I have always wondered if Gen. Defao ever invested his money well during his pick time. The kind of humiliation that Defao went through was sad to a man who was loved to the maximum. At one point Defao was said to have been taken by another woman and lived in the lower middle class estate of Umoja in Nairobi just after the rich woman had also dumped him for not being a man enough. At that point it was said that the man did not have powers of a man. A year ago I spoke to one of the musicians whom he hired several times and asked him the fate of Defao and he told me he came back on his feet and now lives well in up market Hurlingham estate in Nairobi being assisted by his bothers and some people he took to Europe during his high time. He has since taken a very low profile life, I mean its not easy to meet him in Nairobi.

You are right Ken Nyakone, He  performed all  weekends at Egesa club at Umoja and he boosted business at this club all weekend many people packed the club to see him, talk to him and take selfies.  He also recieved financial help from FM Academia of Tanzania.  You cant see him at the moment because he has been busy working on his two Albums . There is a song  in some commercial DVD i have called (Annelick K), It was shot in one of the European Countries and you could  see the Original members of Big Stars in it.

They both show big respect for him and so much Love and still potray him as a leader. His problem is financial managment, He spend most of his doh on blingbling , Bilamba and expensive expenses.

I don't know what is wrong with Congolese Musicians, even Mayaula Mayoni spent most of his last days in Dar es Salaam being taken care by a Rich woman, and we all know What a top Musician Mayaula was, May be Archos and Sly can tell us, how do this Musicians spend their money? I do remember in 1997 when Wenge Musica BCBG first came to Tanzania, a local journalist wrote on his colum how suprise he was after learning that the band was paid too little money despite the success of the three shows they had in Tanzania

I don't know what is wrong with Congolese Musicians, even Mayaula Mayoni spent most of his last days in Dar es Salaam being taken care by a Rich woman, and we all know What a top Musician Mayaula was, May be Archos and Sly can tell us, how do this Musicians spend their money? I do remember in 1997 when Wenge Musica BCBG first came to Tanzania, a local journalist wrote on his colum how suprise he was after learning that the band was paid too little money despite the success of the three shows they had in Tanzania

That is the life of entertainers, glamor in public but even more sad reality, Even MJ was said to be fast going broke in his last days, My friend Congolese  musician will buy anything new in clothing even if it will mean bringing some of his shoes to act as a collateral. I mean the pressure to look good and attractive will make these people to buy there accounts out.

I don't know what is wrong with Congolese Musicians, even Mayaula Mayoni spent most of his last days in Dar es Salaam being taken care by a Rich woman, and we all know What a top Musician Mayaula was, May be Archos and Sly can tell us, how do this Musicians spend their money? I do remember in 1997 when Wenge Musica BCBG first came to Tanzania, a local journalist wrote on his colum how suprise he was after learning that the band was paid too little money despite the success of the three shows they had in Tanzania

That is the life of entertainers, glamor in public but even more sad reality, Even MJ was said to be fast going broke in his last days, My friend Congolese  musician will buy anything new in clothing even if it will mean bringing some of his shoes to act as a collateral. I mean the pressure to look good and attractive will make these people to buy there accounts out.

But many have learned from the likes of Defao, Mayoni, Bikasi Bijos and many other great artists whose life was brought down due to poor financial managment. Education is investment NO1, Koffi amongest others have done some investments and they don't depend on Music  as  the only souce of income. Archos should funish us with more info on how some of the Musicians have done some investments

werra posseses diamond shares,and has like 11 villas he rents in the richest areas of kinshasa,jb also is into diamond business,also rents a lot of villas  and is building a big hotel in his native city of kananga,koffi also rents a lot
i will dig for deeper info, but for sure if koffi,jb,werra,fally and more recently ferre and wazekwa are millionaires,it mainly comes from other things than music

As with sportmen and women, musicians live a fast life of spending like there is no tomorrow, it's because they make money easily but don't think that one day they will be down so they do not invest, if they do, it's not major investments with good returns. It's only nowadays when we've heard musicians like Koffi owning several properties including a hotel,Koffi also has properties in America and in Europe if my memory serves me right. Papa Wemba had a property in Europe too until tax authorities seized them when he was convicted of human trafficking . It's also the same for the likes of JB and Werra who are reported have several properties in Kinshasa and run some other business but for the majority is just fast cars, booze, clothes and women. They are also duped by unscrupulous businessmen posing as promoters.

Most Congolese musicians do not pay for their clothes ,they are given to them by well wishers, Defao himself has said that he's sent clothes and bling by an American based fan of his. I think for Defao, he wasn't really wealthy from the beginning even though he was really popular and that can be attributed to music piracy so he simply depended on the shows he did and we know musicians always lose at shows ,it's the producers who pocket most of the money with fake claims of expenses incurred and in the end the major singers' musicians get peanuts hence all the differences we hear between major musicians and their staff so it's a tough game.

Good response from Archos and DJ SLY,  I also thought so, i speak to Defao often on his Facebook page and he is a calm man, full of Love for anyone .That makes DJ SLY argument concrete with reference to Defao, he has a huge mature fanbase that can do anything for him.

There is the DVD i have with promotional stuff fo Congo, It has some clips of Defao with Papa Wemba  doing a Collabo , then Defao with new recruits of the Big Stars and a nice track called AnelickK can someone expand on this if you have seen it?

What about those who have migrated to Europe, the likes of Allain Mpela and Emelia, what do they do for a living? Are they better off in Europe than their compatriots in Africa?

archos how is Hotel Del Pirlo doing? What is its capacity? and is it in the heart of Kin?

archos how is Hotel Del Pirlo doing? What is its capacity? and is it in the heart of Kin?

hotel del pirlo is not doing well,started brightly but faded within months i think koffi even sold it to some guy or did some co-property stuff
 yes its in the center,in  one of the most developed areas of kinshasa

What about those who have migrated to Europe, the likes of Allain Mpela and Emelia, what do they do for a living? Are they better off in Europe than their compatriots in Africa?

most of those who are in europe combine music with another job they have week in week out(mainly jobs like delivery,carpenters stuff like that)
the most wealthy congolese musicians are by far those who live in kinshasa
alain mpela does not really live in europe he just come to europe often  because he is belgian so its very easy for him to come whenever he wants
but indeed he was instaled in belgium for a couple of years to go to university

What about those who have migrated to Europe, the likes of Allain Mpela and Emelia, what do they do for a living? Are they better off in Europe than their compatriots in Africa?

Alain Mpela moved back to Kinshasa a few years ago but travels a lot between Europe, America and Africa. Aimelia is literally Europe based.
Some of the musicians who have settled in Europe now have regular jobs and do music part time ie at small shows over the weekends in african clubs, at small and big festivals and at private parties etc.
Some are better off staying in Europe and earning a living as they are doing because being an employee in a major band in kinshasa is more like being a slave as most bands pay peanuts and mainly after performances that's why you see that musicians leave bands which don't perform regularly coz then it means no allowances.

It is also know that most staff of kin based bands stay in crowded accommodation as groups so you'll have one member of a band for instance drummer Seguin Mignon keeping 3 or 4 Wenge BCBG band members at his house etc

Very informative news ! Thanka Archos anr DJ SLY for furnishing us with this Kind of  News.

Defao's a once in generation type talent, a legend! If I was rich I would support him too!

eza mawa....this man is a living legend....too bad he didn't invest much when he was hot and spent more on blings and bleaching cream