The boy is right to some extent. What he should be saying is that times have changed, people want music to dance to not to listen to that's why afrobeats originating from West Africa is dominating and Congolese music is sinking,it's because Congolese musicians are doing too many rhumbas and less generiques or sebene songs or less danceable generiques and too long for nothing for some artists.
Congolese music was still very popular a long time ago, Franco, Tabu Ley and others never did generiques but there music was popular in africa and overseas, only a few songs had a bit of simple sebenes otherwise the most popular congolese songs are rhumba songs.
Ah, but those rumbas that Franco and Tabu Ley played, they represented a much higher level than what you can find on CD's recently. To be honest nowdays I am only eager to listen to rumbas if it is from Extra Musica. They were always good at writing fine rumba. But I think it is because Roga Roga is the band leader and a musician as well, who focuses on the melody, too. Those artists who don't play instruments just sing, if they create a rumba, they mostly don't care about the music, they just need something to put the lyrics onto, even if it is just simple programmed beat. So the outcome is a ton of boring songs.
I totally agree with Robinho. Just compare an album nowdays to an old one. Very big difference. Like Avis De Recherche by Zaiko from 1995, or Fiesta D'Or by Aurlus Mabele from 2001. Huge difference. Those albums didn't even have a non-congolese track. Today, there is everything on albums but cool guitar tunes. Only for moments, for fraction of the playtime of the CDs.
I also heard about this story. Quite said there was not anyone in the cultural ministry to intervene and try to achieve something that is similar to this recent initiative. For example, if they declared OK Jazz a national heritage by law, maybe they could have kept it alive somehow and secure it from personal manipulations. Just a guess, though... Quite said nobody felt the importance of it. Not even Mobutu, that is a shame, too, considering how good his relation was with Franco, and that he wrote him several songs that praised him and supported him on elections. To those songs, the musicians added their own talent, too.
Those syblings shouldn't have been allowed to decide about the internal matters of the band. I cannot see any logic in handing them the baton over when they had no experience in musicianship at all. It is similar to as if after the head of a company dies, they hand his seat over to a family member. That is nonsense. What part did the family of Franco took in building that band and composing songs? Nothing, they absolutely had no idea about what musicianship and band management is. Allowing them determining the future of the band was a total mistake and a slap on the face of fans and musicians.
Good idea, but this is something that should have been done 25 years ago instead of debating on revenues and copyrights back then. However maybe then this son was only a young boy having control over nothing in this sense...
I have just noticed Roga played the old hit of Pamelo Mounka recently.
What is your opinion?
Mine: as far as the show is concerned, it is fine. I regret however, that from the fine Kiri Kiri style rumba they created a Salsa like track. In the original track the emphasis is on the large space of the guitar reverb and the delay. I don't like they kind a marginalized that. So, this kind of interpretation that they did is not as fine for me as like what Zaiko did with their old songs along the years. Like with Ben Betito. That song also has an old and a new version, but there the original is soukous, and the second one also. Not like that the first version was soukous, and the second became Salsa or Coupe decale.
I am a big fan of old artistic photographs from Africa. During the years I collected quite many. I decided to upload them somewhere to put them on display for others to see, too, as these photos give an insight into an aspect of African life that might have remained hidden to most foreigners. To me they are quite interesting and even surprising. They show a side of the everydays of the continent that may be unknown to many of us, who live elsewhere. For those who live there, seeing these photos may feel nostalgic.
We often raise our voice recently for the shortness of sebens on albums, so here is the counter example, a cool seben through 16 minutes! This single of Renato Mondele was recorded in 2008, and he played the themes appearing in it during his tour in Congo around that time. It wasn't marketed widely when released, I have to say unfortunately. But now it can take its "seat" among other great sebens on Youtube.
I noticed that the video I linked originally was only visible for those who are friends of Dany Engobo on Facebook. So I uploaded it to Youtube now, here is the link, or you can check the first post, as well, I changed the link there, too:
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