Congolese urban music
in a world of global influences
(Part 1)
For better or worse, technology has changed the way we humans interact with one another. Though geographically distant, we are only a phone call, Facebook message, Skype chat, or YouTube clip away from one another. In other words, the world is truly becoming a global village. But this new community isn’t merely cyber. With the flux of emigration and immigration going on all over our planet, our communities are overlapping a lot more than ever, and as a result are influencing one another to an ever greater degree. And nowhere is this more apparent than in music.
There’s nothing novel about incorporating foreign sounds into one’s own – many elements of the blues can be traced back to the 'motherland', for example – but there’s now a slew of respected contemporary American bands like Vampire Weekend, Fool’s Gold, Dirty Projectors, and Givers, who can all be categorided as indie Afro-Pop. What their success has done is help make African music more palatable – and much less “foreign” - to Western indie and mainstream audiences. It’s no longer uncommon to read rave reviews from culturally relevant American music blogs and magazines like Pitchfork, Spin Magazine, and The Fader of contemporary urban African artists like Spoek Mathambo, The Very Best, Die Antwoord, K’naan, and Nneka. These artists differ stylistically, but they share a common talent for organically mixing Western aesthetics with African rhythms, melodies, and sounds.
In fact, some say a reluctance to incorporate “foreign” sounds into music has contributed to the perceived decline in Congolese pop music. As a recent article on allAfrica.com pointed out, Congolese pop music dominated the African scene for decades. But in Congo, adding different sounds to the music is regarded as unoriginal at best and unpatriotic or inauthentic at worst. Ironically, the origins of rumba, considered one of Congo’s “truest” art forms, can be traced to Cuba.
Because of traditions that eschew outside influences – or at least recognised outside influences – the global revolution happening in the music world forms an antithesis to the psyche of the Congolese artist.
Yet a growing and vibrant class of Congolese urban artists is taking Congolese pop to new heights. The landscape is wide – hip-hop, electro-coupé décalé, pop, R&B, urban rumba – and it is my pleasure to introduce a few of these artists to anyone new to the contemporary urban music scene in the Democratic Republic of Congo. For anyone who's glanced at the pix and is about to scream, "where's Fally Ipupa?!", please note that the focus here is on emerging artists and artists who've been around a while but are yet to receive their fair due. So, kick back, relax, and welcome to Congo!
LIL SAM
LiL Sam is the 17-year-old protégé of DJ Meji, one of Kinshasa's leading DeeJays. The emerging rapper creates his own South Florida-influenced beats and knows how to make catchy, danceable hip-hop and crossover records. This kid has what it takes to export his music beyond Kinshasa.
Là bas
Lil Sam Feat Stematik - First Session (2010)
Soundcloud
PATHY PACHEKOPathy Pacheko is a former member of Viva La Musica, a popular band founded by Congolese icon Papa Wemba. Pacheko is a soulful singer who’s taking Congolese rumba in a new direction. His work blends soul music and traditional rumba, giving birth to a new urban rumba sound, à la Papa Wemba’s Emotion album. I hope more rumba artists will take this route.
KIBISTONEWhen it comes to diverse sound, Kibistone is your man. He does hip-hop, R&B, afrobeat and even messes with a bit of South African kwaito. He also raps in various languages: French, Lingala, and Zulu. I believe with such a range he has all the elements necessary to push him to the forefront of the African music scene.
LEXXUS LEGALWhen it comes to hip-hop crafted in Kinsasha, Lexxus Legal is the key figure in the game. This politically-conscious and didactic emcee was voted Best Hip-Hop Artist during Congo’s 2009 Ndule Awards and earned a place in the finals for the 2010 RFI World Music Prize. Mark my word, Lexxus will one day be seen as a giant in African hip-hop.
YOUSSOUPHAYoussoupha, son of Congolese rumba musician Tabu Ley, is an emcee par excellence. He’s known as the Lyricist Bantu for his poetic brand of hip-hop, and he’s helping to re-focus hip-hop on lyrics rather than just on a hot beat.
MAITRE GIMSMaitre Gims is the leader of the French platinum group Sexion D’asault and has a solo track on the group’s latest project, En Attendant L'apogée: Les Chroniques du 75. If this track serves as any indication of what we can expect from a full-on solo album, Maitre Gims’s eagerly awaited project could be one of the francophone hip-hop highlights of the year. Keep an eye on this guy.
Official site, Sexion D'assault
This is just a small taste, and in Part 2 I’ll introduce you to the artists modernizing the style of music known as coupé décalé.
Written by Yves-Alec Tambashe
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The Congolese urban music
(Part 2): Modernisers of
Coupé Décalé
Our spotlight on Congolese artists you should get to know continues with the modernisers of the style of music known as coupé décalé.
Although coupé décalé originated in Ivory Coast, its rhythms are audibly Congolese, which is why Congolese people immediately connect with it and feel right at home when they hear it. This music style is barely a decade old but some up-and-coming Congolese artists are already refreshing it by blending in some electro music, or hip-hop, and so on. It is my pleasure to introduce you to the key modern-afro-coupé décalé artists on the scene right now.TONY SAD
MC/Producer Tony Sad is based in Miami, Florida, and recently won the title of Best Diasporan Artist at Congo’s Okapi Awards. Tony mixes hip-hop and coupé décalé to create music that appears to have one purpose: to get you on your feet.
BANA C4The group Bana C4 is not yet widely known in Congolese music circles, but this lack of fame is by no means synonymous with a lack of talent. In fact, I’d say this youthful group has the potential to be a major player in the not too distant future. Bana C4 is led by the charismatic Hiro Le Coq, who is credited with creating “La danse du coq”. Fun, energetic, radio friendly, dance-floor-ready records is mandatory for success in coupé décalé, and Bana C4 seem to have this mastered.
MySpace
JESSY MATA D’ORJessy is the 2011 winner of the coveted Congolese Ndule Award for Best Artist from the Diaspora. His brand of coupé décalé mixed with electro and ndombolo took off big time in 2008 when his song Décalé Gwadabecame a megahit in France, across Africa, and among the urban crowd in DR Congo. As a direct result he was selected to represent France at the Eurovision Song Festival in 2010. (He lives in France.) For those questioning his Congolese-ness, I believe his recent appearance at JB Mpiana’s side will put any lingering doubts to rest. (In case you’re wondering why people questioned the Congolese-ness of an Ndule Award-winner? Well, sure he won the award, but he won as a “diasporan” artist. In DR Congo you have two Congolese audiences, the urban well-to-do’s, who are usually down with modern sound, and the masses. It’s similar to what you have in the States where an artist like Drake or Whiz Khalifa will win Best New Artist and the “purists” will say that isn’t “real” hip-hop, it’s too commercial. Glad to say that Jessy is finally starting to get his due in DR Congo, too.)
MySpace
LODIA H²OComing from a family of artists meant Lodia H²O was introduced to the music scene at an early age. He honed his talent by MCing at various clubs and parties. He then carried that Congolese MCing style into his solo project and incorporated elements of the soukous and ndombolo that he grew up listening to, specifically the rhythm, pace and guitar licks. His brand of coupé décalé is thus easier for the diehard soukous fans to accept, and heaven knows they are bloody hard to please!
Official blog
TUTU CALLUGITutu Callugi is the legendary former “atalaku” or animator from the Grammy Award-winning Wenge Musica BCBG before it split up in December 1997. An atalaku is like an MC but not in the sense of a rapper. Every Congolese band, regardless of style (souks, ndombolo, etc.) has an atalaku. Most Congolese songs have a singing part followed by a dancing part, which is where the tempo goes up a bit (called the “sebene”). The guy doing the singing in the dancing part is an atalaku. (You find something like this in New Orleans Bounce music, where one guy shouts out dances and people respond.) Anyway, the guys in the following video are doing the Ndombolo dance(which Tutu is responsible for popularizing), and Tutu, the guy singing, is the “atalaku”, “animating” the dancers. Before Tutu, atalakus used to just shout out the dances, then Tutu came along and added some singing elements to the “animation”. It caught on, and so he shaped the next generation of animators. This is a good spot to offer a fuller explanation of coupé décalé and the Cote D’Ivoire connection: coupé décalé is pretty much a mix of Congolese sebene with a backbeat from zouglou. Ivorian artists just got rid of the slow, singing part, but if you listen now to coupé décalé from Ivory Coast you'll hear Tutu Callugi’s influence on the artists. And this is why Congolese people feel at home in the genre. (Actually, you hear his influence in Lodia H2O and Bana C4’s music, too, as well as in that of DJ Arafat. But not so much in Jessy Matador’s music as he, like Tony Sad, uses more hip-hop.) Now a solo act, Tutu makes some pretty good urban music. He’s a bit old-school in some ways – he still makes nine-minute love songs with no dance parts – but I see the potential for him to have a great solo career. (Note: DJ Eloh, the third guy in this vid, is from Cote D’Ivoire.)
Ok, that concludes our round-up of coupé décalé modernizers, because the next two artists should have been included in Part 1 – our apologies – but we’d be doing them an injustice if we left them out altogether because of our omission last week, so here they are:
BALOJIBaloji, whose music is a mix of hip-hop, soul and rumba, is probably my, and the TIA team's, favorite artist in this entire round-up (Parts 1 and 2). He doesn’t seem to have any weaknesses: great music videos, an impeccable style, a conscious message, and metaphors that make Drake’s wordplays seem like child’s play. His album Kinshasa Succursaleis a masterpiece, even though it didn’t cause much of a splash in DR Congo. What a pity! Why didn’t it make a splash? Hard to tell, but it couldbe because his style taps into the 60’s, and mixing that with his great lyricism might be just a tad too innovative for the Congolese audience. I mean, no offence to my fellow Congolese but the home audience doesn’t seem to appreciate people being that innovative. Not that people don’t like Baloji, but with the quality of music he’s producing he ought to everyone’sfavourite. Alas, some Congolese music fans don’t even know he exists. Like I said, what a pity. Anyway, I look forward to seeing which direction his next project takes.
Official site
MOHOMBIMohombi does straight pop and R&B with a dash of zouk, and he’s been generating some buzz in the pop world, receiving airplay on MTV and BET. Of all the artists in this round-up he’s the one most likely to have the biggest crossover success, as he sings in the language of Shakespeare.
MySpace
Well, that’s it. We hope at least one of these artists makes it on to your regular playlist.
Written by Yves-Alec Tambashevia thisisafrica.me
