Soukous
Encyclopedia
Soukous is a dance music
genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo
and French Congo
during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa
. "Soukous" (a derivative of the French
word secousse, "shake") was originally the name of a dance popular in the Congos in the late 1960s, an African version of rumba
. Although the genre was initially known as rumba (sometimes termed specifically as African rumba), the term "soukous" has come to refer to African rumba and its subsequent developments.
Soukous is called Congo music in West Africa
, and Lingala in Kenya
, Uganda
and Tanzania
- referring to the Lingala language
of the region from where it originated. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, where Congolese music is also influential, it is usually referred to as Rumba. In the 1980s and early 1990s, a fast-paced style of soukous known as kwassa kwassa
– named after a popular dance, was popular. A style called ndombolo, also named after a dance, is currently popular. Soukous also mixes styles from zouk
music.
rhythms that were made available through the EMI
G.V. Series
and were not entirely foreign to the region, having been based - to varying degrees - on musical traditions from the area with Congolese
and other African traditional music
. This music emerged in the cities of Leopoldville, as Kinshasa
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) was then called, and Brazzaville
, then capital of the French Congo
, now capital of the Republic of the Congo
. Most of the musicians performed in Lingala language
, but some also used Swahili
, Tshiluba and Kikongo languages.
and North America
in the 1940s and 1950s with his regular band, Victoria Bakolo Miziki.
By the 1950s, big band
s had become the preferred format, using acoustic bass guitar
, multiple electric guitar
s, conga drums, maracas, scraper, flute
or clarinet
, saxophone
s, and trumpet
. Grand Kalle et l'African Jazz" (also known as African Jazz) led by Joseph Kabasele Tshamala (Grand Kalle
), and OK Jazz
, later renamed TPOK Jazz (Tout Puissant Orchestre Kinshasa, meaning "all-powerful Kinshasa band") led by Francois Luambo Makiadi
became the leading bands.
In the 1950s and 1960s, some artists who performed in the bands of Franco Luambo and Grand Kalle formed their own groups. Tabu Ley Rochereau
and Dr. Nico Kasanda formed African Fiesta
and transformed their music further by fusing Congolese folk music
with soul music
, as well as Caribbean
and Latin beats
and instrumentation
. They were joined by Papa Wemba
and Sam Mangwana
, and classics like Afrika Mokili Mobimba made them one of Africa's greatest bands, rivalled only by TP OK Jazz. Tabu Ley Rochereau and Dr Nico Kasanda are considered the pioneers of modern soukous.
, younger Congolese musicians looked for ways to reduce the rumba influence and play a faster paced soukous, inspired by rock n roll. A group of students calling themselves Zaiko Langa Langa
came together in 1969. The energy of their music, and the high-fashion sense of the singers and dancers, inspired by founding vocalist
Papa Wemba
, made them very popular. Pepe Kalle
, a protégé of Grand Kalle, created the band Empire Bakuba
together with Papy Tex, and they soon became Kinshasa's most popular youth band, equaled only by Zaiko Langa Langa.
Other greats of this period include Koffi Olomide
, Tshala Muana and Wenge Musica. Soukous now spread across Africa and became an influence on virtually all the styles of modern African popular music
, including highlife
, palm-wine music
, taarab
and makossa
.
, as Congo DRC was known then, deteriorated in the 1970s, some groups made their way to Tanzania
and Kenya
. By the mid-seventies, several Congolese groups were playing soukous at Kenyan night clubs. The lively cavacha, a dance craze that swept East and Central Africa during the seventies, was popularized through recordings of bands such as Zaiko Langa Langa and Orchestra Shama Shama, influencing Kenyan musicians. This rhythm, played on the snare drum
or hi-hat
, quickly became a hallmark of the Congolese sound in Nairobi and is frequently used by many of the regional bands. Several of Nairobi's renowned Swahili rumba bands formed around Tanzanian groups like Simba Wanyika
and their offshoots, Les Wanyika
and Super Wanyika Stars.
In the late 1970s, Virgin records
got involved in a couple of projects in Nairobi that produced two acclaimed LP
s from the Tanzanian-Congolese group, Orchestra Makassy
and the Kenya-based band, Super Mazembe
. One of the tracks from this album was the Swahili song Shauri Yako (meaning "it's your problem), which became a hit in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
. About this same time, the Nairobi-based Congolese vocalist Samba Mapangala
and his band Orchestra Virunga, released the LP Malako, which became one of the pioneering releases of the newly emerging world music
scene in Europe. The musical style of the East Africa-based Congolese bands gradually incorporated new elements, including Kenyan benga
music, and spawned what is sometimes called the "Swahili sound" or "Congolese sound".
and Paris
. A few more musicians left Kinshasa to work around central and east Africa before settling in either the UK or France. The basic line-up for a soukous band included three or four guitar
s, bass guitar
, drums
, brass
, vocals
, and some of them having over 20 musicians. Lyrics
were often in Lingala and occasionally in French
. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Paris
ian studios were used by many soukous stars, and the music became heavily reliant on synthesizer
s and other electronic instruments
. Some artists continued to record for the Congolese market, but others abandoned the demands of the Kinshasa public and set out to pursue new audiences. Some, like Paris-based Papa Wemba
maintained two bands, Viva La Musica
for soukous, and a group including French session players for international pop.
Kanda Bongo Man
, another Paris-based artist, pioneered fast, short tracks suitable for play on dance floors everywhere and popularly known as Kwassa kwassa
after the dance moves popularized by his and other artists' music video
s. This music appealed to Africans and to new audiences as well. Artists like Diblo Dibala
,Jeannot Bel Musumbu, Mbilia Bel, Yondo Sister, Tinderwet, Loketo, Rigo Star
, Madilu System
, Soukous Stars and veterans like Pepe Kalle
and Koffi Olomide
followed suit. Soon Paris became home to talented studio musicians who recorded for the African and Caribbean markets and filled out bands for occasional tours.
, Awilo Longomba
, Aurlus Mabele, Koffi Olomide
and groups like Extra Musica and Wenge Musica among others.
The hip-swinging dance to the fast pace of soukous ndombolo has come under criticism amid charges that it is obscene. There have been attempts to ban it in Mali
, Cameroon
and Kenya
. After an attempt to ban it from state radio and television in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2000, it became even more popular. In February, 2005 ndombolo music videos in the DR Congo were censored for indecency, and video clips by Koffi Olomide, JB M'Piana and Werrason
were banned from the airwaves.
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
and French Congo
French Congo
The French Congo was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and the Central African Republic...
during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. "Soukous" (a derivative of the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
word secousse, "shake") was originally the name of a dance popular in the Congos in the late 1960s, an African version of rumba
Cuban Rumba
In Cuban music, Rumba is a generic term covering a variety of musical rhythms and associated dances. The rumba has its influences in the music brought to Cuba by Africans brought to Cuba as slaves as well as Spanish colonizers...
. Although the genre was initially known as rumba (sometimes termed specifically as African rumba), the term "soukous" has come to refer to African rumba and its subsequent developments.
Soukous is called Congo music in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
, and Lingala in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
and Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
- referring to the Lingala language
Lingala language
Lingala, or Ngala, is a Bantu language spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a large part of the Republic of the Congo , as well as to some degree in Angola and the Central African Republic. It has over 10 million speakers...
of the region from where it originated. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, where Congolese music is also influential, it is usually referred to as Rumba. In the 1980s and early 1990s, a fast-paced style of soukous known as kwassa kwassa
Kwassa kwassa
Kwassa kwassa is a dance rhythm from the Democratic Republic of the Congo that started in the 1970s where the hips move back and forth while the hands move to follow the hips. It was very popular in Africa in the late 1980s. The words kwassa kwassa may have come from the French quoi ça?...
– named after a popular dance, was popular. A style called ndombolo, also named after a dance, is currently popular. Soukous also mixes styles from zouk
Zouk
Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish dance, the...
music.
Origins
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Congolese musicians fused Afro-CubanAfro-Cuban
The term Afro-Cuban refers to Cubans of Sub Saharan African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community...
rhythms that were made available through the EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
G.V. Series
G.V. Series
The G.V. Series were a series of 10 inch 78 rpm Gramophone records produced in Europe and the United States from 1933 to 1958, and exported to colonial Tropical Africa. They are credited with introducing Afro-Cuban music into modern African popular culture...
and were not entirely foreign to the region, having been based - to varying degrees - on musical traditions from the area with Congolese
Congolese music
The term Congolese music can refer to the music of two different countries:*Music of the Republic of the Congo *Music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and other African traditional music
Music of Africa
Africa is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
. This music emerged in the cities of Leopoldville, as Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
(DRC) was then called, and Brazzaville
Brazzaville
-Transport:The city is home to Maya-Maya Airport and a railway station on the Congo-Ocean Railway. It is also an important river port, with ferries sailing to Kinshasa and to Bangui via Impfondo...
, then capital of the French Congo
French Congo
The French Congo was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and the Central African Republic...
, now capital of the Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...
. Most of the musicians performed in Lingala language
Lingala language
Lingala, or Ngala, is a Bantu language spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a large part of the Republic of the Congo , as well as to some degree in Angola and the Central African Republic. It has over 10 million speakers...
, but some also used Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
, Tshiluba and Kikongo languages.
The big bands
Antoine Kolosoy, also known as Papa Wendo, became the first star of African rumba, touring EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in the 1940s and 1950s with his regular band, Victoria Bakolo Miziki.
By the 1950s, big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
s had become the preferred format, using acoustic bass guitar
Acoustic bass guitar
The acoustic bass guitar is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually somewhat larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar...
, multiple electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s, conga drums, maracas, scraper, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
or clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s, and trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
. Grand Kalle et l'African Jazz" (also known as African Jazz) led by Joseph Kabasele Tshamala (Grand Kalle
Grand Kalle
Joseph Kabasele Tshamala , popularly known as Le Grand Kalle, was a Congolese singer and bandleader, considered the father of modern Congolese music...
), and OK Jazz
OK Jazz
TPOK Jazz, originally known as OK Jazz, was a rumba band in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from June 1956 until December 1993.-Location:...
, later renamed TPOK Jazz (Tout Puissant Orchestre Kinshasa, meaning "all-powerful Kinshasa band") led by Francois Luambo Makiadi
Francois Luambo Makiadi
François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi was a major figure in twentieth century Congolese music, and African music in general. He is widely referred to as Franco Luambo or, simply, Franco. Known for his mastery of rumba, he was nicknamed the "Sorcerer of the Guitar" for his seemingly effortlessly fluid...
became the leading bands.
In the 1950s and 1960s, some artists who performed in the bands of Franco Luambo and Grand Kalle formed their own groups. Tabu Ley Rochereau
Tabu Ley Rochereau
Tabu Ley Rochereau is a musician from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is the leader of Orchestre Afrisa International and one of Africa's most influential vocalists and prolific songwriters...
and Dr. Nico Kasanda formed African Fiesta
African Fiesta
L'Orchestra African Fiesta, often known simply as African Fiesta, was a Congolese soukous band started by Tabu Ley Rochereau and Dr. Nico Kasanda in 1963.Tabu Ley and Dr. Nico were originally members of the seminal band Grand Kalle et l'African Jazz...
and transformed their music further by fusing Congolese folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
with soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, as well as Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and Latin beats
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
and instrumentation
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
. They were joined by Papa Wemba
Papa Wemba
Papa Wemba was born Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in 1949 in Lubefu . He is a Congolese rumba musician, one of Africa's most popular musicians, and prominent in World music.-Zaiko Langa Langa:...
and Sam Mangwana
Sam Mangwana
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....
, and classics like Afrika Mokili Mobimba made them one of Africa's greatest bands, rivalled only by TP OK Jazz. Tabu Ley Rochereau and Dr Nico Kasanda are considered the pioneers of modern soukous.
1960s – 1970s
While the influence of rumba became stronger in some bands, including Lipua-Lipua, Veve, TP OK Jazz and Bella BellaOrchestre Bella Bella
L'Orchestre Bella Bella was a prominent DR Congo soukous band that formed in the early 1970s...
, younger Congolese musicians looked for ways to reduce the rumba influence and play a faster paced soukous, inspired by rock n roll. A group of students calling themselves Zaiko Langa Langa
Zaiko Langa Langa
Zaiko Langa Langa are a seminal soukous band from DR Congo. 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...
came together in 1969. The energy of their music, and the high-fashion sense of the singers and dancers, inspired by founding vocalist
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Papa Wemba
Papa Wemba
Papa Wemba was born Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in 1949 in Lubefu . He is a Congolese rumba musician, one of Africa's most popular musicians, and prominent in World music.-Zaiko Langa Langa:...
, made them very popular. Pepe Kalle
Pepe Kalle
Pepe Kalle was a soukous singer, musician and bandleader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, a protégé of Grand Kalle, created the band Empire Bakuba
Empire Bakuba
Empire Bakuba is an influential soukous band that formed in Zaire in 1972, founded by popular singer Pepe Kalle. The name of the band refers to the Bakuba Kingdom; it is sometimes reported as Empire Bakuba du Grand Kalle, in honor of Grand Kalle, the "father of Congolese music", who was also Pepe...
together with Papy Tex, and they soon became Kinshasa's most popular youth band, equaled only by Zaiko Langa Langa.
Other greats of this period include Koffi Olomide
Koffi Olomide
Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, also known as Koffi Olomide , is a DR Congolese soukous singer, dancer, producer, and composer. He is also known by a multitude of other names and aliases.-Background:...
, Tshala Muana and Wenge Musica. Soukous now spread across Africa and became an influence on virtually all the styles of modern African popular music
Music of Africa
Africa is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
, including highlife
Highlife
Highlife is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920...
, palm-wine music
Palm-wine music
Palm-wine music is a West African musical genre. It evolved among the Kru people of Sierra Leone and Liberia, who used Portuguese guitars brought by sailors, combining local melodies and rhythms with Trinidadian calypso and soca music...
, taarab
Taarab
Taarab is a music genre popular in Tanzania and Kenya. It is influenced by music from the cultures with a historical presence in East Africa, including music from East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East and Europe...
and makossa
Makossa
Makossa is a type of music that is most popular in urban areas in Cameroon. It is similar to soukous, except that it includes strong bass rhythm and a prominent horn section. Makossa, which means " dance" in Duala, originated from a type of Duala dance called kossa, with significant influences...
.
The Spread to East Africa in the 1970s
As political conditions in ZaireZaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
, as Congo DRC was known then, deteriorated in the 1970s, some groups made their way to Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
and Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. By the mid-seventies, several Congolese groups were playing soukous at Kenyan night clubs. The lively cavacha, a dance craze that swept East and Central Africa during the seventies, was popularized through recordings of bands such as Zaiko Langa Langa and Orchestra Shama Shama, influencing Kenyan musicians. This rhythm, played on the snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
or hi-hat
Hi-hat
A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...
, quickly became a hallmark of the Congolese sound in Nairobi and is frequently used by many of the regional bands. Several of Nairobi's renowned Swahili rumba bands formed around Tanzanian groups like Simba Wanyika
Simba Wanyika
Simba Wanyika was a Kenyan based band created in 1971 by Tanzanian brothers Wilson Kinyonga and George Kinyonga, and disbanded in 1994. Simba Wanyika and its two offshoots, Les Wanyika and Super Wanyika Stars, became some of the most popular bands in Kenya. Their guitar-driven sound, inspired by...
and their offshoots, Les Wanyika
Les Wanyika
Les Wanyika was a prominent band with Kenyan and Tanzanian members and was based in Kenya. It was formed in 1978 when guitarist Omar Shabani, bassist Tom Malanga and two other members left Simba Wanyika. They were joined by John Ngereza and Issa Juma. Les Wanyika made many popular recordings, but...
and Super Wanyika Stars.
In the late 1970s, Virgin records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
got involved in a couple of projects in Nairobi that produced two acclaimed LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
s from the Tanzanian-Congolese group, Orchestra Makassy
Orchestra Makassy
Orchestra Makassy were an East African soukous band of the late 1970s and early 1980s consisting of musicians from Uganda and Zaire...
and the Kenya-based band, Super Mazembe
Super Mazembe
Orchestra Super Mazembe was a popular band based in Kenya playing Lingala music. The band had roots in Super Vox, a band formed in 1967 in Zaire and led by Mutonkole Longwa Didos. The band moved to Nairobi in 1974 and changed its name to Orchestra Super Mazembe.Their biggest hit was "Shauri...
. One of the tracks from this album was the Swahili song Shauri Yako (meaning "it's your problem), which became a hit in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
. About this same time, the Nairobi-based Congolese vocalist Samba Mapangala
Samba Mapangala
Samba Mapangala born in Matadi in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. He spent early 70's with various bands in Kinshasa, before moving to Uganda in 1975 where he and some other Congolese musicians formed the Les Kinois band. They moved to Nairobi in 1977. He formed a new band, the...
and his band Orchestra Virunga, released the LP Malako, which became one of the pioneering releases of the newly emerging world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
scene in Europe. The musical style of the East Africa-based Congolese bands gradually incorporated new elements, including Kenyan benga
Benga music
Benga is a genre of Kenyan popular music. It evolved between the late 1940s and late 1960s, in Kenya's capital city of Nairobi. In the 1940s, the African Broadcasting Service in Nairobi aired a steady stream of soukous, South African kwela, Zairean finger-style guitar and various kinds of Cuban...
music, and spawned what is sometimes called the "Swahili sound" or "Congolese sound".
The 1980s and the Paris scene
In the 1980s soukous became popular in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. A few more musicians left Kinshasa to work around central and east Africa before settling in either the UK or France. The basic line-up for a soukous band included three or four guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
, vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, and some of them having over 20 musicians. Lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
were often in Lingala and occasionally in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
ian studios were used by many soukous stars, and the music became heavily reliant on synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s and other electronic instruments
Electronic musical instrument
An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker....
. Some artists continued to record for the Congolese market, but others abandoned the demands of the Kinshasa public and set out to pursue new audiences. Some, like Paris-based Papa Wemba
Papa Wemba
Papa Wemba was born Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in 1949 in Lubefu . He is a Congolese rumba musician, one of Africa's most popular musicians, and prominent in World music.-Zaiko Langa Langa:...
maintained two bands, Viva La Musica
Viva La Musica
Viva La Musica is a popular band from Zaire founded by singer Papa Wemba in 1977. While Viva La Musica started out as a soukous band , it eventually grew into a world music act, reaching some popularity and success in the European, American, and even Asian markets, as well as in most of Africa...
for soukous, and a group including French session players for international pop.
Kanda Bongo Man
Kanda Bongo Man
Kanda Bongo Man, born 1955 in Inongo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a prominent soukous musician.Kanda Bongo Man become the singer for Orchestra Belle Mambo in 1973, developing a sound influenced by Tabu Ley...
, another Paris-based artist, pioneered fast, short tracks suitable for play on dance floors everywhere and popularly known as Kwassa kwassa
Kwassa kwassa
Kwassa kwassa is a dance rhythm from the Democratic Republic of the Congo that started in the 1970s where the hips move back and forth while the hands move to follow the hips. It was very popular in Africa in the late 1980s. The words kwassa kwassa may have come from the French quoi ça?...
after the dance moves popularized by his and other artists' music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s. This music appealed to Africans and to new audiences as well. Artists like Diblo Dibala
Diblo Dibala
Diblo Dibala, often known simply as Diblo, is a Congolese soukous musician, known as "Machine Gun" for his speed and skill on the guitar. He was born in 1954 in Kisangani. He moved to Kinshasa as a child, and aged 15 won a talent competition which led to him playing guitar in Franco's TPOK band...
,Jeannot Bel Musumbu, Mbilia Bel, Yondo Sister, Tinderwet, Loketo, Rigo Star
Rigo Star
Rigobert Bamundele, best known as Rigo Star, is an appreciated soukous guitarist and composer from DR Congo, now based in Paris. He has played with several major soukous and world music acts, including Papa Wemba's Viva La Musica, Bozi Boziana's Anti-Choc, Kanda Bongo Man, Koffi Olomide, Kelele,...
, Madilu System
Madilu System
Jean de Dieu Makiese , popularly known as Madilu System, was a soukous singer and songwriter, born in Léopoldville, Belgian Congo - what is today known as Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, Soukous Stars and veterans like Pepe Kalle
Pepe Kalle
Pepe Kalle was a soukous singer, musician and bandleader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and Koffi Olomide
Koffi Olomide
Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, also known as Koffi Olomide , is a DR Congolese soukous singer, dancer, producer, and composer. He is also known by a multitude of other names and aliases.-Background:...
followed suit. Soon Paris became home to talented studio musicians who recorded for the African and Caribbean markets and filled out bands for occasional tours.
Ndombolo
The fast soukous music currently dominating dance floors in central, eastern and western Africa is called soukous ndombolo, performed by Dany EngoboDany Engobo
Dany Engobo is a Congolese musician and leader of Les Coeurs Brises, a music group. He moved to Paris in 1976 and learned French there. From then on he started singing his songs in French.-Sources:...
, Awilo Longomba
Awilo Longomba
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 with help from Shimita, Ballou Canta, Dindo Yogo, Dally Kimoko, Sam Mangwana, Syran Mbenza and...
, Aurlus Mabele, Koffi Olomide
Koffi Olomide
Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, also known as Koffi Olomide , is a DR Congolese soukous singer, dancer, producer, and composer. He is also known by a multitude of other names and aliases.-Background:...
and groups like Extra Musica and Wenge Musica among others.
The hip-swinging dance to the fast pace of soukous ndombolo has come under criticism amid charges that it is obscene. There have been attempts to ban it in Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
and Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. After an attempt to ban it from state radio and television in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2000, it became even more popular. In February, 2005 ndombolo music videos in the DR Congo were censored for indecency, and video clips by Koffi Olomide, JB M'Piana and Werrason
Werrason
Werrason, real name Noël Ngiama Makanda born December 25, 1965 in Moliombo, a small village in Northern Democratic Republic of Congo in Kikwit, Kwilu District is a musician from the Democratic Republic of Congo and also leader of the band Wenge Maison Mere . By age 8, Werrason was singing at his...
were banned from the airwaves.
See also
- List of Soukous musicians
- SebeneSebeneThe Sebene is a kind of instrumental bridge typically executed on the electric guitar and is a characteristic element of the Congolese rumba. The development of the sebene in congolese music has been credited to both Franco Luambo and Belgian-born guitarist-producer Bill Alexandre, but it predates...
- Music of the Democratic Republic of the CongoMusic of the Democratic Republic of the CongoDescribing the music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is difficult, due to vagaries surrounding the meanings of various terms. The country itself was formerly called Zaire and is now sometimes referred to as Congo-Kinshasa to distinguish it from the Republic of the Congo...
- Musicians from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Music of AfricaMusic of AfricaAfrica is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....