Congolese 'Rumba' and Popular Music

Here is a link to my youtube playlist for Congolese rumba and soukous

My favorite Congolese song is African Jazz Mokili Mobimba by African Jazz, another pan-African jam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvnhiELp2GE&feature=related

It is also one of the most widely covered songs in the Congolese repertoire.

1. "Independence Cha Cha" by Joseph Kabasele Tshamala  and featuring Dr. Nico on guitar, composed in honor of Congolese independence. Long live the legacy of Patrice Lumumba and African self-determination. Also, a beautiful song showing how Congolese music is indebted to Cuban and Caribbean styles. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reModLpEloc

Indépendance cha cha tozui e
Oh! Kimpuanza cha cha tubakidi
Oh! Table Ronde cha cha ba gagné o
Oh! Dipanda cha cha tozui e

Franco and OK Jazz were legends of Congolese popular music. Franco, a singer and guitarist, carried on the fusion of Cuban, Caribbean, and local Congolese styles with OK Jazz. His song, "Mario," a statement on gender relations in 1980s Congo DRC became an international hit sung in the Lingala language, which is a widely spoken and understood language used in Kinshasa and western Congo. Unfortunately, Franco was not an outspoken critic of Mobutu's regime, but his music has unquestionably changed the course of not only Congolese but African pop music in the 20th century. Several of his songs are beautiful lyrically and always feature aesthetically pleasing guitar lines.

2. "Mario" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JTWuPjW6Dw&feature=related

Oh Mario
Luka ata mwasi yo moko obala
Mario mosala kolinga ba maman mobokoli
Basuka yo te ?
Lelo makambo lobi makambo nalembi
Lelo bitumba lobi koswana nabaye
Naboyi kobebisa nzoto na manzaka nalembi eh
Mario nalembi e e
Mario nabaye e e

Dr. Nico, or Docteur Nico, was a great guitarist and composer himself. He helped create the 'merengue' style of Congolese 'rumba" (but 'rumba' in Congo owes far more to Cuban son than Cuban rumba and has nothing in common in Dominican merengue). He was also a founding member of African Jazz, a 1950s band that included Joseph Kasabele, author of "Independence Cha Cha." Like other guitarists in the 1950s, he began using an electric guitar and moving away from acoustic music. However, Congolese music did not become heavily dependent on electric instruments until more recently, when soukous international fame and spread to Paris led to increased use of synthesizers, etc.

3. "Merengue" has some nice saxophone lines. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDr_Zk5V9mQ

4. "Parafifi" by African Jazz is also good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftd18tr1M6g&feature=related

5. "Maria Valente" is also great. Sounds like Cuba. 

6. Franco did a sequel to "Mario" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVFg7nCUWB8

7. "Papy Sodolo" is a live recording of Congolese musiciens in London in the 1980s. "Africa!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9ASvTcFjWk

8. Wendo Kolosoy's "Marie Louise" is also worth hearing. Beautiful name, beautiful voice. Also one of Kolosoy's early hits dating back to the late 1940s, when he became one of the first Cuban-styled bands in Kinshasa (Leopoldville back then) to record his music. He worked with a Greek who established Ngoma, a record label where Wendo starred and helped increase the production of Congolese records.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S_YVhK4Mts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3yJ6l8IpmM live 

9. "Mosala Mibala Ya Bato" by Franco & OK Jazz has some great guitar playing and a nice saxophone solo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7MrYv5jmIc&feature=relmfu

10. "Paquita" by Dr. Nico http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TJBvqI2MZQ&feature=related

11. African Jazz's "Merengue Scoubidou" by Dr. Nico

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHbMDttZktU

12. "Merengue President" by Dr. Nico

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWeMYsCUWbY

13. "Bella Mambo" by Franco & OK Jazz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgZ9GU_HxpI&feature=relmfu

14. Franco & OK Jazz's "Misele"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLsdZIzleWU

15. "Merengue" by Franco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmixJ8mZ1WQ

16. Franco & OK Jazz's "On Entre OK, On Sort OK"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-_bsKkpxhM&feature=related

17. "Pepe Kalle" by Wendo Kolosoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdufbSIkzfU&feature=related

18. "Lokumisa Congo" by Les Bantous de la Capitale 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lviFJXl405Q&feature=related

19. Wendo Kolosoy's "Bangala" and "Inongo"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckLPU-MXOW8&feature=related

20. "Ele Wa Bolingo" from Franco & OK Jazz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OO3jwHAX0U&feature=related

21. "Les temps passe" by Franco & OK Jazz 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_pjrIr-cjw&feature=related

22. "Mobutu" by Franco. Even though it's a praise song for an autocrat, the saxophone sounds amazing.

23. "Candidat na biso Mobutu" by Franco 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cSTL4dpcsA&feature=related

24. "Likambo Ya Ngana"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvkwOfLiDNc

25. "Ambiance Calle Katho" by African Jazz is one of the first Congolese songs to use saxophone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q2ObK85t-w

26. Succes African Jazz  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcJZN8fo7mA

27. "La mulata rumbera" http://grooveshark.com/s/La+Mulata+Rumber/3vo1AE?src=5

28. "Banana ages" http://grooveshark.com/s/Bana+Ages/3vntxm?src=5

29. "Massu" 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa09d1ioU3E

30. "Ngai oyo nazongi" 

http://grooveshark.com/s/Ngai+Oyo+Nazongi/3vnsPO?src=5

31. "Grupo OK Jazz" http://grooveshark.com/s/Grupo+O+K+Jazz/3vnxzm?src=5

32. "Finga Mama Munu" by Franco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxtywNOr4V8

33. "Aya La Mode" 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvnnWzMyf2k

34. "Attention na Sida" is important because Franco himself had AIDS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2dwiZ5pRFU

35. "Matanga Yo Modibo" by African Jazz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkVr8Ara7oE

36. "Table Ronde" by African Jazz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReDXC0yK31M