December 10, 2024 - 04:00 PM
By Jarome Ogola. Tshala Muana is easily one of the most recognized and celebrated African female musicians. In the mid-1980s, she was a household name across the region with her songs, receiving regular airplay in many radio programs. Her hit song 'karibu yangu' gained wild popularity in entertainment joints. The showmanship that was introduced to Congolese music by James Brown, in the 1974 boxing bout concert, between the legendary Mohammed Ali and George Foreman, popularly known as 'Rumble in the Jungle ‘and perfected by local bands like Orchestre Sosoliso and Orchestre Stukas, found a continuation into the 1980s through Tshala's powerful stage performances. Her dancing......
December 10, 2024 - 02:00 PM
Chee hee hee hee
Che che che che
Unapenda vitu vya che
What do you like?
Unapenda dezo dezo
You like free things
Weh bwana weh yatakushinda
Sir, you will be defeated
Chee hee hee
Che che che che
Pombe unaomba omba
You beg for alcohol
Sigara hutaki kuwacha
You don't want to quit smoking
Weh bwana weh umekuchocha
Don't you get tired?
Chee hee hee
Che che che che
Kodi ya nyumba hulipi
You don't pay rent
Maji yameshakatwa-ha
The water has been cut off
Operation, kata umeme inakuja
The operation, electricity shutdown are coming
Chee hee hee hee
Che che che che
Unataka vyote vya che
You want everything......
December 10, 2024 - 10:15 AM
It has been two years since the Queen of Mutuashi, Tshala Muana, breathed her last in a hospital in Kinshasa, where she had been admitted. Her death marked the end of an illustrious career that lasted three decades and saw her become a celebrity not just in her home country, the DRC, but across the continent.
Although DRC has had a galaxy of women musicians, from the days of Pauline Lisanga at Loningisa studios in 1952 to the era of Marcel Ebibya, Lucy Eyenga, and the generation of Mbilia Bell, and even those who came after her, like Cindy Le Coeur, Tshala Muana's contribution to Congolese music stands out for several reasons.
She is the face of Mutwashi. She did not invent the dance, but......
December 09, 2024 - 04:00 PM
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. Dibala remained with the group for only a short period, going on to play with Vox Africa, Orchestra Bella Mambo, and Bella Bella, in which band he first played with Kanda Bongo Man.
Diblo earned his musical reputation in Paris, but he began his career in Congo-Kinshasa, playing in relative obscurity with Bella Mambo, an offshoot of the popular band Bella Bella. Together with singer Kanda Bongo Man,......
December 08, 2024 - 09:05 PM
In a tète-à-tète with one top Congolese musician who has worked with almost all the genre's big bands, he confided to Jabulani that Nyboma was the greatest singer DRC ever had.
The musician who had wished to remain anonymous opened up that Nyboma's smooth high tenor is ranked top notched in the industry and thus the explanation there was a scramble for him in the early 1970s, with everyone salivating for a bit of the singing sensation.
To buttress his point, the said musician threw in two songs, Kamale which Nyboma did with Orchestra Lipua Lipua, and Ayi Djo which he did with Orchestra Kamale.
Indeed, Nyboma's singing prowess in the two songs is very exceptional. To......
December 08, 2024 - 08:26 AM
In the world of Congolese music, where lead guitarists often take the spotlight, Lokassa ya M'bongo stands out as a rhythm guitarist who achieved stardom. His journey began in 1968 with one of Africa’s greatest bands, Afrisa, led by the legendary Tabu Ley Rochereau. Initially, the band was known as African Fiesta Nationale, and Lokassa spent years in the background, playing alongside prominent musicians like Attel Mbumba, Michelino Mavatiku Visi, and Dino Vangu.
For a decade, he contributed to the success of Afrisa’s hits and performed on the international stage, including the band's breakthrough shows at the Olympia in Paris in 1970.
In 1978, during an Afrisa tour, Lokassa,......
December 07, 2024 - 01:23 PM
Do you want your son to become a musician? Name him, KASONGO. It is a musician's name.
1. ANTOINE KASONGO is the first generation who recorded at Ngoma in the 50s. His peers were Paul Mwanga, Camile Feruzi, Leon Bukassa, Wendo Nkolosoy, Henri Bowane, my favorite musician Henrique Tinapa, etc. Franco, Grand Kale, Tabuley, Bavon, etc. are second generation, and Lipua Lipua, Bela Bela, Zaiko, Kamale, etc, are third generation.
2. RONDOT KASONGO WA KASONGO, the bald head OKJ sax player. Kasongo, who joined in 1969, replacing Verckys, died of lung cancer in the 90s. He was a consistent figure in OKJ songs, and you'd easily mistake him for part of the band's sound system, which is comprised......
December 05, 2024 - 06:32 PM
From right: Moreno Batamba, Joe Mopero, Muhindi Joseph :behind Muhindi, on rythm is Kiarie extreme left Moses khayesa."Slim Ali and Kelly Brown are undoubtedly Kenya's all-time finest musicians," Joe Mopero told Jabulani Radio. "When a giant points in a direction and tells you that's a giant, then what you are being shown must indeed be a humongous mammoth."
The founder and bandleader of Zambezi Band is easily one of the country's most glowing musicians, given his consistency and the popularity of his songs over the decades.
His heavy baritone booms through the hall when his band is performing. Coupled with his composing prowess, guitar skills, and mastery of the Lingala language, Joe......
December 03, 2024 - 03:22 PM
Topesanaki elaka eeh,(We had a promise to each other)ngai na cherry nanga aah,(between I and my love/sweetheart)akei mobembo kaka posa misato ooh,(when he was going on a journey that would take him only three weeks)soki akomi epayi ya akei eeh,(that when he arrives where he was going)Akomela nga aah,(he would write me)ata mokanda ya pamba(a mere letter)esula jenga aah,(to soothe/console me)lelo zela oyo esuki kaka na commercial,(today that promise has ended up to be like waiting for a commercial advert)Tokomi mbula misato epayi nakabwela monzela aah,(It's now three years waiting still for him)kaka molema aah ngo ya ooh,(it's only my soul that knows how)nataka kufa eeh,(I really wish to......
November 30, 2024 - 08:00 PM
Just like deprivation, rivalry begets creativity. Some of the most popular rumba songs, ie 'mokolo tonga aka taileur' of Franco or 'Jela' of Ochieng Kabasele, were composed while the musicians were incarcerated at Makala prison In Kinshasa and King'ong'o Prison in Kenya, respectively.
The same can be said of rivalry. At peak of their careers, Tabuley and Luambo oftentimes sought to outdo each other and this urge worked wonders in pushing creativity a notch higher.
When Tabuley and Nico disagreed over the management of African Fiesta Original, the altercation led to the creation of two of the finest bands: African Fiesta Sukisa and its sibling, African Fiesta National, which......
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