A while ago, I planned to write about the fara-fara between Koffi and Werrason at FIKIN 20 years ago. However, I forgot that the full video of Koffi’s performance has not been available on YouTube for the past 10 years. I also discovered a few weeks ago that the few remaining clips, such as the parts of Patience, Marcation, and Bibicia, have also disappeared from YouTube. So I decided to focus more on the conflict between Koffi and Werrason before and after FIKIN, rather than on the fara-fara itself. I probably forgot many points and hadn’t corrected the text earlier because I didn’t have time to write.Today its 20 years ago that the bandleaders Werrason and Koffi Olomidé were confronting themselves at FIKIN edition 2005. It was one of FIKIN’s biggest highlights that year, although the event being overshadowed by the fara-fara between JB Mpiana and Werrason that took place the following week.Background (Quartier Latin side);In September 2004, Bracongo signed a two-year contract with Koffi Olomidé, with the possibility of renewing it for an additional four years. To celebrate, Bracongo planned a VIP concert at the Salon Congo of the Grand Hotel in KinshasaAround the same time, Tshala Muana launched an initiative to end the multiple conflicts and help Congolese artists reconcile in order to fight the Coupe-Decale revolution that started to dominate French speaking Africa. She wanted to develop a proper policies for artists as well, such as copyright protection, modern studios and anti-piracy measures in return for support to Joseph Kabila for his electoral campaign (who was looking for a way to get popular to the population of Kinshasa), in order to no longer being depedent from Europe. This initiative became known as Maisha Parc with Koffi Olomidé and Papa Wemba mostly on the forefront. In that period, Koffi visited JB Mpiana and Felix Wazekwa at their public rehearsals.After reconciling with Werrason, with whom he had been in a cold war since 2002 and had several clashes from 2003 onward, Koffi was invited to La Zamba Playa in January 2005 alongside Reddy Amisi, and later appeared as a guest at LSC (March 2005) with Papa Wemba and Bozi Boziana. However, there were rumors that Koffi still did not speak positively about Werrason and was, deep down, unhappy about him declining his invitation to the Monde Arabe presentation at the Grand Hotel de Kinshasa an event attended by King Kester Emeneya, JB Mpiana, Papa Wemba, Bozi Boziana, and Adolphe Dominguez as guests. Werrason had also not attended any public rehearsal of Koffiat Oshwe. Some artists even warned Werrason not to get too close to Koffi. Werrason would later sing a small part about this in the song Cuidado Niangs. The conflict between Koffi and Werrason reappeared quickly in May 2005, when Ferre Gola decided to join Quartier Latin after facing difficulties in launching his solo career after the disbanding of Les Marquis. Before joining Quartier Latin, he had been linked to a possible return to Wenge Maison Mère. Ferre was presented during a public concert in Masina, a neighborhood considered Werrason’s stronghold. After his presentation, fights broke out in the crowd between Maison Mère and Quartier Latin fans, as many Maison Mère supporters were unhappy about Ferre joining Quartier Latin. The concert got interrupted when Maison Mère fans started throwing stones at the stage.The following week, Koffi held a press conference to present Ferre as an official member of Quartier Latin. He claimed that he had paid $30,000 for Ferre to join, calling it “le transfert le plus cher.” That same week, a special event was organized at the Grand Hotel de Kinshasa to introduce Ferre Gola.Although Ferre came from Les Marquis, his arrival still caused problems within Maisha Parc, as many bandleaders considered him a former Maison Mère member. In Maisha Parc, there was a rule that bandleaders had to contact each other if one of their musicians wanted to join another band. Shortly after this, Koffi started provoking Werrason in interviews, openly questioning his abilities as a singer and creating a debate about the meaning of being a formateur and encadreur. Meanwhile, Wenge Maison Mère fans were bitter about Ferre’s decision, still seeing him as “their” musician and viewing the move as a betrayal towards Clan Wenge where it was forbidden to join a band outside the clan. Artists like Héritier would attack Ferre in different interviews.Around the same time, Quartier Latin entered the studio to record a song for Vincent Gomez’s birthday and another for Bracongo’s product Skol, introducing new dances such as Kisanola (which was popular in Kinshasa at the time, first known as Etshubele) and the controversial Mama Apesa Sima.However, tensions within Quartier Latin grew when fans in Europe called different bandmembers, asking about a planned European tour that themselves were unaware of. Suddenly, Koffi left unexpectedly for Europe with Ferre Gola to perform concerts with former Quartier Latin musicians. This frustrated almost all current members of Quartier Latin. Just before the concerts started, they were joined by Titina and Soleil, who already had European papers.Rumors were spread that Quartier Latin would no longer tour in Europe anymore and that two separate factions would be created: Aile Kin (Kinshasa wing) and Aile Paris (Paris wing). Fally Ipupa was also rumored to be leaving to join Wenge Maison Mère, but he declared that he remained a member of Quartier Latin and was preparing to record a solo album within the group.The interview made Koffi furious, seriously thinking about firing Fally since that it was normally forbidden (unwritten rule) within Quartier Latin to record an album (reference to Suzuki and Popolipo). Upon his return to Kinshasa, Koffi would immediately organise an assembly with QL-members having to give their opinion about Fally recording a solo album. While being in Europe, Koffi recorded a remix version of Silivi with Ferre, Ramazani, Modogo, and Soleil. This song, along with the two other tracks recorded earlier, would get released towards the end of the year as the EP Boma Nga n’Elengi. However, the song dedicated to Skol had already received airplay on radio and television prior to its official release.With contracts lined up for the FESPAM Festival and concerts for Bracongo in Kinshasa, Koffi returned to Kinshasa with Ferre in July 2005.Background; (Maison Mère side)Due to the success of the EP Alerte Générale, Wenge Maison Mère enjoyed a successful European tour from February to July 2005. Ferre’s integration into Maisha Parc created reactions from Werrason’s spokesmen and musicians in various interviews. They claimed that Maisha Parc was a creation of the older generation (Koffi and Papa Wemba) to distract the bandleaders of the younger generation’s bandleaders (Clan Wenge), to slow their fame down and that they feared the release of Témoignage. Shortly before returning to Kinshasa, Werrason signed a lucrative contract with Primus. Upon his return, he gave a successful show in Kikwit, followed by two performances at FIKIN. Around the same time, the single Changement de Fréquence, dedicated to Primus, was released. His major success at FIKIN led to another contract to perform at Village Bralima—which happened to coincide with Koffi Olomidé performing on the same day at Village Bracongo during FIKIN.The Fara-FaraOn August 13th 2005, the fara-fara between Koffi Olomidé and Werrason took place at FIKIN. Both stages of Village Bracongo and Village Bralima were packed with fans, and as usual, the bandleaders appeared on stage around 2 a.m. Both bands entertained their audiences, but on Quartier Latin’s side, there were clear signs of internal tensions. Soleil was visibly unhappy with Mirage taking his vocal parts before doing his improvisation and made strange remarks, while Fally wasn't happy with Quartier Latin performing Ferre’s song 100 Kilo. Instead of singing his part of the song, Fally came with the vocal from Vita Imana by singing “Jeanpy Mongala yo mwana mabé”—as a shot towards at Ferre Gola.When Werrason started his concert at Village Bralima, he said, “toko solola na 7h” (“we will talk at 7 a.m.”). In the logic of Congolese music, the artist who leaves FIKIN first during a fara-fara is considered the loser. Koffi left Village Bracongo around 5:30 a.m., which led to the public to declare Werrason as winner of the confrontation. The concert at Village Bralima continued until 7 a.m., and just before it ended, the crowd sung insults such as “Koffi zoba” (“Koffi is stupid”).AftermathAfter the fara-fara, Koffi was interviewed and indirectly addressed the event, saying that he would never perform longer than what was stated in his contract, and that if artists were to be compared, it should be based on equal standards not on public concerts or television polls where fans simply insult artists they dislike. Koffi’s show at FIKIN was released on DVD, but it did not receive the same hype as Ferre’s presentation or the Monde Arabe show, where Papa Wemba, King Kester Emeneya, Bozi Boziana, and Adolphe Dominguez were invited.Werrason’s performance was released on DVD by JBM Production, owned by the late Jean Bavon Mwambu, who included two events: the fara-fara against Koffi and the famous fara-fara againstJB Mpiana, as well as the presentation of the new dance Kisanola at Zamba Playa.In the months that followed, the conflict between Koffi and Werrason escalated. Reports surfaced that Koffi was trying to lure Eboa Lotin, Héritier, Flamme, and Kakol into Quartier Latin. Werrason eventually revealed this on television. At the same time, Koffi continued to attack Werrason in the press, questioning his artistic abilities and continuing the encadreur/formateur debate. After winning a Kora Award as “Best Artist of the Decade 1995–2005 / Lifetime Achievement,” Koffi went so far as to call Werrason “disabled” (disabled as an artist).Still salty about Koffi recruiting Ferre, Wenge Maison Mère fans pushed for the recruitment of Patience, who had been left behind during the Danger de Mort tour. This angered Koffi, who apparently made multiple threatening phone calls to different Wenge Maison Mère staff members over the recruitment of PAtienfce. Among the former Quartier Latin members to (re)join Maison Mère, Bibicia was the first. She decided to return to Maison Mère after being left behind for the Danger de Mort tour, just as she had previously returned to Quartier Latin after being left behind for the Alerte Générale tour.Before Patience joined, there were talks of Jordan Kusa and Lola Muana entering the group. However, Jordan Kusa was recording his solo album and planning to settle in the U.S., so he did not join. Lola Muana did audition and was accepted by the public, but ultimately rejected—reportedly because Kakol was against it and Werrason himself was never convinced of Lola’s singing skills. Around the same time Patience joined, atalaku Brigade, who had also been left behind, joined Wenge Maison Mère.While Quartier Latin was touring in Europe, rumors spread that Flamme, who had been staying in Europe for personal reasons and had not returned to Kinshasa since the mixing of Témoignage, was close to joining the group. Apparently, he came close to signing, but after the Wenge Maison Mère camp made several media appearances takinng about his situation, Flamme declined the offer and returned to Kinshasa shortly afterward. To indirectly respond to Koffi’s “disabled” remark, Werrason appeared on a TV show with journalist Jacky Ndala, where he played several instruments (bass, drums, rhythm guitar, and lead guitar) while attacking Koffi verbally. He also claimed that Brigade told him Koffi had ordered him and Kerozene to copy Bill Clinton and Celeo.Shortly after the TV show, Werrason traveled to Matadi, where he gave a successful concert at the Lumumba Stadium. He was also scheduled to perform in Boma, but the show was canceled after Werrason claimed in the press that Koffi had sent armed men to kill him, which led him to immediately return to Kinshasa fearing his life. The story shocked many people. Brigade would later animate a short line about it in Sous Sol “bapesi sango yako boma Ngiama.” It was only 15 years later that Celeo revealed the story was false and that Werrason had used it as a pretext to avoid completing the remaining concerts.The media attacks between Koffi and Maison Mère continued, with Sankara often taking the lead for Maison Mère, but Koffi gradually slowed his responses due to the crisis within Quartier Latin following the departures of Fally and Ferre. Upon Koffi’s return from the Danger de Mort tour, another confrontation with Werrason took place at FIKIN for the 2006 edition. However, Koffi’s team was weakened by many departures and despite the presence of newly recruited members nicknamed “Les Mineurs,” he lost to Werrason, who was presenting new dances such as Pigeon and 3 Points. Koffi would enter a difficult period in his career.