Kanda Bongo Man

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Kanda Bongo Man (* 1955 in Inongo , then Belgian Congo ) is an important Congolese singer of the Soukous , the guitar-based African dance music style.

His lyrics are sung in the Congolese language Lingála and in French and deal with everyday topics from life and love.

life and career

Kanda Bongo Man - he got his name from his grandfather - was born in 1955 in the city of Inongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo; then Belgian Congo), as a member of the Bandundu tribe. The inventor of the dance rhythm "Kwassa-Kwassa" left school at the age of 18 and from then on played mainly rumba music in a local band in Kinshasa . In 1976 he began to work for three years in the Orchester Bella Mambo . In 1979 he moved to Paris , where he worked in a window factory.

In 1981 Kanda Bongo Man brought out his first album Yole with the titles Amour Fou and Kwassa-Kwassa . The music was strongly rhythmic. In 1983 he played at the WOMAD Festival in England and was also a convincing dancer. A number of other albums followed, in which he processed various Western musical influences, which, however, always remained true to the style of the Soukous . In 1989, the first album Kwassa Kwassa appeared on the American market, which contained songs from the albums Lela lela and Sai Liza produced in France .

He made important live appearances in the following years with his second appearance at the WOMAD Festival in 2002, at the Glastonbury Festival in 2003 and at the Live 8 concert at the Eden Project in Cornwall . He also appeared three times (1992, 2002 and 2003) in the Peel Sessions on BBC Radio 1 .

In Paris, where he currently lives, he works on his own label Bongo Man Records with younger artists on various projects. Among other things, he cooperated with the producer Alain Nkossi Konda, who now lives in southern Germany, for the production African Rose: Volume 1 , on which various artists from the African continent can be heard.

Discography (excerpt)

  • Iyole (1981)
  • Djessy (1982)
  • Amour Fou (1984)
  • Malinga (1986)
  • Lela Lela (1987)
  • Sai Liza (1988)
  • Kwassa Kwassa (1989)
  • Isambe Monie (1990)
  • Zing Zong (1991)
  • Sango (1992)
  • Soukous in Central Park (1993)
  • Sweet (1995)
  • Kwassa Kwassa (1995)
  • Welcome to South Africa (1995)
  • Zing Zong (Hannibal, 1996)
  • Francophonix (1999)
  • Balobi (2002)
  • Swalati (2003)
  • Sana (2006)
  • Soukous Time (2008)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography in the All Music Guide, written by Craig Harris

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kanda Bongo Man
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Congolese musician of the soukous
DATE OF BIRTH 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Inongo , Belgian Congo