When watching those extracts of Maison Mere's concert in Tottenham, I didn't see Celeo. So the concert we see on youtube with Celeo animating was their 4th or 5th concert in UK ? Hearing the sound of the rhythm-guitar made me remember that it was actually the audio-version that Jmkstar Dsquared once put on youtube, but the video dissapearing after a few months because of copyrights. Its weird to see hear Bill Clinton animating "Kilumbu ka kiesse" and also sounds totally different. Imagine if Celeo decided to listen to all people in London that adviced him to stay after getting abandoned when WMM moved to Canada. Btw, what's the name of Masela's backup player. I saw him also with Maison Mere in the Villejuif video and their intro at La Madeleine.

Receiving $300.000 from Bracongo/Skol is big money. I see now why Bill was really mad about it behind the scenes of receiving nothing while him having done most work in Tindika Lokito. It would be interesting to hear what Werra's real vision for Miracles was. Because here he says that he wanted to do it in a different rhythm and only 10 songs not more.

It was rare to see a musician of maison mere giving someone of bcbg a shoutout in that era and vice-versa. Did Kakol not get punished later for giving Seguin a shout-out in this interview ? Because I remember both BCBG musiciansand Maison Mere musicians getting problems for greeting or meeting donors who were pro-BCBG or pro-Maison Mere in the years that the beef was hot (1999, 2000 & 2001). I'm surprised to hear Kakol saying that he had 4 back-up drummers (him naming a guy called cocks. what a weird name. i've never heard about him). I only knew Nicolas Wagadugu.

Interesting to hear from Jus d'Ete Mulopwe that he didn't like tour for months in Europe anymore, him prefering short stay of 3/2 weeks in Europe and this trip to UK being the start of it. I remember people in Europe at time also starting complaining about bands over-staying in Europe.

Its a shame that Baby Ndombe got suspended just a few days before the trip. I wonder if already gave all his clothes away to his pire-petit and friends. Ferre did him dirty by snitching him to Werrason about Les Marquis. Baby having at the same time bad luck that late Monib and Elliot Mondobe invented stories to Werra about him to be careful with Baby, because of him being sent by Koffi to take sweat off his face and bring it to Koffi for occult reasons, them later bringing a witchdoctor to werra's house claiming that Baby was about to sleep his wife to get his fame, werrason getting scared and mad at the same time. The fight at la samba against bodyguards being the right occassion to suspend him for two weeks and them modifiying it to a indefinite suspension when coming back from UK to get rid of him. Using the reason of Baby doing an interview in kinshasa when they were in UK to attack Aimelia (the new chief of disicipline). In the interview he justified that he didn't do anything wrong and that Aimelia didn't had the same intellectual capacities like him. In the period of it, Baby started to get broke, not being able to pay rent and chased from the place he was living. He was forced to live at the family-house again, in meantime he did his best to meet Werrason through Emeneya and later Lutumba Simaro to short the problems out. But Werrason was escaping him and refusing to take his calls. At the same time wild rumors were spread everywhere that he had an affair with Werra's wife which wasn't true. The rumors kind of killed his solo-career already before starting it and would follow it almost his whole career. Werrason only making it worser and people thinking that it was true, by saying in interviews "if I will tell you what Baby did wrong, you will started to hate him" while it totally something different and not about his wife but in reality the affair Baby Ndombe had in the past with Mbilia Bel who was Tabu Ley's ex' second wife, a story that dates back from the solola-bien days.

It was not that the band defended Werra (apart Kakol and Jitrois who just joined the band).The majority was all fed up live without getting salary on a monthly basis while having succes. Them having difficulties with paying rent, having to feed their family but fans, friends and family-members thinking that they were rich and that were lying for not having enough money which causing alot of stress. Werrason getting big contract and money from Skol, Unicef and them getting nothing and not progressing in life was frustrating them more. Also the trips they did that year to Goma, Angola and Gabon. Them being brought in a plane meant for soldiers to Angola and Gabon, while Werrason going over there with a prive-jet with his dancers and staff-members. Werrason staying in a luxury hotels with his staff and dancers in Libreville and Goma while the musicians were staying an a motel somewhere in the ghetto of Libreville. This all was them making really furious and compared to 2000 and 2002, really being determined to create an own band. They once already showed their discontentment by showing 3 hours late to a rehearsal and Werrason being left alone with the dancers and operation dragon-members. But it backfired at them because of fanatics being mad.

Although giving a false impression by showing off their cars and expensive clothes on tv, just fight rivals and their bad a good image, they were suffering and being forced to live on matolo, having multiple rich sugarmommies or sidechicks. They were also struggling to pay gas for their expensive cars.  The thing made most members to not join Les Marquis, was that they were when thinking well not really believing in Les Marquis. They know that the band would split in no time. Guys like Didier Lacoste & Ali Mbonda didn’t want to make a second mistake. Someone like Aimelia wasn’t getting along with most bandmembers. Heritier felt that it was not the moment to leave and wanted to grow more. Also many knew that Les Marquis would split in no-time after having created it. Someone like Flamme rehearsed Les Marquis-songs with Jus d’Ete and Ferre but because of seeing Werrason as his brother of village (they are from the same province) he decided to stay in the band. Celeo didn’t really saw a reason to leave. Because he stayed when Adolphe left (Adolphe was the one who recruited him in WMM). He was like Aimelia an agent of Didi Kinuani’s company where they were paid every month. He knew many politicians and soccerplayers like Shabani Nonda and Tresor Lualua. Although struggling sometimes and being close with Les Marquis-guys, he still ended up by staying because he in his vision he wanted to have a long career in the band like Djuna Mumbafu in Empire Bakuba and both Nono & Doudou in Zaiko.

Werrason already knew Jus d’ete well from IBG Musica of Bandal and Wenge El Paris. It was just that Werrason wanted to hold the identity of Wenge 4x4 by using Ferre Gola, Adjani and Serge Mabiala alot. Adjani because of Manda Chante, Ferre Gola because of JB Mpiana and Serge Mabiala because of himself. It were people around him who advised him to also use Didier Lacoste, because he would come with something new. After discovering Lacoste’s importance of bringing songs to the group (Papson and Cresois who were old songs of SVP la Gamme), he decided to work with him privately for Kibuisa Mpimpa at house with Serge Mabiala, Heritier, Flamme and Papy Kaniama. Lacoste then coming with such songs like Obiang and Werrason rewarding him back by giving him alot of vocals for the album. But Lacoste sadly couldn’t profit from it, his vocals being erased and given to Aimelia, Adjani and Ferre. Coming back to Jus d’ete’s case. Someone like Baby had just 1 vocal in Intervention Rapide. It were from Kibuisa that both Jus d’ete and Baby started to get alot of vocals. The bad side of it was that people were doubting about Jus d’Ete singing skills, saying that he wasn’t fitting to the band and just being recruited for his stage presence. For Baby Ndombe people were saying that he was just recruited because of his dad Ndombe Opetum who was a big singer/songwriter in TP Ok Jazz and Afrisa (also one of Tabu Ley biggest ghostwriter) and Ok-founder of Bana Ok.  Its only from A La Que Leu Leu that he finally earned respect because of the success of his song Examen. The song ending up by being 2nd best song of year 2003. Its in Les Marquis that people really discovered (re-discovered) his talent as songwriter and singer. For Baby Ndombe it was from Kibuisa Mpimpa that he started to earn respect and him getting Serge Mabiala’s place (it were Baby’s dancing-skills and leadership-skills that help him alot to earn that place).

They just do like all bands. The bandleader coming with a whole song that was written by him or by a ghostwriter or a bandmember. Him rehearsing it at home with private musicians and/or some of his singers and musicians and later bringing it to the band. Then if the bandleader wants to have his singers to put vocals on if it doesn’t have vocals yet, he will select the singers he wants and them coming with vocals. The best vocals then being selected. The vocals put in the song often don’t have anything to do with the subject of the song. After having done that they keep rehearsing the song and making a pre-record at home or the rehearsals place and when coming in Europe them recording the song in the studio. The fan/donor who pays money to have song dedicated to him getting the song. When recording in the studio it sometimes happen that other singers interpret the vocal that was originally done by x or y singer when preparing the song. Also because of mabanga-demand the orginal vocal being modified (messed up) by replacing the lyrics by names. This why often vocals doesn’t make sense and you only hearing names. Bandleaders themselves sometimes also modifying the original texts to replace it with names in it or singing names towards the end or within the song.

Just listen to this album and you hear that its a bit different from the songs you hear on the final album. Baby Ndombe’s vocal of Rendez Vous Manqué in this version made sense. Because in Solola Bien, I wasn’t getting it because of many names in it.



I dont have any favorite keyboard in WMMM. They are all normal. Those who knew how to play proper keyboard are the first keyboard players of the 1980s and early 1990s that used to play in Zaiko (José Piano Piano, late Alpha Kopeya, Modeste Modikilo and Guy Matope), Victoria Eleison (the two guys who were playing before Emeneya decided to settle in Europe), Grand Zaiko Wawa (Nzenze Mongengo) and Desire Kalala of Wenge Musica 4x4.  The generation after them were playing well but not like them. Some of that generation having times of not playing well and the other being in form, sometimes not being in sync with the guitarists but them being saved because of the sound being low.