Africa Mokili Mobimba Updated

Although we have always preferred the original version of the classic "Africa Mokili Mobimba" from the early 1960s, Tshala Muana's version is actually quite catchy. It's an obviously more modernized take. 

Puerto Rico-Congo Musical Routes and Roots

One of my favorite things about listening to classics of Congolese music is the covers and allusions to popular songs from Cuba or the Caribbean. In this case, a classic from African Jazz (one of my favorite groups who recorded numerous songs praising Congolese independence), one hears a horn arrangement from Cortijo y su Combo that is quoted by African Jazz. Although it's only the horn arrangement, it's excellent to hear music from Cuba and Puerto Rico taking on 'local' colors and distinctive style in the Congo. El chivo de la campana!

Isoboye, Oko, Merengue Scoubidou, and Merengue

Listening to beautiful, jazzy and happy highlife from Nigerian master Cardinal Rex is very relaxing. Check out "Isoboye," and see the great debt West African highlife owes to Caribbean music. However, what I've loved about so much of the highlife of the 1950s-1970s of Ghana and Nigeria is the jazziness of the music and the uniquely West African percussion solos that are quite melodic and irresistibly get your feet moving. I have no idea what the song is about, and though I am not overly fond of the vocals on this track, the light, breezy atmosphere of this piece, really built around the guitar, is unforgettable. 

"Oko" is even better because of more frequent horn contributions to the song. Moreover, it's supposedly a 'merengue' or at least inspired by Caribbean merengue. Like "Merengue Scoubidou" by African Jazz, it shows how other non-Cuban forms of Caribbean music were consumed in West and Central Africa, the very homeland of Afro-Caribbean music! Listen to that guitar! Pure and not contaminated with so much distortion common in rock or metal. Oh, listen to "Merengue Scoubidou" by African Jazz and just try to tell me that Dr. Nico's deceptively simple guitar lines and solo don't uplift your soul! The Ry-Co Jazz version ain't bad at all!

While you're listening to the above, don't forget about "Merengue" by Franco & OK Jazz. Like so much Congolese 'rumba,' it sounds much more like Cuban son than Dominican merengue, though I believe Franco, if he was like Dr. Nico, the guitar sounded somewhat like merengue music to them. Franco's early music from this period and the 1960s is undoubtedly better than his later soukous music and most contemporary Congolese music I have heard. 

Africa Mokili Mobimba: The Triumph of the Congo

Awa ngai na vandi motema mobongi te oh

Okomo omonisa ngai bambanda na miso (2x)

Iya la baneri African Jazz la compagne

Nakei mobembo sima na nga banzaka 

Kokanisa te cherie nakozongela yo

Na Kinshasa na Matadi pe na Boma pe mayombe

Mayi mongala ekwatele,kivu maniema,kisangani

pena brazza,puente nuare kamerun,ghana guinee

pe na mali pe na poto amerika mokili mobimba

balingi babina miziki ya afrika...

The following post began as an email sent to two Egyptian-American friends about Congolese music, perhaps the best genre in all of the vast continent of Africa's forms of music. Here is what I sent them:

"Africa Mokili Mobimba" by African Jazz, and composed by Mwamba Dechaud, is one of the best songs I have ever heard. Recorded in Belgium by the Congolese rumba band after Congolese independence in 1960, the band also features a white jazz drummer from Europe. The song is about African Jazz's music playing across Africa and the world, which, coincidentally, it did. Their song "Independence Cha Cha" became an anthem for African independence and this song in particular was a hit. The lyrics refer to various African countries and even America as places where their music can be heard, although, in 1961, nobody in the US was really listening to Congolese music.

Part of the reason I love it is because of the inherent Pan-Africanist, pro-black ethos pouring out of this song. The way they sing Africa in the chorus makes that quite clear, as well as lyrics alluding to several regions and cities of the Congo, such as Matadi, Kinshasa, Kivu, Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, and other African nations such as Ghana and Mali. In addition, the band copies traditional praise song by naming the bandmates in the lyrics, thereby keeping alive local traditions and music. Furthermore, the band African Jazz, like most Congolese groups from this period, were creating music partly based on Afro-Caribbean, especially Cuban, music. Thus, this music is a product of the Black Atlantic world, of the Atlantic slave trade, and European imperialism. Music of the Caribbean, of African origin, travels back to its source in Central Africa and strengthens the bridge connecting the African diaspora in the Americas with our distant ancestral shores. Africa!

Mwamba Dechaud, who was actually Dr. Nico's brother as well as composer of "Africa Mokili Mobimba." Both brothers were great guitarists.

"Africa!" can be listened to here.

Here is a contemporary version of the song by what appears to be Americans who specialize in mixing Afrobeat, Soukous, and other African and African diasporic genres of music. Their version of the song is actually quite close to the original for the first 4 minutes before shifting to a more contemporary soukous groove. They get brownie points for singing the song in Lingala, too. "Balingi babina miziki y Afrika!"

Here is a version from 1972 that is shorter and features Tabu Ley Rochereau.

Dr. Nico, who played guitar on the original recording, also recorded another great version of the song in the future. Listen to it here. Dr. Nico is great on guitar as usual, playing smooth, ethereal solos with little distortion, a feature I've come to love about Congolese music.

This song, by the way, like many Congolese gems, is based on or loosely inspired by Cuban music. "El  Que Siembra Su Maiz" apparently influenced the "Africa Mokili Mobimba." Indeed, Grand Kalle et l'African Jazz recorded the Cuban song in the same year as "Africa Mokili Mobimba"and it sounds eerily similar.

Sam Mangwana also recorded a great version of "Africa." Check it out. He also performed the song live with Tabu Ley Rochereau in 1975 for posterity to enjoy.

African Jazz's "Table Ronde" and the End of Belgian Colonialism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReDXC0yK31M
A classic composed in honor of Congolese independence in 1960.
"Table Ronde
Independence"

"Independence Cha Cha" was also written in honor of Congolese independence from Belgium and African anti-imperialism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reModLpEloc
“Indépendance cha-cha. Tozoui,              “Here we are, independent at last,    
Oh! Kimpuanza cha cha, Tubakidi,            Long love Liberty, cha-cha,
Oh! Table Ronde cha cha, Tua gagné       Victory at the political roundtable,
Oh! Dipanda cha-cha, Tozui e e.                Long Live independence, We have won“


"Africa Mokili Mobimba" is also about African Jazz all over the world, all over the Congo. "Africa!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpkOaVMm14o


Vive le Congo! Vive Lumbumba et l'Afrique libre! Vive la rumba Congolaise!

"Vive Patrice Lumumba" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT0Y8Q7Di6Q&feature=BFa&list=PL07E8ABE39E65D5ED

"MNC Uhuru" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2A726KAof8&feature=autoplay&list=PL07E8ABE39E65D5ED&playnext=1

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