15 Apr Did You Know? Soukous Means Congolese Music.

Music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo varies in its different forms. Outside of Africa, most music from the Democratic Republic of Congo is called Soukous, which most accurately refers instead to a dance popular in the late 1960s. The term rumba orrock-rumba is also used generically to refer to Congolese music, though neither is precise nor accurately descriptive.

Really, People from the Congo have no single term for their own music, per se, although muziki na biso (“our music”) was used until the late 1970s, and now the most common name is ndule, which simply means music in the Lingala language; most songs from the Democratic Republic of the Congo are sung in Lingala.

A little history is such that since the colonial era, Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, has been one of the great centers of musical innovation, ranking alongside Nairobi,Lagos, Johannesburg and Abidjan in influence. The country, however, was carved out from territories controlled by many different ethnic groups, many of which had little in common with each other. Each maintained (and continue to do so) their own folk music traditions, and there was little in the way of a pan-Congolese musical identity until the 1940s.

However, on present day, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s music is domoninated by the “ndombolo” dance and well represented by the newest congolese superstar: Fally Ipupa who is a strong performer from the Democratic Republic of Congo who worked with the legendary Koffi Olomide in his group, Quartier Latin, before branching out on his own. His performances are energetic, his delivery, unsurpassable. Female fans love to watch as he whips his songs to new heights in time to his swiveling hips (part of the reason he made the top ten sexiest men list). The mix of rhumba, reggae, soul and ndombolo have proven to be his magical elixir. He has performed to sell out audiences in Paris and New York and continues to gain recognition internationally for his music.  His awards include the Césaire de la Musique award for best male artist of the year (October 2007); he received a gold disc for his album, Droit Chemin, and has been nominated for best music clip, and best artist in the Black Music Awards to be held in Coutonou, Benin on January 12, 2008. Droit Chemin, produced by Maïka Munan (who has worked with famous Congolese musicians such as Tabu Ley Rochereau, M’Bilia Bel, Papa Wemba, Afia Mala), has been received with accolades and is extremely popular with his fans.

Also see: JÙJÚ MUSIC

               credit: Wikipedia