutionary with respect to the soukous tradition. They adopted a more up tempo beat, abandoned wind instruments and emphasized snare drums and leadelectric guitars (and eventually also synthesizers). The percussion rhythms were adapted from traditional Congolese music and the sebene became more prominent. Their vocal lines made a large use of the call and response schemes. Their frenetic stage shows featured a frontline of four singers.

Because of these innovations, they are sometimes referred to as the founders of the "third school" of soukous, while they "rebel" attitude, which resembled that of the hippie movement, earned them the sobriquet of "Zaire's Rolling Stones"

Here's the album Zaire-Ghana from 1993 and produced by Henri Bowane - a major producer of soukous bands and the partner of Wendo Kolosoy in his hit Marie Louise. 

Zaire-Ghana

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Awilo Longomba is a Congolese musician who was a drummer in Viva la Musica, Stukas, Nouvelle Generation and Loketo. In 1995, he finally quit drumming for singing and released his first album Moto Pamba.

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It's been a while since my last post. It has been a busy december. Anyway, the album that I chose for today's post is a collection on the first twenty years of Papa Wemba production. Down below there's an entry on Papa Wemba that I've edited highlighting the most important parts on his career:

"Papa Wemba was one of the very musicians to join the influential Soukous band, Zaiko Langa Langa when it was created in December 1969. In December 1974, at the pinnacle of their fame (and just a month after the Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa), Shungu Wembadio (Papa Wemba), along with Evoloko Lay Lay, Mavuela Somo and Bozi Boziana (who'd joined Zaiko Langa Langa a year earlier), left Zaiko Langa Langa to establish their own musical ensemble Isifi Lokole, ISIFI being an acronym for "Institut du Savoir Ideologique pour la Formation des Idoles." Yet of course, not everything that Wemba claims in earnest can be taken as gospel. In July 1975, Shungu Wembadio officially adopted the soon-to-be-well-known worldwide artist name Papa Wemba, the addition of "Papa" (father) an allusion to what were in fact rather awesome family responsibilities as the first son in a family where both father and mother (Wemba's parents) had been deceased since the 1960s.

On 18 February 2003, suspected of being involved in a network that has allegedly smuggled hundreds of illegal immigrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) into Europe, Papa Wemba was arrested at his home in Paris.

Papa Wemba was eventually found guilty at some level in June 2003 and spent three and a half months in prison, an experience which, on his release after a €30,000 bail was posted, he declared had had a profound psychological effect on him. The singer claimed to have undergone a spiritual conversion in jail and even recounted this episode on his new album, "Somo trop" (released in October 2003). On the song "Numéro d'écrou", Papa Wemba recalled the day "God" paid a visit to his cell. 

In 1979, Papa Wemba became the leader of the Sapeur (Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes d'Élégance or SAPE) which he promoted as a youth cult.[2] Wemba said:

The Sapeur cult promoted high standards of personal cleanliness, hygiene and smart dress, to a whole generation of youth across Zaire. When I say well groomed, well shaven, well perfumed, it's a propriety that I am insisting on among the young. I don't care about their education, since education always comes first of all from the family.

Recently, Priyan Weerappuli, the leader of the Sri Lankan group Pahan Silu; referred to Wemba as being among his greatest musical influences."

The best of Papa Wemba

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La Societé des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes, known as La Sape (adherents sapeurs) is a Congolese sartorial subculture.

It emerged as an expression of civil disobedience during the repressive regime of Mobutu Sese Seko. In the 1960s and 1970s, the fiercely Africanist self-styled "Father of the Nation" created a stereotypical esthetics (leopard prints, dead animals fur, tribal names and clothing, and so on) as an official state ideology of Zaire to foster a sense of national identity at the expense of foreign and tribal culture. So these elegant men started dressing in "western" ways as an expression of dissatisfaction. 

Today I found about a book called Gentlemen of Bacongo that captures this fascinating subculture of the Congo in which men (and a few women) dress in designer and handmade suits and other luxury items. The book is the result of  Daniele Tamagni a italian fashion photographer whose photos were also exibhited in art galleries. 

Unfortunately the book is way to expensive but I discovered this article at Jezebel's site which has some photos from Tamagni's work.

Gentlemen of Bacongo

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Ferre Gola, whose real name is Hervé Gola Bataringe, is a singer-songwriter and dancer kino-Congolese born March 3, 1978 at Lingwala near Kinshasa. He was part of the group Wenge Musica Maison Mère for 7 years. 

In addition to his qualities  as a crooner, Herve plays piano and percussion.  His is regarded as one of the most gifted musicians of his generation, and he has inspired many  young Congolese singers from Both Sides of the river Congo.

He released his first solo album in 2007,  Sens Interdit, which was a great success in Kinshasa, but also in France, Belgium, Holland. 

In his 2009 album Qui est derriere toi he mixes hip hop and to the soukouss rhythm,  and it is speacially influeced by the pioneers of rumba, such as TPOK and Orchestre Afrisa. 

Qui est derriere toi

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50 Years of Congo Music - Profile #2 - Mbilia Bel sings Nakei Nairobi. Live in Kinshasa

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M’bilia Bel is a congolese singer, known as the Queen of Congolese rumba. Owner of a prolific carrier, her first album came out in 1983 and since then she has released other 20. She was discovered by Taby Ley Rochereau, leader of the Orchestre Afrisa International and one of the pioneer of the rhythm soukous. Before she started her solo career she was one of the most popular members of the Orchestre Afrisa which then became kind of TPOK’s rival band.

Here’s an interesting information about her in wikipedia. I had to rewrite it because it seems that someone took the text from the french version launched it in Google translater and then posted a bizarre entry in english 

“Her first álbum, Eswi yo wapi, released in 1983, was the extremely popular. Eswi yo wapi, can be roughly translated as “Where did it hurt you?”. The name is also a song that entitled the record and was composed by both Tabu Ley and M’bilia Bel. . The stranglehold that Franco’s TP OK Jazz had held in the music scene was now being loosened, as Afrisa could now match TP OK Jazz in popularity and record sales, thanks to the arrival of this new sensation who was now being referred to as the African tigress”

Unfortunately I couldn’t find the intire Eswi ya wapi  record. So, the álbum which I’ve chosen for today’s post is Boya Ye from 1985. She is backed by Tabu Ley Rochereau and his band Afrisa International, though none of the musicians are given credit on the record production. Three of the four songs are Tabu Ley’s. 

Boya Ye

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"Shot in the streets of Kinshasa, site of Muhammad Ali's legendary 'Rumble in the Jungle', Karibu Ya Bintou ("Welcome to Life in Limbo") is a short film with music from the 2010 album 'Kinshasa Succursale' by Baloji.

Electric finger piano (likembé): played by Konono N°1, the legendary Congolese band who collaborated with Björk & count Vampire Weekend and Beck amongst their biggest fans.

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Baloji, also known as MC Balo and ex-member of the group Starflam, is a Belgian rapper of Congolese origin. He was born on september 12, in 1978, in Lubumbashi, Congo. Born as an illegitimate son, he was taken from his mother at the age of 3. He left Congo with his father and migrated to Belgium, settling in Ostend. Baloji felt strange between his peers and left home at age 16. He shared a place with other young kids until became interested in rap. In this period he befriended other young rappers and formed with them the Starflam group. Due to creative differences, he left the group in 2004 and started working in his own music. He received a letter from to his mother, whom he had'nt heard since 1981, saying that she had won a poetry competition in Paris. He moved to Paris and was reunited with her and his family. His first solo album, Hotel Impala is a response to the letter from his mother, where he tells the story of his life.

In 2010, he was named one of the year's breakthrough acts by the influential DJ Gilles Peterson and earlier this year he joined Damon Albarn's Africa Express. He's currently limbering up for the worldwide release of album number two, Kinshasa Succursale. It's an ambitious attempt to mix rap with a glittering casket of African and African diaspora styles, from soukous, funk and ragga to the raw sound of traditional urban Congolese music.

Recent news on Baloji

Kinshasa Succursale

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 Sussú Babá was a important babalorixá in Brazil during the 1970's. He released many records where were registered the chants used in umbanda and candomblé ceremonies. In this record he chants the pontos de Umbanda mixed with the tradition of Angola-Congo Candomblé Nation, alson known as Banto Naiton. The record is called Rei do Congo (King of the Congo) and was recorded in 1972. The king of Kongo or the coronation of the king of Congo used to be reenact by slaves brought from the kingdom of congo during the period of colonial times in Brazil. It gave origin to a series of different musical manifestations such as the congado in Minas Gerais state.

Here is a brief discription that I found on the album:

Another rare disc of Sussú, perhaps one of the last of his victorious career in the dissemination of culture of umbanda. You can tell by his breathing, that he was already somewhat weakened by health problems and the way the album was recorded, with completely separate channels, makes us believe that he has recorded his voice in parts, which means that even after so many years, he still has a timbre that give as thrills. The band is not as inspired as on their other albums. Maybe they had a bad musical direction or maybe they tried to take a  modern technilogical approach in terms of arrangement, which unfortunately put the musicians in a kind of anoynig repetition. Apparently all the tracks start and terminate the same. But even so, it is a milestone in the history of Brazilian Music and in Umbanda Music. Saravá Sussu!"

Sussú-Rei do Congo