Didjak Munya – Oxygène

Didjak Munya – Oxygène

Didjak Munya has been on Kinshasa’s hip hop circuit for well over a deacade now, but Oxygène is his first international release. The album, which has been brewing for several years now, displays Didjak’s versatility and talent for incorporating a wide range of musical references, without ever losing site of his Congolese roots.

Collaborating with some of the DR Congo’s biggest names, Papa Wemba in the past, and now Lokua Kanza on Oxygène, Didjak shows not only his talent, but the degree to which his music has been accepted at home in Kinshasa.

Despite the high caliber talent featured on the album, Didjak has followed a strict DIY method to complete this project. No big producer, no paid atalaku shoutouts. The fact that Didjak has remained fully in charge explains both the years spent piecing together what has been a financially heavy venture, and the cohesiveness and visionary artistry of this second album.

In a country where life is hard and music is joyful, Didjak is not afraid to deal with serious issues in his raps. Much like the musicality on the album, his lyrics show versatility, ranging from diasporan identity issues to how Congolese culture is shaken up by urban living in Kinshasa. Didjak is an important voice for the DR Congo today, a country with decades of history as the most influential music hot spot in the entire continent.

Support Didjak and grab his music from iTunes or Beatport, all other services coming soon!

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Didjak Munya – Oxygène

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Didjak Munya has been on Kinshasa’s hip hop circuit for well over a deacade now, but Oxygène is his first international release. The album, which has been brewing for several years now, displays Didjak’s versatility and talent for incorporating a wide range of musical references, without ever losing site of his Congolese roots.

Collaborating with some of the DR Congo’s biggest names, Papa Wemba in the past, and now Lokua Kanza on Oxygène, Didjak shows not only his talent, but the degree to which his music has been accepted at home in Kinshasa.

Despite the high caliber talent featured on the album, Didjak has followed a strict DIY method to complete this project. No big producer, no paid atalaku shoutouts. The fact that Didjak has remained fully in charge explains both the years spent piecing together what has been a financially heavy venture, and the cohesiveness and visionary artistry of this second album.

In a country where life is hard and music is joyful, Didjak is not afraid to deal with serious issues in his raps. Much like the musicality on the album, his lyrics show versatility, ranging from diasporan identity issues to how Congolese culture is shaken up by urban living in Kinshasa. Didjak is an important voice for the DR Congo today, a country with decades of history as the most influential music hot spot in the entire continent.

Support Didjak and grab his music from iTunes or Beatport, all other services coming soon!

​

ARTIST

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Friday Madness: Maskarado “Tabacanawa”

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In Luanda, most of the top house music producers don’t really talk, or even know each other. I was a bit sad to realize that all of the big names mostly evolve on their own, partnerships are incredibly rare, DJ Djeff and DJ Silyvi being the most notorious.

But one guy brings it all together, because he doesn’t compete with anybody, but rather completes everybody’s music: the one and only Maskarado. A cat I had the pleasure of meeting on my trip to Luanda in 2009, when he was already spitting rhymes on top of house beats. This was before Elegom Bounsa, which not only put Maskarado on the map in a big way, it put domestic Angolan house music on the map in Luanda.

Today house music is huge in Angola, but still defined by very specific boundaries. Maskarado seems to continue his mission to bring down these barriers, he distills his kuduro style rapping on all kinds of uptempo beats, and Tabacanawa is a fine example of that sound. Bruno and Nelson Rudebeatz of house crew Homeboyz, are lucky to be around: Nelson almost passed a couple of months ago. Seems his close encounter with death only made his determination stronger: I am completely and entirely sold by this beat!