Music
Pepe Kalle: the Elephant of Zaire and his band Empire Bakuba
Pepe Kalle, a towering Congolese singer known as the Elephant of Zaire, led Empire Bakuba to fame in…
soukous
Music
Zaïko Langa Langa: the 1969 Kinshasa student band that reshaped Congolese rumba
Zaïko Langa Langa was founded in Kinshasa in December 1969 by young musicians who gave Congolese rumba a…
Music
Guitar solos after every verse: how Kanda Bongo Man sped up soukous and started kwassa kwassa
Kanda Bongo Man, born in 1955 in the Congo, began singing in 1973 and found success after moving…
Music
The slow soukous of tcha tcho and a sold-out Bercy: Koffi Olomidé’s long reign in Congolese music
Koffi Olomidé, born Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba in Kisangani in 1956, introduced the slower soukous style known as…
Arts + Culture
“Coupé Bibamba” came out in 1998. Almost three decades later, no West African wedding is complete without it
Congolese singer Awilo Longomba released the album Coupé Bibamba in 1998. Its title track, a fast soukous dance…
Arts + Culture
More than 600 songs and a UNESCO listing for his genre: Franco and the Congolese rumba
Franco Luambo Makiadi led TPOK Jazz for almost three decades and recorded more than 600 songs before his…