If you were to pay $20k-$100 for a song or be convinced to pay upwards to $300,000 to finance an album, wouldn't two big conditions prior to paying be "I want the work to be good" and "I want it done ASAP"?

What good is song released privately when the original goal of Mabanga was to bring recognition to the captains of industry among listening community? For example, Papito Mbala and Tesor Ngando were made celebrities in London and Geneva respectively overnight because of hit songs to their name.

There are so many financed works from most artists in both Europe and DRC just sitting idle.

Forgot about this gem


Maybe it's because I don't have the psyche of an African chef, but it's hard for to wrap my head around this... to sum it up, he has his wife singing a poetic love song about his wife. Too cringeworthy for me to watch the entire clip.

Related story - When I was on vacation in Kin way back in 2008, a friend of mine took me to the St. Valentine concert at GHK when Cindy was very new. I actually didn't know who she was, and thought she was just one of his Mineurs... then he gave her center mic as SOS started playing, went in the audience, took Alya's hand and started slow dancing with her.

Alya clearly didn't not want the attention nor was she thrilled to dance this girl singing one of Koffi's biggest hits. Koffi, however, had the biggest smile on his face. The energy of that concert was just off as he was still trying to regroup after the disbandment of QL International. I didn't like Gesac at all when he was in QL, and at that concert he beat C'est le moment to death and made falsetto noise.

1000% BCBG to my ears... which is why I think BCBG's studio work and percussions have been subject to some criticisms after Titina's departure. Great featuring by Celebu Blaise Bula, but I always wondered what if it also had vocals by JB, Alain, Rio, Kibens, etc?

Bonus; this sums up why Titina is everybody's drummer.


This album has always been a favorite of mine because it brings together Wenge sound and (2001-02) QL sound (Bébé Kero at his absolute prime) at a time when the camps were deeep in polemic. It was also a nice extension for those who wanted hear more of Kero after Effrakata a few months after. Titina should've done more Atalakou work rather than just this album and his some of his second, Madilu’s L’eau, and Pile ou Face.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYQ07U8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_5ci-xbKA49DHQ
https://itun.es/us/8rHofb
http://www.deezer.com/album/14200244

 9.5/10 - Not perfect if you're really nit-picking, but the album was well worth the almost 3 year wait. It's been on repeat for me since I got it. It's been about a decade since a Congolese album has packed a punch like Anytime. Sebene song after sebene song.

My only issue is the generique, which is not what we heard in the preview back in 2014; it's a bit flawed as mentioned in the other thread. Celeo doesn't sound like a natural tenor here. Lastly, Defao uncharacteristically does way too much mabanga. 

Excellent compositions with clean lyrics and Defao's style of having "free bass"- having Lofombo play along with lyrics rather than having a set bass line. As I mentioned in the other thread, the sound engineer programmed the mbonda to be at the same level as the drums, creating a fuller sound.

After multiple decades, he still makes a very strong case for being the best pure vocalist.

Roga Roga + Lofombo = Deadly combo. If anyone's still questioning why Lofombo is regarded as the best, listen to the sebene portion of Jigal Nzau , especially from 5:00 onwards.

Defao brings back his favorite dances from the early 90's like Chocolat niama... olia te, Woutou, Na boma bisso.

Lisuma Zazu is a nice modern take on Odemba and the song for big donor Stella Pembele is very Quartier Latin-esque.

Album de l'année, in my opinion, with Manda's album coming second (but won't be officially recognized as such because he's based in Kenya). I don't anticipate QQJTD or BDM to be released this year. Fally is currently too busy flying back and forth to LA and posing with D-List American celebrities to release new material.

 

 

Stéphane Dominguez