It was a good album. Even though it was not rumba, and I'm a purist, it was still a very good crossover. To me, it remains till this day the best mix of congolese music and western urban sonority.

My explanation is that it came too late, 1993. The new jack/jerk era was coming to its end. Things would've been different if it came out earlier like intended, maybe in 1989 or 1990.

What do you think?



 


I like the way he did the mabanga at the end of Mindondo and Enfant de Maman. Very ingenious and nicely blended with the music.

The live version is excellent.

The problem was the Congolese people didn’t like the music style and wanted the old Kester. That’s why he released “Live” in 1995, which was the alternate version of Everybody.

This s the first explanation that came to my mind, but it left me unsatisfied. 

People like Nzinzi, Lusala and Mokosa. So it should've been the same with Everybody.


Everybody is basically the Nzinzi concept turned into an album. If that was the reason, Nzinzi should've been a flop too. Or is there a difference between the two.

Succès Fou was extremely outdated. Kester was still pushing for that all synté-sound style... in the mid-90's.

It's for real what I said. Emeneya himself also explained it in interviews why Everybody flopped and saying that Congolese people weren't liking it, but those videos aren't on youtube. There's only one old interview of 2002 where Emeneya reacted to a question of a fan, who wanted to know why he wasn't recording albums anymore with the rhythm of Nzinzi.



from 45:15 min to 54:15 min


The succes of Nzinzi was also luck, because it took some time for people to like. In the start alot of people used to hate it and musicians like Tabu Ley, Franco and Abeti Masikini used to critized him openly in the press, saying that he was killing Congolese music with electric music.

It's for real what I said. Emeneya himself also explained it in interviews why Everybody flopped and saying that Congolese people weren't liking it, but those videos aren't on youtube. There's only one old interview of 2002 where Emeneya reacted to a question of a fan, who wanted to know why he wasn't recording albums anymore with the rhythm of Nzinzi.



from 45:15 min to 54:15 min


The succes of Nzinzi was also luck, because it took some time for people to like. In the start alot of people used to hate it and musicians like Tabu Ley, Franco and Abeti Masikini used to critized him openly in the press, saying that he was killing Congolese music with electric music.

So why Fabregas, Werra, Koffi, Fally, JB and many others in modern times found success with that same Synthe style?

JB, Fally & Fabregas had never made worldabums just some feateriings and some crossover songs. Times have changed. Back in the 80s & 90s Congolese people were very proud of their music and many weren’t really open minded about foreign music. I remember reading an article of 2004/05 with a white guy saying that don’t believe that foreign music will ever dominate Congolese music in bars and nightclubs, because of them dancing it from 00 to 06. But now all Congolese bars mostly turn foreign music, also Congolese music doesn’t have the impact that it had in the past and Congolese music trying to copy Nigerian and Western music.

JB, Fally & Fabregas had never made worldabums just some feateriings and some crossover songs. Times have changed. Back in the 80s & 90s Congolese people were very proud of their music and many weren’t really open minded about foreign music. I remember reading an article of 2004/05 with a white guy saying that don’t believe that foreign music will ever dominate Congolese music in bars and nightclubs, because of them dancing it from 00 to 06. But now all Congolese bars mostly turn foreign music, also Congolese music doesn’t have the impact that it had in the past and Congolese music trying to copy Nigerian and Western music.

What a sad state of affairs.

I keep hoping that genre will make a comeback, but it will take a new breed of musicians and politicians.