On stage, Tshala Muana moved her hips in a way that audiences across Africa learned to recognise. The dance was mutuashi, from the Luba people of Kasai in central Congo, and she made it her signature. For more than forty years, the singer known as the queen of mutuashi filled concert halls in Kinshasa, Abidjan, Paris and beyond. When she died in December 2022, Congolese music lost one of its great female voices.
Early life and mutuashi
Élisabeth Tshala Muana Muidikayi was born in 1958 in Lubumbashi, in Katanga, to a family with roots in Kasai. She grew up hearing Luba songs and dances. She began as a dancer before moving to singing. In the 1970s she performed with groups in Kinshasa, learning in a scene dominated by men. Mutuashi is a traditional Luba rhythm and dance. Tshala Muana brought it into modern Congolese pop, combining it with electric guitars and the energy of soukous.
In the 1980s she spent time in Abidjan and Paris, recording and performing for African audiences abroad. Her international profile grew rapidly.
Success, language and politics
She released many albums over her career and became one of the best-known female artists in Central Africa. She sang mainly in Tshiluba, the language of the Luba-Kasai, as well as Lingala and French. Her choice to sing in Tshiluba made her a cultural ambassador for Kasai. Tshala Muana was close to the political party of former president Joseph Kabila and held positions within it. In 2020 she was briefly detained over a song that some saw as political criticism.
She was one of a small group of women who achieved lasting fame in Congolese popular music, alongside singers such as Mbilia Bel and M’Pongo Love.
Death, legacy and dance
She died in Kinshasa on 10 December 2022. Tributes came from musicians, politicians and fans across Africa. Younger Congolese artists continue to use mutuashi rhythms and cite her as an influence. Her stage performances, with dancers and elaborate costumes, were as important as her recordings. Her catalogue spans decades, from early recordings made in Kinshasa and Abidjan to later albums produced in Paris, and many of her songs remain staples at Congolese weddings.
Tshala Muana took a village dance from Kasai and made audiences dance to it in Paris. Long after her death, a mutuashi groove still brings her name to mind.
