Didjak Munya Album Launch in Kinshasa

Didjak Munya Album Launch in Kinshasa

 

invit_didjak_launch

Didjak is one of the most tenacious artists I’ve met: he’s managed to self produce a full album, featuring some of the continent’s greatest voices, in a city famed for its music – and for how expensive and difficult it has become to record music. Kinshasa once had the greatest musical output in all of Africa, but these days the ratio between production costs and sales makes it almost impossible to release a full studio album. Case in point, even the biggest names in Congolese music seem to only be releasing live albums these days. But this situation hasn’t stopped Didjak, who’s been working on his sophomore album for a few years now. You can read more about Didjak’s story here, and if you happen to be in Kinshasa this weekend, make sure to check out the launch for the album Africa Numero 1 calls “simply genius”. Listen to the full album below, and grab the free magical single Nakozonga, featuring the famed first bars from Ernesto Djédjé‘s classic hit Ziboté:

 

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Music Video: in and out by betina quest

Music Video: in and out by betina quest

in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done  by Ozaki & Tiemo.       RELATED  Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

  Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns.  According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me.  As can be seen, I walk...

Didjak Munya Album Launch in Kinshasa

 

invit_didjak_launch

Didjak is one of the most tenacious artists I’ve met: he’s managed to self produce a full album, featuring some of the continent’s greatest voices, in a city famed for its music – and for how expensive and difficult it has become to record music. Kinshasa once had the greatest musical output in all of Africa, but these days the ratio between production costs and sales makes it almost impossible to release a full studio album. Case in point, even the biggest names in Congolese music seem to only be releasing live albums these days. But this situation hasn’t stopped Didjak, who’s been working on his sophomore album for a few years now. You can read more about Didjak’s story here, and if you happen to be in Kinshasa this weekend, make sure to check out the launch for the album Africa Numero 1 calls “simply genius”. Listen to the full album below, and grab the free magical single Nakozonga, featuring the famed first bars from Ernesto Djédjé‘s classic hit Ziboté:

 

RELATED

Music Video: in and out by betina quest

Music Video: in and out by betina quest

in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done  by Ozaki & Tiemo.       RELATED  Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

  Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns.  According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me.  As can be seen, I walk...

Friday Freebies – BIG FKN GUN, DJ Znobia, Alidu, Murlo, DJ Zhao

Friday Freebies – BIG FKN GUN, DJ Znobia, Alidu, Murlo, DJ Zhao

 

artworks-000045809819-uk914v-t500x500

Been drooling over this one for a few days now, finally up on soundcloud. BIG FKN GUN is the bomb as explained more thoroughly here. Okmalumkoolkat from Dirty Paraffin has a flow that has been driving me nuts ever since I heard their Greatest Hits mixtape. And Spoek, does he still need to be introduced?

dj znobia

DJ Znobia is one of my all time musical heroes. The guy has done more to shape kuduro or tarraxinha into what we now know them to be, than any other angolan or Portugues artist I can think of. On this track he goes bananas over a very, very famous sound. Bloooohoooooooood!

Screen-Shot-2013-04-19-at-3.33.24-AM

 In case you didn’t know… we will be releasing a so far so siiiiiiiick remix EP of new unreleased tracks by Mohamed Alidu, whom you can read about here. The first remix was just released as a teaser via the XLR8R website, and features the work of…. Murlo! A current favorite of mine, check these crazy tunes.

heartoflight_800

What better way to leave you than with, quite simply, the best music in the world. Orchestrated by a knowledgeable and sensitive selector, DJ Zhao. Check out the always appropriate 2 hour Chop Chop supermix he did for Akwaaba’s 2 years, as well as his recently uploaded collection of extra worthy mixes.

Screen-Shot-2013-04-19-at-3.54.13-AM

In other news, big up to The Republic for their feature in the Guardian! And a special shout out to SanSe my DJ partner in crime in Accra, who turns the big 4-0! And is about to celebrate in style, with Ackah Blay’s full highlife band… chale more vim, enjoy the weekend!

 

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Music Video: in and out by betina quest

Music Video: in and out by betina quest

in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done  by Ozaki & Tiemo.       RELATED  Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

  Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns.  According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me.  As can be seen, I walk...

Friday Freebies – BIG FKN GUN, DJ Znobia, Alidu, Murlo, DJ Zhao

 

artworks-000045809819-uk914v-t500x500

Been drooling over this one for a few days now, finally up on soundcloud. BIG FKN GUN is the bomb as explained more thoroughly here. Okmalumkoolkat from Dirty Paraffin has a flow that has been driving me nuts ever since I heard their Greatest Hits mixtape. And Spoek, does he still need to be introduced?

dj znobia

DJ Znobia is one of my all time musical heroes. The guy has done more to shape kuduro or tarraxinha into what we now know them to be, than any other angolan or Portugues artist I can think of. On this track he goes bananas over a very, very famous sound. Bloooohoooooooood!

Screen-Shot-2013-04-19-at-3.33.24-AM

 In case you didn’t know… we will be releasing a so far so siiiiiiiick remix EP of new unreleased tracks by Mohamed Alidu, whom you can read about here. The first remix was just released as a teaser via the XLR8R website, and features the work of…. Murlo! A current favorite of mine, check these crazy tunes.

heartoflight_800

What better way to leave you than with, quite simply, the best music in the world. Orchestrated by a knowledgeable and sensitive selector, DJ Zhao. Check out the always appropriate 2 hour Chop Chop supermix he did for Akwaaba’s 2 years, as well as his recently uploaded collection of extra worthy mixes.

Screen-Shot-2013-04-19-at-3.54.13-AM

In other news, big up to The Republic for their feature in the Guardian! And a special shout out to SanSe my DJ partner in crime in Accra, who turns the big 4-0! And is about to celebrate in style, with Ackah Blay’s full highlife band… chale more vim, enjoy the weekend!

 

RELATED

Music Video: in and out by betina quest

Music Video: in and out by betina quest

in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done  by Ozaki & Tiemo.       RELATED  Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

  Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns.  According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me.  As can be seen, I walk...

Didjak Munya – Oxygène

DIDJAK-POCHETTE-1

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!

Alec Lomami – Pop Revolution

Alec Lomami – Pop Revolution

It’s been a few months since the Fader article about Alec Lomami was published, and by now, his green card situation should have been sorted. Well, it hasn’t. And rather than choose to go to court to fight his asylum case again, Alec decided to avoid dealing with judges this time, and leave the US for some time until the situation is sorted. So today he flies to Zimbabwe. Not before releasing another tune however…

Pop Revolution is a song he recorded while he was in New York, surrounded by creative Africans: film makers, fashioned designers, writers, musicians. As Alec puts it: “It felt like I was part of a renaissance of some sorts, so part of me wanted to capture that moment in a song.” But there was a lot more going on at that time: “I was also monitoring the elections back home [DRC], I saw something I’ve never really seen the Congolese do before. Generally we are pretty easy going, we are known for wanting to party our problems away, but this time it seemed like people were tired and couldn’t take it anymore. So I wanted to capture that as well.”

Yet Alec doesn’t try to do political songs: “Not that I don’t care about politics, but when it comes to music, I have an existential approach to it, it’s pretty narcissistic. It’s a mean by which I’m purging my own demons, it’s the space where I allow myself to express my emotions.” And Alec also deliberately chooses to make pop music, which “has been known for being simple, and with no depth. While African Hip Hop has played a huge role fighting the powers that be. So, I wanted to keep the simple approach that many pop songs have but without being simplistic. I did a pop song while bringing a meaningful message. “

The song features Alec’s cousin Well$, a Congolese American based in Charlotte, North Carolina, whom Alec is producing. And the beat is by Hervé Wala of SoulStarZmuseeQ, a production outfit based out of Belgium, who contacted Alec some time ago to collaborate on a track. Done! Bam! Pop Revolution!

Pop Revolution by Alec Lomami

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Music Video: in and out by betina quest

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in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done  by Ozaki & Tiemo.       RELATED  Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

  Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns.  According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me.  As can be seen, I walk...

Alec Lomami – Pop Revolution

It’s been a few months since the Fader article about Alec Lomami was published, and by now, his green card situation should have been sorted. Well, it hasn’t. And rather than choose to go to court to fight his asylum case again, Alec decided to avoid dealing with judges this time, and leave the US for some time until the situation is sorted. So today he flies to Zimbabwe. Not before releasing another tune however…

Pop Revolution is a song he recorded while he was in New York, surrounded by creative Africans: film makers, fashioned designers, writers, musicians. As Alec puts it: “It felt like I was part of a renaissance of some sorts, so part of me wanted to capture that moment in a song.” But there was a lot more going on at that time: “I was also monitoring the elections back home [DRC], I saw something I’ve never really seen the Congolese do before. Generally we are pretty easy going, we are known for wanting to party our problems away, but this time it seemed like people were tired and couldn’t take it anymore. So I wanted to capture that as well.”

Yet Alec doesn’t try to do political songs: “Not that I don’t care about politics, but when it comes to music, I have an existential approach to it, it’s pretty narcissistic. It’s a mean by which I’m purging my own demons, it’s the space where I allow myself to express my emotions.” And Alec also deliberately chooses to make pop music, which “has been known for being simple, and with no depth. While African Hip Hop has played a huge role fighting the powers that be. So, I wanted to keep the simple approach that many pop songs have but without being simplistic. I did a pop song while bringing a meaningful message. ”

The song features Alec’s cousin Well$, a Congolese American based in Charlotte, North Carolina, whom Alec is producing. And the beat is by Hervé Wala of SoulStarZmuseeQ, a production outfit based out of Belgium, who contacted Alec some time ago to collaborate on a track. Done! Bam! Pop Revolution!

Pop Revolution by Alec Lomami

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in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done  by Ozaki & Tiemo.       RELATED  Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

  Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns.  According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me.  As can be seen, I walk...

Afropolitan or Cultural Bastard?

Afropolitan or Cultural Bastard?

When the three countries you have ties to refuse to grant you asylum, let alone citizenship, you know you’re in a tough spot. Meet Alec Lomami. Born in Belgium but not eligible for Belgian citizenship, raised in Kinshasa but denied citizenship by the Congolese government. Lomani went to visit family in the US in 1998, right as the civil war back in the DRC reached new proportions. This meant he was better off staying in the US and applying for asylum, which was denied to him. Thus began almost a decade of stateless living, which ended in an American prison. Meanwhile, five million Congolese perished in one of the most brutal conflicts of recent years.

But this is America, land of the happy ending. Lomani’s situation was eventually sorted thanks to his mom, who did obtain political asylum in the US, got her green card and filed for her son’s green card. And Lomani’s stint in jail gave him plenty of time to think and write. “I’m somewhat of a vagabond,” he says, “or a cultural bastard of some sort, but I’m a proud Congolese nonetheless.”

As I listened to the lyrics of his first recorded song, “Kinshasa,” I realized he’s got a lot to tell. But I didn’t realize just how much he had on his mind until we spoke a few days ago. Lomani moved from Brussels to Kinshasa when he was five, where he was, “either treated really well or really badly, because of the feeling of inferiority vis à vis of westerners. As a kid I didn’t want to be different so I would lie about my place of birth, I didn’t like the attention I got from it. I grew up to understand that—not to generalize too much—largely due to colonialism, [the Congolese people’s] sense of worth was affected. Everything cool came from the West, and the image of Africa portrayed in the media was largely negative, being African just wasn’t hip!” After Lomani moved to the US, he continued to struggle with his identity. Yet with time, he’s found balance. “As an adult now, I came to appreciate my country, and my culture,” he says. “I’m a part of this emerging class of young Africans who look back to their traditions with pride, while being at home in the west. Call them Afropolitan, Afropean or whatever the trendy name for it is now, but I’m just glad that more and more Africans are okay with being African!”

Alec the Afropolitan, or cultural bastard as he calls himself, still holds Kinshasa in a very dear place. “I left when I was a teen, so now my view of it has been romanticized a bit. But it was there that I learned how to ride a bike, had my first love, my first heartbreak, made lasting friends, fell in love with music. So for me, Kinshasa is that place I call home. I haven’t been back since I left for security reasons, but I long to go back, see my friends, my family, and just enjoy the food, the culture, the music.”

Musically, “Kinshasa” is a ways away from the Congolese music that has dominated airwaves throughout the continent for decades. Yet Lomani tells me: “I still listen to the greats, like Franco, Papa Wemba, Mbilia Bel, Zaiko Langa Langa and Wenge Musica. I even love traditional musicians like Omako, Djamba and Okito.”

But Congo’s music, like its people, is morphing. “Today’s music isn’t as well received outside of Congo, yet we still have guys like Fally Ipupa, who is racking in awards left and right and keeping us in the news. Guys like Werrason and JB Mpiana can pack big venues, but the time of Congolese musical dominance is gone.”

Lomani isn’t the only Congolese reinventing the music. He says, “with guys like Baloji, Mohimbi, Maître Gims Bana C4 and many more, I think Congolese music is being rejuvenated, and I believe Baloji’s international success will open doors for other Congolese artists.” Lomani looks beyond the DRC for inspiration. “I dig Spoek Mathambo, Blitz the Ambassador, Lexxus Legal, Iyadede, Die Antwoord, Popksarr, Muthoni the drummer Queen, Smod, Just A Band and Amadou & Miriam,” he says.

Musically, Lomani was also shaped by what he heard in prison, he tells me the only music he had access to was the hip hop, pop or new wave played on the radio. All of these are clear influences on “Kinshasa.” The song’s beat was produced by Federico Mejia of the band Youth Sounds, who is producing Lomanis upcoming EP, Mélancolie Joyeuse, or Joyous Melancholy. The chorus samples Canadian band The Stars, who sing, What you want you are you always were. Lomani says these words are what the city is telling him. He answers, Na za mwana Kin, I am from Kinshasa in Lingala. He explains, “[I am] affirming myself as being the son of the city, while trying to convince others that I am, since my Congoleseness has been questioned many times.”

I am an enormous fan of the Congolese greats Lomani adores, but times are changing, and nothing fills me with more joy than seeing artists like Lomani reinventing the music. “I’m making music that’s just like me, proud of its origins as an African yet at home in the world at large,” he says.

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Music Video: in and out by betina quest

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in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done  by Ozaki & Tiemo.       RELATED  Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

  Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns.  According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me.  As can be seen, I walk...

Afropolitan or Cultural Bastard?

When the three countries you have ties to refuse to grant you asylum, let alone citizenship, you know you’re in a tough spot. Meet Alec Lomami. Born in Belgium but not eligible for Belgian citizenship, raised in Kinshasa but denied citizenship by the Congolese government. Lomani went to visit family in the US in 1998, right as the civil war back in the DRC reached new proportions. This meant he was better off staying in the US and applying for asylum, which was denied to him. Thus began almost a decade of stateless living, which ended in an American prison. Meanwhile, five million Congolese perished in one of the most brutal conflicts of recent years.

But this is America, land of the happy ending. Lomani’s situation was eventually sorted thanks to his mom, who did obtain political asylum in the US, got her green card and filed for her son’s green card. And Lomani’s stint in jail gave him plenty of time to think and write. “I’m somewhat of a vagabond,” he says, “or a cultural bastard of some sort, but I’m a proud Congolese nonetheless.”

As I listened to the lyrics of his first recorded song, “Kinshasa,” I realized he’s got a lot to tell. But I didn’t realize just how much he had on his mind until we spoke a few days ago. Lomani moved from Brussels to Kinshasa when he was five, where he was, “either treated really well or really badly, because of the feeling of inferiority vis à vis of westerners. As a kid I didn’t want to be different so I would lie about my place of birth, I didn’t like the attention I got from it. I grew up to understand that—not to generalize too much—largely due to colonialism, [the Congolese people’s] sense of worth was affected. Everything cool came from the West, and the image of Africa portrayed in the media was largely negative, being African just wasn’t hip!” After Lomani moved to the US, he continued to struggle with his identity. Yet with time, he’s found balance. “As an adult now, I came to appreciate my country, and my culture,” he says. “I’m a part of this emerging class of young Africans who look back to their traditions with pride, while being at home in the west. Call them Afropolitan, Afropean or whatever the trendy name for it is now, but I’m just glad that more and more Africans are okay with being African!”

Alec the Afropolitan, or cultural bastard as he calls himself, still holds Kinshasa in a very dear place. “I left when I was a teen, so now my view of it has been romanticized a bit. But it was there that I learned how to ride a bike, had my first love, my first heartbreak, made lasting friends, fell in love with music. So for me, Kinshasa is that place I call home. I haven’t been back since I left for security reasons, but I long to go back, see my friends, my family, and just enjoy the food, the culture, the music.”

Musically, “Kinshasa” is a ways away from the Congolese music that has dominated airwaves throughout the continent for decades. Yet Lomani tells me: “I still listen to the greats, like Franco, Papa Wemba, Mbilia Bel, Zaiko Langa Langa and Wenge Musica. I even love traditional musicians like Omako, Djamba and Okito.”

But Congo’s music, like its people, is morphing. “Today’s music isn’t as well received outside of Congo, yet we still have guys like Fally Ipupa, who is racking in awards left and right and keeping us in the news. Guys like Werrason and JB Mpiana can pack big venues, but the time of Congolese musical dominance is gone.”

Lomani isn’t the only Congolese reinventing the music. He says, “with guys like Baloji, Mohimbi, Maître Gims Bana C4 and many more, I think Congolese music is being rejuvenated, and I believe Baloji’s international success will open doors for other Congolese artists.” Lomani looks beyond the DRC for inspiration. “I dig Spoek Mathambo, Blitz the Ambassador, Lexxus Legal, Iyadede, Die Antwoord, Popksarr, Muthoni the drummer Queen, Smod, Just A Band and Amadou & Miriam,” he says.

Musically, Lomani was also shaped by what he heard in prison, he tells me the only music he had access to was the hip hop, pop or new wave played on the radio. All of these are clear influences on “Kinshasa.” The song’s beat was produced by Federico Mejia of the band Youth Sounds, who is producing Lomanis upcoming EP, Mélancolie Joyeuse, or Joyous Melancholy. The chorus samples Canadian band The Stars, who sing, What you want you are you always were. Lomani says these words are what the city is telling him. He answers, Na za mwana Kin, I am from Kinshasa in Lingala. He explains, “[I am] affirming myself as being the son of the city, while trying to convince others that I am, since my Congoleseness has been questioned many times.”

I am an enormous fan of the Congolese greats Lomani adores, but times are changing, and nothing fills me with more joy than seeing artists like Lomani reinventing the music. “I’m making music that’s just like me, proud of its origins as an African yet at home in the world at large,” he says.

RELATED

Music Video: in and out by betina quest

Music Video: in and out by betina quest

in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done  by Ozaki & Tiemo.       RELATED  Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

Music Video: Solid K – Music on the Road

  Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns.  According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me.  As can be seen, I walk...

Hip Hop Very Much Alive in Eastern Congo – Salaam Kivu All Stars

Hip Hop Very Much Alive in Eastern Congo – Salaam Kivu All Stars

Interesting timing: although there hasn’t been any mention of it on here, Benjamin Lebrave just got back from a wild journey in eastern Congo, starting off in Goma, where this VERY exciting video was shot. Goma has gone through hell for most of the last decade, but it is calmer now and the arts are flourishing again.

Music in Congo is something else. Often times music seems to be the only common ground for the Congolese: if you like rumba, if you dance rumba, well then you’re Congolese. This phrase is not as benign or naive as you’d think. For instance, in Goma alone there are 4 shops MAKING guitars. Not to mention places where you can purchase imported guitars. And this is Goma, one of many mid-sized Congolese cities. As a point of reference, Accra, capital of Ghana, has – to our knowledge – not a single shop making guitars. Point being, music and live music play a fundamental role.

We’ll share more about this exciting journey to the east, but for now this video can do the talking. Please do check out the full story over at africanhiphop.com and have a look at Yolé! Africa‘s site, they are the ones behind this project – which got the Economist‘s attention.

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Hip Hop Very Much Alive in Eastern Congo – Salaam Kivu All Stars

Interesting timing: although there hasn’t been any mention of it on here, Benjamin Lebrave just got back from a wild journey in eastern Congo, starting off in Goma, where this VERY exciting video was shot. Goma has gone through hell for most of the last decade, but it is calmer now and the arts are flourishing again.

Music in Congo is something else. Often times music seems to be the only common ground for the Congolese: if you like rumba, if you dance rumba, well then you’re Congolese. This phrase is not as benign or naive as you’d think. For instance, in Goma alone there are 4 shops MAKING guitars. Not to mention places where you can purchase imported guitars. And this is Goma, one of many mid-sized Congolese cities. As a point of reference, Accra, capital of Ghana, has – to our knowledge – not a single shop making guitars. Point being, music and live music play a fundamental role.

We’ll share more about this exciting journey to the east, but for now this video can do the talking. Please do check out the full story over at africanhiphop.com and have a look at Yolé! Africa‘s site, they are the ones behind this project – which got the Economist‘s attention.

RELATED

Music Video: in and out by betina quest

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in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...

Lyrics Video: Jeune Lio – My Love feat. Magasco

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Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done  by Ozaki & Tiemo.       RELATED  Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...

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  Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns.  According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me.  As can be seen, I walk...