Soukous

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Soukous , also Rumba Lingala ; is an original music style of traditional African music from the Congo region . The soukous mainly influenced the merengue in the Dominican Republic . Its origins are in the 1930s and 1940s. After 1960 the term soukous was also used for an African dance that was very popular throughout Africa , which was danced to a variant of rumba specific to Africa .

In English-speaking West Africa, the soukous is known as Congo Music . In Kenya , Uganda and Tanzania the term Lingala is used as a reference to the common language Lingála in the Congo . As Kwassa Kwassa and N'dombolo different styles of soukous are called, are connected with those of their own, typical for that time dances. The term soukous is used particularly in Africa, the Caribbean and Europe for music of Congolese origin, but is not widespread in the Congo itself. The term Rumba congolaise is used there as a collective name for the styles described below . The division into a vocal part and a dance instrumental part (level) is particularly pronounced in the music heard in the Congo. The level is typically accompanied by animators shouting and shouting, known as atalaku .

Origin of the soukous

The soukous was developed in the Congo region around 1940 and was initially only popular in this region. The origins are in traditional Congolese music and in the highlife from the region around Ghana and Sierra Leone . Influences from Cuban music and other Caribbean and South American music styles are considered certain . Soukous pioneers appeared in the cities of Boma , Matadi , Léopoldville (now Kinshasa ) and Brazzaville in the early 1940s . As a rule, the soukous is sung in Lingála, often mixed with the national language French , more rarely in Tshiluba or Kikongo . The East African variant Swahili Rumba is sung in Swahili in Kenya and Tanzania .

The era of the big bands

Big bands became popular in the Congo region in the 1950s, and their music in the region was heavily influenced by the soukous. The usual format consisted of an acoustic bass guitar , several electric guitars , congas , maracas , a flute or clarinet , several saxophones, and a trumpet . The most famous big bands in Congo were Franco et le TP OK Jazz , who shaped the OK jazz style, and Le Grand Kallé et l'African Jazz , who inspired the African jazz style.

Around 1960, some musicians separated from these bands and founded their own bands. Tabu Ley Rochereau and Dr. Nico founded African Fiesta and developed their music further by mixing elements of Congolese folk music with soul ; Influences from Caribbean music and Latin American instrumentation were added. Other members of the African Fiesta were Papa Wemba and Sam Mangwana . Above all, her song Afrika Mokili Mobimba made her popular across the continent. Alongside Franco (Luambo), Tabu Ley Rochereau and Nico Kasanda are considered the fathers of the modern soukous.

The Zaiko era

While the influence of rumba on music in the big soukous bands such as Lipua-Lipua , Veve , TP OK Jazz and Bella Bella grew stronger, young Congolese musicians were looking for ways to break free of rumba in order to achieve a faster, playing rock 'n' roll inspired soukous. In 1969 a student band was founded that called itself Zaiko Langa Langa . The band around Jossart Nyoka Longo had their first appearance in the Nganda (bar) "Hawai" in Kinshasa. The band quickly became very popular due to the energy of their music and the fashion sense of the dancers and singers, especially inspired by one of the singers, Papa Wemba . Papa Wemba was one of the founders of the so-called Sapeur movement - fashion, gait, hairstyle, everything was “fixed”. Elegance was important, even if there was no bread in the house, the “fever of fashion” was more important. Pepe Kalle , a pupil of Grand Kalle, formed the band Empire Bakuba with Papy Tex , which quickly became Kinshasa's most popular band.

Other greats of the Zaiko era were Koffi Olomide , Tshala Muana and Wenge Musica . Koffi Olomide learned to sing and play the guitar from Papa Wemba, with whom he later cultivated an enmity that can be heard in constant allusions in many songs. Koffi also messed with Jossart Nyoka Longo, he relaxed his wife. As a result, they say, Jossart hooked up with Koffi's mom. So it says in a song: "Koffi abenga Nyoka Longo Papa" (Koffi calls Nyoka Longo "Papa").

The Soukous now spread rapidly across the continent and influenced almost all modern African musical styles, especially the high life, the palm wine music , the tarabu and Makossa .

When the political conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo changed in the 1970s , some groups emigrated to Nairobi , Kenya . In the mid-1970s, there were several popular Congolese bands playing rumba in Nairobi's nightclubs. From their influence on Kenyan music, especially through the fast music of Zaiko, the fast dance Cavacha developed , which then spread throughout East and Central Africa - it was danced mainly to the music of Zaiko Langa Langa and Orchestra Shama Shama . The leading instruments were snare drums and hi-hats . Kenyans and Tanzanians, inspired by this music, founded the groups Simba Wanyika , Les Wanyika and Super Wanyika Stars , among others .

At the end of that decade, Virgin Records began to get involved in Kenyan music, and LPs were produced by the Tanzanian-Congolese band Orchestra Makassy and the Kenyan band Super Mazembe . At the same time, the French record label Afro Rythmes released an LP by the Orchestra Virunga called "Malako". This record featured the song Shauri Yako (in German: “That's your problem”), which became a hit across East Africa.

The Parisian scene

In the 1980s, the soukous became popular in Paris and London . Other musicians left Kinshasa to work in East and Central Africa, many of whom then moved to Great Britain or France . The average soukous band now included three or four guitars, a bass, drums, various brass instruments and singers - some soukous groups consisted of over 20 musicians. The lyrics were sung in lingala or, more rarely, in French . In the late 80s and 1990s, the bands began incorporating synthesizers and other electronic instruments into their music. Few musicians were still producing for the Congolese market, and many played more music tailored to European needs. Some musicians, like Papa Wemba, even had two bands: Viva la Musica for Soukous and another group, together with French musicians, who produced international pop music .

Kanda Bongo Man was born in 1955 in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1979 he went to Paris and became a head of the scene there. He created a very fast soukous, which became popular on the dance floors in discos and was known under the name Kwassa Kwassa , after another African dance ( Mbaqanga , based on a South African style of music). This music spread to Africa and Europe alike, and many new groups, such as Diblo Dibala , Mbilia Bel , Yondo Sister , Loketo , Rigo Star , Madilu System and Soukous Stars , but also veterans like Pepe Kalle and Koffi Olomide, began such Playing music. Paris quickly became the center of this movement. In 2020 Aurlus Mabélé , who was known as the "King of the Soukous", died there .

N'dombolo

Long after the spread of kvassa kvassa in European discos, a very fast soukous variant under the name N'dombolo spread in discos in East and Central Africa. Movement artists include Koffi Olomide, Wenge Musica and Werrason . It is said that the N'dombolo was invented because the dictator Laurent-Désiré Kabila had a walking problem - he limped. N'dombolo reminds a little of that.

The body-hugging movements in the N'dombolo dance, especially the swinging of the hips and shaking the buttocks, led to the criticism that this music was obscene . There have been attempts to ban this music from Mali , Cameroon and Kenya. Attempts to get N'dombolo off radio and television in the Democratic Republic of the Congo only made the music even more popular. On February 11, 2005, several music videos, including those by Koffi Olomide, JB M'Piana and Werrason, were indexed on the Congolese radio for indecency .

See also

literature

  • Mauro Abbühl, Chudi Bürgi, Dagmar Kopše: Soukous, Kathak and Bachata, music and dance from Africa, Asia and Latin America in Switzerland. Limmat Verlag, Zurich 2004. ISBN 3-85791-468-8
  • Wolfgang Bender: Sweet Mother: Modern African Music Trickster, Munich 1985; ISBN 3-923804-10-5
  • Ronnie Graham: World of African Music: Stern's Guide to Contemporary African Music Pluto, London 1992; ISBN 0745305520
  • Jesse Samba Wheeler: Rumba Lingala as Colonial Resistance. Image & Narrative, Vol. 10, No. 5, February 2005 Online at Internet Archive

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Coronavirus: Congolese music icon dies in Paris. africanews.com, March 20, 2020, accessed March 21, 2020