She was a breathtaking beauty and had a charming persona and an infectious voice. Maybe God was compensating for her physical inadequacies brought about by polio, which denied her a straight posture and a brisk walk. The gorgeous smile on her face endeared her to fans, making her music addictive, thus cultivating loyalty among her fans.It wasn’t just that. A cocktail of other factors catapulted her to fame. Other incidental happenings acted as the wind that blew air into the embers that flared up the flames of her success. In Congolese rumba, rivalry is a known catalyst for creativity, as exemplified by Franco’s double-barreled shots of ‘chicotte’ and ‘course au pouvre’ rebuttal to the song ‘Faux millionaire’ by his erstwhile ally Jean Kwamy Kwanza Munsi; jibes are an epitome of creativity. The peak of her rivalry with Abeti Masikini pushed her musical capabilities a rung higher with the composition of her song ‘Koba,’ which was a calculated response to Abeti’s ‘Bilandalanda,’ evidently, an unprovoked salvo aimed at her by the then-queen of female Congolese music, who felt her continued reign had been threatened and dethronement was imminent and nigh by the former.The third incidental thing that thrust her to the apex of Congolese music was her professional camaraderie with her mentor, Empopo Loway. Would she really be who she became were it not for this music genius and sax player? M’Pongo was so good that her prowess in music almost rewrote the rules. Copyright laws recognize the composer of a song as the owner. The composer is basically the person who created the melody. This person may not necessarily be the person who wrote the song. The hit song ‘Ndaya,’ a favorite of military brass bands and school choirs in Kenya, was a composition of Mayaula Mayoni but arranged by Loway, who also played sax and delivered by the angelic voice of M’Pongo Love.The song is a Mayaula Mayoni song, based on the known tenets, traditions, and law, but to the lovers of the song, it is M’Pongo Love’s. The song bears the hallmark of elasticity in creativity, as it features no solo guitar, an important ingredient in the genre, with Loway’s saxophone taking the role of the lead instrument. Nonetheless, with all these, the magnet playing the light fluorescent, attracting every moth, in this case, the fans, is actually M’Pongo’s angelic voice, as soothing as it comes.Just who was M'Pongo Love in Congolese music? Was she a one-hit wonder girl, or does her musical journey traverse the song ‘Ndaya?’ Her discography is quite rich for a musician who didn’t have the advantage of living long enough to attain her musical optimum. Her commonly available works comprise at least seven albums. Among them is the all-time popular ‘Partage.’ Yet, all these songs credited to her don’t fully define the depth of her talent until all her musical engagements are enumerated.M’Pongo Love was born Alfride M’Pongo Landu on 27th August 1956, in Boma, a fishing town on the banks of the Congo River, some 62 miles off the Atlantic Coast. Although an attack by polio attempted to hold her back, she still overcame this challenge and managed to acquire formal education in Boma, where she actively participated in the school choir. Upon completion of her secondary education, she traveled to Kinshasa to train as a typist, and it was there that she met Loway, who was to become her mentor, musically.
At the age of 19, she sang with several bands, Tcheke Tcheke, Minzoto, Wella Wella, and Yotupas, among others, her primary role being a backup singer. It was around this time that she composed her debut song, ‘Pas Possible Maty, which became an instant hit. Mpongo also participated in numerous Nzing Nzongs, the same arrangement that birthed the song ‘Ndaya,’ which was composed by Mayaula Mayoni, a musician who Franco once described as a scholar, footballer, and musician.In 1980, during the mass exodus of Congolese musicians into Europe, MP’ongo unyoked herself from the shadows of Loway and traveled abroad. It was during her sojourn in Paris that she recorded two albums, ‘Femme Commercante’ and ‘La Voix Du Zaire, which were both released on her own label, ‘Love’s Music,’ which also distributed music by other artists.It is for these albums’ success that she extensively toured West Africa and even settled in Gabon for more musical glory. Upon her return to Kinshasa, her musical star continued to shine with new releases under her own label. She contracted cerebral meningitis and was admitted to a hospital in Kinshasa. She died on 15th January 1990, and five days later, her mentor Loway also passed on, in what observers term as a near rare coincidence.M’Pongo is revered beyond Africa. Jabulani head of radio, Shadrack Shihusa, describes her music as timeless and an epic echo that reverberates resilience, courage, and love, across the length and breadth of the continent, where she is a household name. Shaddy, as commonly known by his fans, says among the dozen female Congolese musicians, M’Pongo’s vocals are soothing and memorable and sums it up by stating that she was indeed a gifted musician. The budding broadcast journalist known for his deep understanding of rumba states that a presenter who doesn’t play the song rarely finds peace from his listeners.
By JEROME OGOLA
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