The rumba
Rumba in the DRC is an almost stereotypical emblem, but an extremely typical product and a source of local pride. The genre came to life in the 1950s, facilitated by the new studios that accompanied the emergence of musicians such as Jean Bosco Mwenda, father of the picking guitar style typical of the genre. Very quickly, structured orchestras were formed, developing a new style based on Cuban influences to give it its rhythm and emblematic sound. Among them, Joseph Kabasele and his African Jazz, and François Luambo and the famous Tout Puissant Ok Jazz, established themselves as the fathers of rumba.
Two orchestras, two pillars from which the entire ecosystem of Congolese rumba would descend over the coming decades. Their immediate heirs emerged in the next generation, personified by icons Pascal Tabu - better known as Tabu Ley Rochereau - and Docteur Nico Kasanda - an excellent guitarist who is also credited with the Congolese picking technique. The two formed the group African Fiesta, which offered a more Caribbean and festive interpretation of rumba, and invented one of its famous derivatives: soukous.
In the mid-1960s, a yéyé and psychedelic wave driven by the Congolese diaspora in Belgium brought fresh blood to the genre, sparking the emergence of groups such as the unmissable Zaïko Langa-Langa, which took a funkier turn in rumba, rethinking the instrumentation, introducing a new rhythm and infusing rumba with a livelier, more danceable temperament. Still active today, the Zaïko orchestra initiated a mini revolution in rumba and established itself as one of the country's most influential groups in the 1970s.
But if Zaïko is so creative and rebellious, it's largely because the orchestra is made up of some fabulous musicians who went on to become stars in the country. Or even the world. Like Papa Wemba, national icon and the best-known Congolese artist outside the country. Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba, his real name, started out with Zaïko Langa-Langa. In 1975, he formed the short-lived Isifi ("Institut de Savoir Idéologique pour la Formation des Idoles") before creating the legendary Viva la Musica orchestra in 1977.
Beyond his seminal musical work, it's a whole way of life, not to say a philosophy, that the artist has imposed over the years. Papa Wemba is also a style of dress, a way of thinking and speaking that has inspired several generations of Congolese. It's an art of living that was at the origin of SAPE (the famous Société des Ambianceurs et Personnes élégantes, the Kinshasa and Brazzaville social and clothing movement). He remained active and dynamic until his death in 2016, and remains just as famous for his flair, Papa having helped many other Congolese music stars to emerge.
By far the most important of these is King Kester Emeneya (1956 - 2014). Real name Jean-Baptiste Emeneya Mubiala, he joined Papa Wemba's legendary group Viva la Musica between 1977 and 1982, and quickly established himself as one of the emblematic protagonists of Congolese rumba and SAPE. It was he who introduced the synthesizer to Congolese music, opening a door into which the entire new generation rushed.
In the early 1980s, King Kester Emeneya's innovations had a particular influence on the music of a young, as yet unknown group (but one that would not remain so): Wenge Musica. Wenge Musica was so influential for its entire generation, because this young band offered a new, more frenzied interpretation than ever of the original rumba: " ndombolo ". Ndombolo has become an essential musical reference throughout the continent, and refers both to the music (a hyper-rhythmic evolution of rumba) and to the characteristic dance that accompanies it. Today, the term is even used outside the DRC to refer to rumba.
Wenge Musica was the leading musical group from the 1980s to the end of the 1990s. It kept the whole of Africa dancing for over ten years, and most of its members went on to become ndombolo stars. Werrason, JB Mpiana, Didier Masela and Alain Makaba are just some of the names that left their mark (and still do) on Congolese music, joined in the 1980s by others - at least as important - from a rival orchestra now extinct - Quartier Latin International - made up of Koffi Olomide, Fally Ipupa and Ferre Gola. Three of the country's most popular names.
Indefatigable, ndombolo has inspired, and continues to inspire, many other African trends such as Côte d'Ivoire's coupé décalé and lopélé . As for rumba, it's an immortal pleasure that can be enjoyed on many local stages. For example, you can enjoy it at La Crèche, a venerable institution in the lively Matongé district, and a bar/terrace/discotheque where a number of legends - such as the famous group Zaïko - are regulars. Also in Kinshasa, the Inzia restaurant offers not only excellent traditional dishes cooked over embers, but also Congolese rumba concerts. The third Kinshasa address, Extrême Ma Campagne, formerly Sai Sai Club, offers concerts by great Kinshasa musicians such as Jean Goubald and (here too) Zaïko.
Among all the compilations available on the subject, the album Roots Of Rumba Rock Congo Classics 1953-1955 released by Crammed Discs in 2006 is a truly excellent dive into rumba and Congolese music before soukous and ndombolo.
Popular music
Outside of rumba, there's a whole constellation of great names in Congolese music to get to know. Starting with So Kalmery, a songwriter born in 1955 and representative of brakka music, a music and philosophy, a kind of Afro-folk from the 1940s, whose name is the Swahili contraction of " bra ", meaning beginning, and " ka ", infinity and spirit.
Another important artist is Jean Goubald, a singer and guitarist with an atypical style blending reggae, blues, R'n'B, jazz and rumba, who has collaborated with Tabu Ley Rochereau and the group Zaïko Langa- Langa. Another musician who has collaborated with the crème de la crème of Congolese (Papa Wemba, Koffi Olomide) and even international (Manu Dibango, Miriam Makeba) music is Lokua Kanza, a songwriter with a unique voice and rich, travelling influences.
If Flamme Kapaya is recognized in the DRC as one of the best guitarists of his generation, it's because he's close to a virtuoso. Self-taught, he first came to prominence as a member of singer Werrason's legendary group Maison Mère, where he remained for ten years, dazzling audiences with his solos. In 2007, he met Congolese dancer and choreographer Faustin Linyekula, with whom he began a long artistic collaboration that took him all over the world, from the Avignon Festival to New York.
Another highly respected Congolese name, Ray Lema, is a musician of great curiosity and an avid discoverer. Trained in Western classical music, this pianist offers one of the finest syntheses of African music and sounds from around the world, and has collaborated with countless artists including Tony Allen, Manu Dibango, Jacques Higelin, Charlélie Couture and Alain Bashung...
Last but not least, Jupiter & Okwess International is a Congolese rock hyphen between afrobeat and funk. It's remarkable, and has been noticed by the great Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), who has collaborated with them.
Contemporary music
The roots of today's music go back to the mid-1980s, when so-called "tradi-modern" music began to take over the Congolese cultural landscape with its new-style orchestras playing traditional aesthetics with contemporary instruments (such as the synthesizer). Spurred on by the success of the Swedé Swedé phenomenon, an entire scene emerged to impose this new sound: Bayuda, Mabele Elesi, Basokin...
Today, this tradi-modern current has evolved and remains more alive than ever. It is a real international showcase for Congolese music, brought to stages all over the world by groups that have become iconic, such as Konono N° 1. Formed in the 1970s, Konono N° 1 took on a new dimension in the early 2000s when it perfected its blend of traditional music and instruments - such as the likembé, a thumb piano that it amplifies - avant-garde rock and electronic music. The result is the masterpiece Congotronics, an album that gave its name to a label bringing together artists with the same ambition, such as Staff Benda Bililli and Kasai Allstars, to name but a few. Today's bands, such as the feverish KOKOKO! or the punkish Fulu Miziki, are direct heirs to this tradition. More experimental is Rey Sapienz, who has developed a contemporary version of soukous with fractured melodies and shattered rhythms, which he has dubbed " Congo techno ".
As in many countries on the African continent, the rap scene is particularly well developed in the DRC. Apart from Gims, born in Kinshasa and enjoying a flourishing career in France,b and Baloji, a very arty rapper from Lubumbashi living in Belgium, the DRC has a prolific national scene, with PNB (Pensée Nègre Brute), Lexxus Legal, Alesh, Orakle (one of the few female rappers) and Didjak Munya just a handful of names. Also, few people know it, but rapper Youssoupha is the son of Tabu Ley Rochereau and a native of Kinshasa.
Classical music
Classical music in the Western sense of the term is very rare in the DRC. That said, there is a high-quality philharmonic ensemble here with an astonishing personality: the Orchestre symphonique kimbanguiste (OSK). Founded in 1994 by Armand Diangienda, the grandson of religious leader Simon Kimbangu (1887-1951) - founder of Kimbanguism (the third religion in the DRC), this former airplane pilot succeeded in creating the first symphony orchestra on the African continent. Completely self-taught, he learned to conduct and compose, and now knows how to handle virtually all classical and modern musical instruments.
A breathtaking tour de force that began in 1994, when he recruited volunteer musicians from the faithful of the Kimbanguist Church and equipped them with instruments made from odds and ends. Within a few months, his ensemble had mastered works such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Initially a cellist, he became the ensemble's conductor in 2012 - a role previously held by Philippe Nkanza, then director of the Congolese National Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art.
Today, the OSK boasts some two hundred members, musicians and choristers who explore a repertoire ranging from the very classical, such as Beethoven and Mozart, to the more contemporary, such as Arvo Pärt.
This astonishing journey is particularly well chronicled in the documentary Kinshasa Symphony (2010) by Claus Wischmann and Martin Baer, which brought them international attention.
In Kinshasa, the OSK performs regularly at the Théâtre de Verdure, a magnificent venue built by Mobutu in 1970 in his paradisiacal estate on Mont Ngaliema (an exceptional site).
Contemporary dance
When we think of the DRC, we inevitably think of ndombolo and its various cousins. But in addition to this hyper-popular dance, a whole Congolese contemporary dance scene is making a name for itself the world over. The country's most emblematic choreographer, whose fame has crossed the most borders, is without doubt Faustin Linyekula (mentioned above). He has performed all over the world, including at the Festival d'Avignon, in New York - where his work won a Bessie Award - in London, where he worked with the Tate Modern, and in Paris, where he was invited by the Comédie-Française to stage Racine's Bérénice. He returned to the DRC in 2003 to found Studios Kabako in Makiso , a creative and performance structure that supports and accompanies numerous artists. His works are sometimes presented at the Halle de la Gombe, the emblematic venue where the Institut français has been based since 1999. It is via this structure that other important names in Congolese choreography, such as Papy Ebotani and Yves Mwamba, have been able to build their current careers.
Also affiliated with Studio Kabako, Dorine Mokha was an internationally-renowned choreographer and humanist artist whose stagings tackled burning issues such as the difficulties faced by the country's LGBT community. He died of malaria in 2021, leaving a huge void on the African scene.
