@Matebu

Perhaps the recent trend of increasingly programmed music over live instrumentation is because it's cheaper to record and release. Half the battle of making music today is done by when you can program percussions, horn sections, and synths on the keyboard. Where back in the day, you had to factor in whether live horns would sync well with the guitars, keyboards, and drums. This means that music composition was the foundation of song creation, as opposed to improvising melodies on a keyboard or guitar partition then stretching them out into songs.

In order to conserve cost, reheasals were constant and music compositions of some of our favorite songs underwent many rewrites to get that sound just perfect enough to record. With a band set up of lead (sometimed mi-solo) and rhythm guitar, it required a dedicated team of studio engineers to properly record and sequence the music in respects to the bass player and drums.

This requires a lot of money, patience, and commitment which I don't think a lot of artist have nowadays in the social media era. It's all about quick output and even faster returns on investment, where as the past required time to create an album that could survive months on rotations because of the power of the music.

As far as lyrics go, maybe it's time for songwriters to reach into themselves and share songs about the things we all go through besides just sex...maybe fables of common life or songs about personal trials (big or small). Atalakus need to strengthen their craft on creating cries that get people to dance and admire their wordplay (incorperate different languages like kikongo and tshiluba).

Those are just my observations, but it seems we're all on the save wavelength.

Very good explanation, all this summarizes what Congolese music needs to regain the power it had before

I second that motion. Great points, especially with all the hit songs worldwide that are being made with cheap productions

@Matebu  @Congolitude

Adding to the discussion, perhaps there should be a committed group of local sponsors (wealthly business folks and politicans who like music) to create a peformance venue that allows local musicians to recruit, rehearse, and perform on a local level and develop groups. With time, these groups will form their own style and create a buzz that will attract the more exclusive sponsorships which can start providing instruments, studio time, and maybe financial patronage to members!

Once the group has a solid line-up of musicans; local support, and an wealthy backer then they can travel to Europe to properly record their rehearsed songs and maybe secure an distribution deal that can yield the group a wider audience and bigger venues like Olympia and Bercy.

This time around, Congolese artist need to invest into learning and applying the business science of music publishing which allow artist credited as composers to specific songs to recieve mechanical royalties for their work!

Had there been an independant company assigned with tracking sales and leasing music of Congolese artist to third parties like movies and advertisements, they save some of the profit into a fund for artist that can mimic pension which becomes accessable after a certain period of time. This could solve a lot of the problems of long-term artist dying without a penny to their name, but it also protects songwriters credited with composing songs because it forces band leaders to practice fair payment practices for group albums!

Maybe they could create a financial insentive like yearly bonuses for bandleaders who abide strictly by the rules of fair-play and payment of artist.

My college discipline is business, specifically finance and accounting. I'm still in college, so I'm not an authority in the field but just wanted to share some ideas

@Tata Nkiadi @Matebu

As far as mabangas go, only the highest financial sponsor to a group should be given a shoutout on the actual album! If an artist wants to give praise to mid-level sponsors, save it for concerts.

The albums primarly should exist to showcase well composed rhumbas, an anthemic generique, and sebene songs which incorperate both previous mentioned types of songs.

I'm more forgiving towards increased mabanga usage in the generique because those songs have long legs in term of promotions since they operate at parties and nightclubs, which are perfect places to advertise a business or praise a sponsor. However, the music AND lyrics should be primary factor in music production...mabangas are just the icing on top of the cake.

@mvulusi96
There should be a music station on TV or some kind of platform to properly promote new acts and form fan excitment about new albums, the older generations did it back and the day...with the access to tech they didn't have, this new generation should be able to figure out a way. The problem requires better logistics

- The Bandal crowd (Wenge and its heirs) nearly destroyed our music.

- I hate these trends of having a lot french words in songs. The more lingala based a song is the more it's beautiful. Rhumba was built on congolese languages, especially lingala.

- Too much RnB orientated rumba songs.

- People care too much about westerners listening to our music. Our music will never become mainstream in the West. We should focus on Latim America...

- Kester was an idiot for popularizing that "taking our music out of the ghetto" mantra, and now I see a lot of people running with it. Our music was never in the ghetto. "Independence cha-cha" took the entire continent by storm.

- Seben is good but rhumba is superior and is the heart of the genre.

- Too much sex and vulgarity. The commission of censure needs to make a come back and send someone to jail for a long time.

- Our musician need to stop dressing like rappers and mimicking them. It's stupid and they look like fools. I blame Fally.

- Werra did not deserve his success. He's not a super talented artist. He owes his success partially to the political context of the late 90's/early 00's.

- Marie Paul deserved what happened to his career for helping Werra only for tribal reasons.

- Quartier Latin (1st version : 92-99) was equal to Wenge and at their peak they made better music than Wenge : Ultimatum was better than Pentagone.

- Wazekwa is not the genius he thinks he is.

- People give N'yoka Longo too much credit when it comes to Zaiko.

- The big Wenge split of 1997 was not important; the big tragedy happened when JB separated himself from Makaba and Bula. It was the real dream team.

- Adolphe made better solo rumba songs than Werra.

- Somono was the best atalaku of QL history.

- Bill Clinton is overrated and he does not have a legacy.

- Koffi started declining after Loi.

- Papa Wemba is to blame for turning a lot of men in the diaspora into fashion divas.

- Many young musicians do not have a proper knowledge of the genre.

- The Bandal crowd (Wenge and its heirs) nearly destroyed our music.

- I hate these trends of having a lot french words in songs. The more lingala based a song is the more it's beautiful. Rhumba was built on congolese languages, especially lingala.

- Too much RnB orientated rumba songs.

- People care too much about westerners listening to our music. Our music will never become mainstream in the West. We should focus on Latim America...

- Kester was an idiot for popularizing that "taking our music out of the ghetto" mantra, and now I see a lot of people running with it. Our music was never in the ghetto. "Independence cha-cha" took the entire continent by storm.

- Seben is good but rhumba is superior and is the heart of the genre.

- Too much sex and vulgarity. The commission of censure needs to make a come back and send someone to jail for a long time.

- Our musician need to stop dressing like rappers and mimicking them. It's stupid and they look like fools. I blame Fally.

- Werra did not deserve his success. He's not a super talented artist. He owes his success partially to the political context of the late 90's/early 00's.

- Marie Paul deserved what happened to his career for helping Werra only for tribal reasons.

- Quartier Latin (1st version : 92-99) was equal to Wenge and at their peak they made better music than Wenge : Ultimatum was better than Pentagone.

- Wazekwa is not the genius he thinks he is.

- People give N'yoka Longo too much credit when it comes to Zaiko.

- The big Wenge split of 1997 was not important; the big tragedy happened when JB separated himself from Makaba and Bula. It was the real dream team.

- Adolphe made better solo rumba songs than Werra.

- Somono was the best atalaku of QL history.

- Bill Clinton is overrated and he does not have a legacy.

- Koffi started declining after Loi.

- Papa Wemba is to blame for turning a lot of men in the diaspora into fashion divas.

- Many young musicians do not have a proper knowledge of the genre.

Wow that's a lot of very unpopular statements...
seben is what got people outside of congo notice Congolese music and still to this day
Fallys not just to blame that rapper fashion has been around for years it's 4x4 and BCBG that started that trend way before people knew who fally was
Werra' only weakness is his voice other than that he's a good artist
Ultimatum better than pentagone... hmmmmm
The split was very important it impacted the whole genre
I wouldn't say somono was the best in QL history that's debatable
Bill has a huge legacy there's so many people who try and copy him he's not overrated
No way did koffi start declining after Loi that's when he started increasing its bek he started declining
Butttt I do agree about wenge almost destroying music to an extent

- The Bandal crowd (Wenge and its heirs) nearly destroyed our music.

- I hate these trends of having a lot french words in songs. The more lingala based a song is the more it's beautiful. Rhumba was built on congolese languages, especially lingala.

- Too much RnB orientated rumba songs.

- People care too much about westerners listening to our music. Our music will never become mainstream in the West. We should focus on Latim America...

- Kester was an idiot for popularizing that "taking our music out of the ghetto" mantra, and now I see a lot of people running with it. Our music was never in the ghetto. "Independence cha-cha" took the entire continent by storm.

- Seben is good but rhumba is superior and is the heart of the genre.

- Too much sex and vulgarity. The commission of censure needs to make a come back and send someone to jail for a long time.

- Our musician need to stop dressing like rappers and mimicking them. It's stupid and they look like fools. I blame Fally.

- Werra did not deserve his success. He's not a super talented artist. He owes his success partially to the political context of the late 90's/early 00's.

- Marie Paul deserved what happened to his career for helping Werra only for tribal reasons.

- Quartier Latin (1st version : 92-99) was equal to Wenge and at their peak they made better music than Wenge : Ultimatum was better than Pentagone.

- Wazekwa is not the genius he thinks he is.

- People give N'yoka Longo too much credit when it comes to Zaiko.

- The big Wenge split of 1997 was not important; the big tragedy happened when JB separated himself from Makaba and Bula. It was the real dream team.

- Adolphe made better solo rumba songs than Werra.

- Somono was the best atalaku of QL history.

- Bill Clinton is overrated and he does not have a legacy.

- Koffi started declining after Loi.

- Papa Wemba is to blame for turning a lot of men in the diaspora into fashion divas.

- Many young musicians do not have a proper knowledge of the genre.

Wow that's a lot of very unpopular statements...
seben is what got people outside of congo notice Congolese music and still to this day
Fallys not just to blame that rapper fashion has been around for years it's 4x4 and BCBG that started that trend way before people knew who fally was
Werra' only weakness is his voice other than that he's a good artist
Ultimatum better than pentagone... hmmmmm
The split was very important it impacted the whole genre
I wouldn't say somono was the best in QL history that's debatable
Bill has a huge legacy there's so many people who try and copy him he's not overrated
No way did koffi start declining after Loi that's when he started increasing its bek he started declining
Butttt I do agree about wenge almost destroying music to an extent

No, it's Rumba which made Congolese music known in the world with Grand Kalle and his band African Jazz in the 50's and 60's who were filling stadiums. They were invited everywhere by presidents and countries who just became independent. Grand Kalle was even known in Cuba. They made a big tribute for him when he died in 1983. Then you got the generation Tabu Ley contributed alot in the Congolese music-scene adding drums, coming the concept of having female dancers, coming with those showman-concerts, performing at Olympia for 36 concerts (26 days in a row!!!). Rumba did already everything in Africa for DRC. Seben came later and replaced it with those soukous artists based in Paris (Diblo Dibala, Kanda Bongo Man, Aurlus Mabele, etc.) making it famous in Africa.

No Quartier Latin's 1st generation isn't equal to Wenge 4x4. Watch their concerts and compare it with those of Wenge 4x4. Quartier Latin couldn't even match Wenge EL Paris of 1996/97 (Marie Paul, Manda Chante & Depitsho). Or maybe you didn't witness that, which I then can understand your point of view.

Hahah no, after Loi you had the Droit de Veto, Effrakata, Force de Frappe who were bangers. Without forgetting his big bangers at Bercy (being the african artist to perform there by his own and fill it), Stade des Martyrs, getting gold records, winning kora's (the event of 2002 when he won 4 being the highlight), returning to Zenith in 2001 & 2003. Koffi's artistic declin started in the time of Danger de Mort when his musicians started to leave one by one and Fally dominating him with Droit Chemin. B.E.K. and Abacadabra were a huge succes with Koffi presenting Cindy. But you could feel a little bit that Koffi was on the end. His intelligence made him still stand (adopting the style of singing about sex, like the way he followed Wenge's style in the 90's and polemic). Abacadabra was a warning that he had to change his artistic view, but his love for Cindy made him blind. It was then to late when he released 13eme Apotre. He tried to correct his errors in Nyataquance, but it's so/so. Nevertheless people are dancing to his rumba Alidor and the generic Danse Ya Ba Boss.

No, Ultimatum isn't better than Pentagone. Pentagone has better songs (Coco Madimba, La Verite, Filandu, Daddet & No Comment Schengen). Btw you can't compare the two albums, because the concept is different. In Ultimatum you got Koffi and Quartier Latin, while Pentagone is only Wenge 4x4 with everybody doing is own thing. Koffi is singing lead in the most song or doing duets with his musicians. This album made alot of people mistake Quartier Latin albums for Koffi's solo albums, even if this explained more 1000 times that those albums aren't solo albums. That's also the difference with his ex'mentor/idol Wemba, who was since that start of Viva La Musica in 1977 letting his band dowing in own things. You had many LP's/Albums in the 80's credited on Wemba's name  where you wouldn't hear Wemba singing. in Nouvelle Ecriture's album "Dans 'L"  of 1998, he sung only one song on his own "Safari", sung the chorus of "Ba Yankee" did some mabanga's in the generic and "Ba Yankee" and let his band do his own things. But Koffi is very smart with creating Quartier Latin on his image and the musicians coming after him. I guess that he did that so that he nobody would easily succeed in his solo career or create a splinterband which could harm his solo career and also that someone could become a threat to his succes or become more popular than him at a moment in his own band with was sometime the case with Papa Wemba (Maray Maray, Lidjo Kwempa & Reddy Amisi).

Quartier Latin's best atalaku ever is Mbo Bola "aka Mboshi Lipassa".

Yes Nyoka Longo is gets to much credited. He was in 1970 the first star of the band, but Gina Efonge joining in 1971 changed things.
Back in 1971 until 1974 he was on the background with Les Quatro "Ajumagi" (Evoloko Jocker, Gina Efonge, Jules Presley "Wemba" and Mavuela Somo) along with Pepe Felly Manuaki being the mainstars. That was the highlight of Zaiko. But people forgot it quickly, since that those images of that era dissparead. Gina Efonge was then the main star (in 1973 he lost his head and was replaced by Bozi Boziana) and then Evoloko Jocker. People weren't paying attention to Wemba who, but Wemba succeeding in his solo carreer made people wanting to change the history and acting like he was the main star of Zaiko in that era, which isn't true. Wemba's succes started in 1975 in Isifi Lokole, which was a spliterband of Zaiko created by Evoloko who was joined by Bozi Boziana, Mavuela and Wemba afer being suspended by Zaiko. His succes came when he released the song Amazone, who was dedicated to his wife. His succes created tensions in Isifi, because it made Evoloko angry Wemba had than more succes with him. Wemba's staff said to him to he had to start his own band but he wasn't sure about himself so he manipulated Mavuela and Bozi with some false stories. Than they followed him and created Yoka Lokole, leaving Evoloko alone. But it flopped in the 3 first months with Isifi of Evoloko and Zaiko beating them very hard. Then Mbuta Mashakado of Zaiko (he was imitating James Brown) joined Yoka Lokole, after leadership-wars with Nyoka Longo who was jealous of him. The succes started when Mavuela released Bana Kin (the song of the year and attack against people who weren't coming from Kinshasa) and Maloba Ya Koko. Mavuela Somo (who was nothing in Zaiko and Isifi) became then the main star along with Mbuta Mashakado. Then leadership-wars started and Wemba was forced out of the band. He wanted then to return to Zaiko and was excepting a visit from them, but nobody came. His staff tried to convice him to start his own band, but he wasn't sure of himself. His staff started to recruit musicians, but Wemba didn't care.He started then to rehease with Evoloko and his band Isifi Melodia with Evoloko starting to humilate him which didn't please Wemba's staff and they forced him to go at home. With then finally agreeing start his own band with Viva La Musica being created in december 1976 and giving his first concert on 26th february 1977 at bar Type K.

Back from 1971 until 1974 Zaiko had image of thugs and people who smocked alot of weed with Evoloko and Gina. But Zaiko's image changed in 1975 after the departure of Les Quatro. With Nyoka Longo, Bimi Ombale, Lengi Lenga and Likinga Redo recreating a new image of a band of intellectuals. With Nyoka Longo being the main-star since 1975 made until this day made him getting all the credits. While we had alot of people who contributed to the succes of Zaiko.

Wenge EL Paris had still succes in 1999 and 2000, but yes it was not more like before November 1998 when Titanic and Force d'Intervention Rapide came out. People say that it Marie Paul went down because he helped Werrason, but if you well it was more his own fault. He forced Manda Chante out of the band, while it was the moment to fight the Maison Mere vs BCBG virus and form a block. But despite that he had still those crazy crowd concerts with him winning the fara-fara against Werrason after Solola Bien. Things went wrong when he brought Wenge EL Paris back to Europe. In Europe his concerts had low attendence and then you got also the war of Marie Paul against journalist Zacharie Bababaswe. And the big blunder he made during a interview they asked him "ce quoi ton fruit prefere" with him saying "les beignets" and in an other question they asked him what job his wife does with him replying "homme d'affaire", while it is "femme d'affaires". Marie Paul made many blunders in interviews, but this time everybody payed attention to it with fans of other bands mocking him and many fans turing him the back, because of shame. His album K.O. Debout "Carte Jaune" very hard with him accussing Werrason and his staff doing witchcraft on that album and corrupt the excecutive producer Claude Mussay. Marie Paul made a strong comeback with the album Eboulement and planned to return to Kinshasa. The album was in the beginning well received but went quickly down in the music-charts, since the cd's still didn't arrive in the two Congo's and also because you need to be present in Congo to promote albums. Then things turned bad. His bandsmembers started to disrespect him and starting to leave one by one. With Marie Paul started lose his head and preaching people in the streets with the bible. When Zacharie Bababaswe heard that he decided to bring Marie Paul back to Kinshasa and re-starting Wenge EL Paris with Alain Mwepu and his brother Liverpool who still reheasering in his 4 years absence. But the succes wasn't there anymore with Marie Paul not being able to walk with big crowds behind him, like in years of 1992-2000. 2 years ago rumors appeard that him losing his succes didn't have to do with Werrason, but it was because of his atalaku Doukoure (who was doing alot of nasty work for him sacrifing alot of people, throwing nkisi at places where they had to perform, save some nkisi of the band at home). Rumors said that he wasn't happy the way Marie Paul treating him and wanting to earn more with Marie Paul punishing him by leaving him behind in Kinshasa which made him angry and throwing alot of nkisi away. This all backfired at him with him losing his head. He made an interview in Luanda where made some revelations.

What makes this thread great is getting to hear opinions of others that aren't necessarily based on historical popular opinion.... most of us know that already and still may not agree. So I appreciate @Paysan Congolais for his alternative views

- The Bandal crowd (Wenge and its heirs) nearly destroyed our music.

A lot can be sourced to them, so good point.
 

- Kester was an idiot for popularizing that "taking our music out of the ghetto" mantra, and now I see a lot of people running with it. Our music was never in the ghetto. "Independence cha-cha" took the entire continent by storm.

Idiot is a strong word, but he did make a point of making local dances popular in the late 90's... then all the other bands followed them since everyone wanted a big local fanbase.

- Seben is good but rhumba is superior and is the heart of the genre.

Mix of both for me.

- Our musician need to stop dressing like rappers and mimicking them. It's stupid and they look like fools. I blame Fally.

Wenge BCBG was the group that introduced hip hop clothing and made it popular among artist in general, from there things went south. Things like tight clothes, sagging pants, and bucket hats, we can point to Fally.

It's too late to go back now, I'm afraid. Everyone dresses western now.

- Werra did not deserve his success. He's not a super talented artist. He owes his success partially to the political context of the late 90's/early 00's.

Without the first WMM team (Bill, Celeo, Ferre, Serge, Japonais, Flamme, Mimche, etc) he would have been nothing at all, in my opinion.

- Wazekwa is not the genius he thinks he is.

Can you elaborate on why you think Wazekwa is not a genius for the genre. For me his whole career mantra has been based on sagesse, and I've never been lead to think otherwise. His new book has been extremely well-recieved among educated folk.

- People give N'yoka Longo too much credit when it comes to Zaiko.

Most casual listeners think he created Zaiko and made it great, which angers me. He was too power obsessed, so either the orginals died early or he pushed them out.

- The big Wenge split of 1997 was not important; the big tragedy happened when JB separated himself from Makaba and Bula. It was the real dream team.

The split was inevitable, but JB burned bridges with Makaba and Bula too prematurely.

- Adolphe made better solo rumba songs than Werra.

Werra has never fully composed a rhumba himself, so no argument from me.

- Bill Clinton is overrated and he does not have a legacy.

My first issue with Bill is why the hell he named himself Bill Clinton.... If I type "Bill Clinton" on YT, forsure i will not see his videos.

- Papa Wemba is to blame for turning a lot of men in the diaspora into fashion divas.

I definitely agree about Wemba spoiling the minds of his fans. Those sapeur idiots....yes idiots, because they spend they their livelihood (if they even work) on fashion are lost souls.

The funny think is most don't even look remotely good in those European haute couture.

- Many young musicians do not have a proper knowledge of the genre.

So true. I was watching an interview of Pepe Felly (father of modern sebene and guitar in general). He was explaining the way he developed while riding on a training and paying attention to the consistency of train tracks.
 
He also said that the none of the younger guitarists are innovating, or even good for that matter because they do not know how and why it was created in the first place.

Wow that's a lot of very unpopular statements...
seben is what got people outside of congo notice Congolese music and still to this day
Fallys not just to blame that rapper fashion has been around for years it's 4x4 and BCBG that started that trend way before people knew who fally was
Werra' only weakness is his voice other than that he's a good artist
Ultimatum better than pentagone... hmmmmm
The split was very important it impacted the whole genre
I wouldn't say somono was the best in QL history that's debatable
Bill has a huge legacy there's so many people who try and copy him he's not overrated
No way did koffi start declining after Loi that's when he started increasing its bek he started declining
Butttt I do agree about wenge almost destroying music to an extent

Seben is not what got people outside of Congo to love our music. Congolese music was played all over Africa since the 60's. Mbilia Bel is one of the most famous african musician in Latin America, especially Colombia, she never played seben. Franco was famous all over Africa, even the world. He wasn't a seben based musician.

Musically, Koffi started declining at that moment. It does not mean everything he did after was bad, but musically, he reached his peak in the mid-90's.

Bill does not have a "cri" people will remember him for.

You're right for the impact of the split on the genre. I was taking about a more musical aspect. Titanic was a pure Wenge album. You did not need Werra and Adolphe to have a Wenge album. Once Makaba and Bula left, the "Wenge sound" disappeared.

I don't see a single song on Pentagone better than "Papa na Roissy".

Werra weakness is not only his voice, it's also his singing ability overall. He can't sing. We're talking about a guy who couldn't sing a whole song by himself after years and years of musical career.

Wow that's a lot of very unpopular statements...
seben is what got people outside of congo notice Congolese music and still to this day
Fallys not just to blame that rapper fashion has been around for years it's 4x4 and BCBG that started that trend way before people knew who fally was
Werra' only weakness is his voice other than that he's a good artist
Ultimatum better than pentagone... hmmmmm
The split was very important it impacted the whole genre
I wouldn't say somono was the best in QL history that's debatable
Bill has a huge legacy there's so many people who try and copy him he's not overrated
No way did koffi start declining after Loi that's when he started increasing its bek he started declining
Butttt I do agree about wenge almost destroying music to an extent

No, it's Rumba which made Congolese music known in the world with Grand Kalle and his band African Jazz in the 50's and 60's who were filling stadiums. They were invited everywhere by presidents and countries who just became independent. Grand Kalle was even known in Cuba. They made a big tribute for him when he died in 1983. Then you got the generation Tabu Ley contributed alot in the Congolese music-scene adding drums, coming the concept of having female dancers, coming with those showman-concerts, performing at Olympia for 36 concerts (26 days in a row!!!). Rumba did already everything in Africa for DRC. Seben came later and replaced it with those soukous artists based in Paris (Diblo Dibala, Kanda Bongo Man, Aurlus Mabele, etc.) making it famous in Africa.

No Quartier Latin's 1st generation isn't equal to Wenge 4x4. Watch their concerts and compare it with those of Wenge 4x4. Quartier Latin couldn't even match Wenge EL Paris of 1996/97 (Marie Paul, Manda Chante & Depitsho). Or maybe you didn't witness that, which I then can understand your point of view.

Hahah no, after Loi you had the Droit de Veto, Effrakata, Force de Frappe who were bangers. Without forgetting his big bangers at Bercy (being the african artist to perform there by his own and fill it), Stade des Martyrs, getting gold records, winning kora's (the event of 2002 when he won 4 being the highlight), returning to Zenith in 2001 & 2003. Koffi's artistic declin started in the time of Danger de Mort when his musicians started to leave one by one and Fally dominating him with Droit Chemin. B.E.K. and Abacadabra were a huge succes with Koffi presenting Cindy. But you could feel a little bit that Koffi was on the end. His intelligence made him still stand (adopting the style of singing about sex, like the way he followed Wenge's style in the 90's and polemic). Abacadabra was a warning that he had to change his artistic view, but his love for Cindy made him blind. It was then to late when he released 13eme Apotre. He tried to correct his errors in Nyataquance, but it's so/so. Nevertheless people are dancing to his rumba Alidor and the generic Danse Ya Ba Boss.

No, Ultimatum isn't better than Pentagone. Pentagone has better songs (Coco Madimba, La Verite, Filandu, Daddet & No Comment Schengen). Btw you can't compare the two albums, because the concept is different. In Ultimatum you got Koffi and Quartier Latin, while Pentagone is only Wenge 4x4 with everybody doing is own thing. Koffi is singing lead in the most song or doing duets with his musicians. This album made alot of people mistake Quartier Latin albums for Koffi's solo albums, even if this explained more 1000 times that those albums aren't solo albums. That's also the difference with his ex'mentor/idol Wemba, who was since that start of Viva La Musica in 1977 letting his band dowing in own things. You had many LP's/Albums in the 80's credited on Wemba's name  where you wouldn't hear Wemba singing. in Nouvelle Ecriture's album "Dans 'L"  of 1998, he sung only one song on his own "Safari", sung the chorus of "Ba Yankee" did some mabanga's in the generic and "Ba Yankee" and let his band do his own things. But Koffi is very smart with creating Quartier Latin on his image and the musicians coming after him. I guess that he did that so that he nobody would easily succeed in his solo career or create a splinterband which could harm his solo career and also that someone could become a threat to his succes or become more popular than him at a moment in his own band with was sometime the case with Papa Wemba (Maray Maray, Lidjo Kwempa & Reddy Amisi).

Quartier Latin's best atalaku ever is Mbo Bola "aka Mboshi Lipassa".

Yes Nyoka Longo is gets to much credited. He was in 1970 the first star of the band, but Gina Efonge joining in 1971 changed things.
Back in 1971 until 1974 he was on the background with Les Quatro "Ajumagi" (Evoloko Jocker, Gina Efonge, Jules Presley "Wemba" and Mavuela Somo) along with Pepe Felly Manuaki being the mainstars. That was the highlight of Zaiko. But people forgot it quickly, since that those images of that era dissparead. Gina Efonge was then the main star (in 1973 he lost his head and was replaced by Bozi Boziana) and then Evoloko Jocker. People weren't paying attention to Wemba who, but Wemba succeeding in his solo carreer made people wanting to change the history and acting like he was the main star of Zaiko in that era, which isn't true. Wemba's succes started in 1975 in Isifi Lokole, which was a spliterband of Zaiko created by Evoloko who was joined by Bozi Boziana, Mavuela and Wemba afer being suspended by Zaiko. His succes came when he released the song Amazone, who was dedicated to his wife. His succes created tensions in Isifi, because it made Evoloko angry Wemba had than more succes with him. Wemba's staff said to him to he had to start his own band but he wasn't sure about himself so he manipulated Mavuela and Bozi with some false stories. Than they followed him and created Yoka Lokole, leaving Evoloko alone. But it flopped in the 3 first months with Isifi of Evoloko and Zaiko beating them very hard. Then Mbuta Mashakado of Zaiko (he was imitating James Brown) joined Yoka Lokole, after leadership-wars with Nyoka Longo who was jealous of him. The succes started when Mavuela released Bana Kin (the song of the year and attack against people who weren't coming from Kinshasa) and Maloba Ya Koko. Mavuela Somo (who was nothing in Zaiko and Isifi) became then the main star along with Mbuta Mashakado. Then leadership-wars started and Wemba was forced out of the band. He wanted then to return to Zaiko and was excepting a visit from them, but nobody came. His staff tried to convice him to start his own band, but he wasn't sure of himself. His staff started to recruit musicians, but Wemba didn't care.He started then to rehease with Evoloko and his band Isifi Melodia with Evoloko starting to humilate him which didn't please Wemba's staff and they forced him to go at home. With then finally agreeing start his own band with Viva La Musica being created in december 1976 and giving his first concert on 26th february 1977 at bar Type K.

Back from 1971 until 1974 Zaiko had image of thugs and people who smocked alot of weed with Evoloko and Gina. But Zaiko's image changed in 1975 after the departure of Les Quatro. With Nyoka Longo, Bimi Ombale, Lengi Lenga and Likinga Redo recreating a new image of a band of intellectuals. With Nyoka Longo being the main-star since 1975 made until this day made him getting all the credits. While we had alot of people who contributed to the succes of Zaiko.

Wenge EL Paris had still succes in 1999 and 2000, but yes it was not more like before November 1998 when Titanic and Force d'Intervention Rapide came out. People say that it Marie Paul went down because he helped Werrason, but if you well it was more his own fault. He forced Manda Chante out of the band, while it was the moment to fight the Maison Mere vs BCBG virus and form a block. But despite that he had still those crazy crowd concerts with him winning the fara-fara against Werrason after Solola Bien. Things went wrong when he brought Wenge EL Paris back to Europe. In Europe his concerts had low attendence and then you got also the war of Marie Paul against journalist Zacharie Bababaswe. And the big blunder he made during a interview they asked him "ce quoi ton fruit prefere" with him saying "les beignets" and in an other question they asked him what job his wife does with him replying "homme d'affaire", while it is "femme d'affaires". Marie Paul made many blunders in interviews, but this time everybody payed attention to it with fans of other bands mocking him and many fans turing him the back, because of shame. His album K.O. Debout "Carte Jaune" very hard with him accussing Werrason and his staff doing witchcraft on that album and corrupt the excecutive producer Claude Mussay. Marie Paul made a strong comeback with the album Eboulement and planned to return to Kinshasa. The album was in the beginning well received but went quickly down in the music-charts, since the cd's still didn't arrive in the two Congo's and also because you need to be present in Congo to promote albums. Then things turned bad. His bandsmembers started to disrespect him and starting to leave one by one. With Marie Paul started lose his head and preaching people in the streets with the bible. When Zacharie Bababaswe heard that he decided to bring Marie Paul back to Kinshasa and re-starting Wenge EL Paris with Alain Mwepu and his brother Liverpool who still reheasering in his 4 years absence. But the succes wasn't there anymore with Marie Paul not being able to walk with big crowds behind him, like in years of 1992-2000. 2 years ago rumors appeard that him losing his succes didn't have to do with Werrason, but it was because of his atalaku Doukoure (who was doing alot of nasty work for him sacrifing alot of people, throwing nkisi at places where they had to perform, save some nkisi of the band at home). Rumors said that he wasn't happy the way Marie Paul treating him and wanting to earn more with Marie Paul punishing him by leaving him behind in Kinshasa which made him angry and throwing alot of nkisi away. This all backfired at him with him losing his head. He made an interview in Luanda where made some revelations.

When I say decline, I was talking about the musical aspect, not success. I should've been more precise.

Papa na Roissy is a better song that the songs you've listed from Pentagone.

If you compare the first Koffi Olympia (Mboshi is the only atalaku) and the V12 Abidjan concert (Somono is the only atalaku), you'll see why Somono is better.

Plus, Mboshi never made a song as good as Mbirime. I don't hate Mboshi but he always appeared as a bootleg Caludgi.

You're right about Marie Paul. I like the guy but he played himself. Instead of letting Werra die on the side road and becoming the only adversary for JB he went and helped Werra. It was a dumb move. One of the reasons Manda left (he said it himself) is because Manda wasn't agreeing with the help Marie Paul was giving Werra and Maison Mère.

@ Matebu

Waekwa gave an interview the other day and was calling himself a thinker. I was like "C'mon". You're not a thinker because you wrote a book. I can write a book too.

The guy is not a genius. He had some good texts in the 90's, but that's it. When it comes to songwriting he's not even touching Lutumba's wiseness or Max Mongali's poetry. I'll put him in the same category with Koffi and Reddy. That's it.

Having a diploma from a french university does not turn you into a Plato or Socrates.

Back in the 70, when we had a solid education system with a lot of true intellectuals, nobody would've cared for someone like Wazekwa.

Wow that's a lot of very unpopular statements...
seben is what got people outside of congo notice Congolese music and still to this day
Fallys not just to blame that rapper fashion has been around for years it's 4x4 and BCBG that started that trend way before people knew who fally was
Werra' only weakness is his voice other than that he's a good artist
Ultimatum better than pentagone... hmmmmm
The split was very important it impacted the whole genre
I wouldn't say somono was the best in QL history that's debatable
Bill has a huge legacy there's so many people who try and copy him he's not overrated
No way did koffi start declining after Loi that's when he started increasing its bek he started declining
Butttt I do agree about wenge almost destroying music to an extent

No, it's Rumba which made Congolese music known in the world with Grand Kalle and his band African Jazz in the 50's and 60's who were filling stadiums. They were invited everywhere by presidents and countries who just became independent. Grand Kalle was even known in Cuba. They made a big tribute for him when he died in 1983. Then you got the generation Tabu Ley contributed alot in the Congolese music-scene adding drums, coming the concept of having female dancers, coming with those showman-concerts, performing at Olympia for 36 concerts (26 days in a row!!!). Rumba did already everything in Africa for DRC. Seben came later and replaced it with those soukous artists based in Paris (Diblo Dibala, Kanda Bongo Man, Aurlus Mabele, etc.) making it famous in Africa.

No Quartier Latin's 1st generation isn't equal to Wenge 4x4. Watch their concerts and compare it with those of Wenge 4x4. Quartier Latin couldn't even match Wenge EL Paris of 1996/97 (Marie Paul, Manda Chante & Depitsho). Or maybe you didn't witness that, which I then can understand your point of view.

Hahah no, after Loi you had the Droit de Veto, Effrakata, Force de Frappe who were bangers. Without forgetting his big bangers at Bercy (being the african artist to perform there by his own and fill it), Stade des Martyrs, getting gold records, winning kora's (the event of 2002 when he won 4 being the highlight), returning to Zenith in 2001 & 2003. Koffi's artistic declin started in the time of Danger de Mort when his musicians started to leave one by one and Fally dominating him with Droit Chemin. B.E.K. and Abacadabra were a huge succes with Koffi presenting Cindy. But you could feel a little bit that Koffi was on the end. His intelligence made him still stand (adopting the style of singing about sex, like the way he followed Wenge's style in the 90's and polemic). Abacadabra was a warning that he had to change his artistic view, but his love for Cindy made him blind. It was then to late when he released 13eme Apotre. He tried to correct his errors in Nyataquance, but it's so/so. Nevertheless people are dancing to his rumba Alidor and the generic Danse Ya Ba Boss.

No, Ultimatum isn't better than Pentagone. Pentagone has better songs (Coco Madimba, La Verite, Filandu, Daddet & No Comment Schengen). Btw you can't compare the two albums, because the concept is different. In Ultimatum you got Koffi and Quartier Latin, while Pentagone is only Wenge 4x4 with everybody doing is own thing. Koffi is singing lead in the most song or doing duets with his musicians. This album made alot of people mistake Quartier Latin albums for Koffi's solo albums, even if this explained more 1000 times that those albums aren't solo albums. That's also the difference with his ex'mentor/idol Wemba, who was since that start of Viva La Musica in 1977 letting his band dowing in own things. You had many LP's/Albums in the 80's credited on Wemba's name  where you wouldn't hear Wemba singing. in Nouvelle Ecriture's album "Dans 'L"  of 1998, he sung only one song on his own "Safari", sung the chorus of "Ba Yankee" did some mabanga's in the generic and "Ba Yankee" and let his band do his own things. But Koffi is very smart with creating Quartier Latin on his image and the musicians coming after him. I guess that he did that so that he nobody would easily succeed in his solo career or create a splinterband which could harm his solo career and also that someone could become a threat to his succes or become more popular than him at a moment in his own band with was sometime the case with Papa Wemba (Maray Maray, Lidjo Kwempa & Reddy Amisi).

Quartier Latin's best atalaku ever is Mbo Bola "aka Mboshi Lipassa".

Yes Nyoka Longo is gets to much credited. He was in 1970 the first star of the band, but Gina Efonge joining in 1971 changed things.
Back in 1971 until 1974 he was on the background with Les Quatro "Ajumagi" (Evoloko Jocker, Gina Efonge, Jules Presley "Wemba" and Mavuela Somo) along with Pepe Felly Manuaki being the mainstars. That was the highlight of Zaiko. But people forgot it quickly, since that those images of that era dissparead. Gina Efonge was then the main star (in 1973 he lost his head and was replaced by Bozi Boziana) and then Evoloko Jocker. People weren't paying attention to Wemba who, but Wemba succeeding in his solo carreer made people wanting to change the history and acting like he was the main star of Zaiko in that era, which isn't true. Wemba's succes started in 1975 in Isifi Lokole, which was a spliterband of Zaiko created by Evoloko who was joined by Bozi Boziana, Mavuela and Wemba afer being suspended by Zaiko. His succes came when he released the song Amazone, who was dedicated to his wife. His succes created tensions in Isifi, because it made Evoloko angry Wemba had than more succes with him. Wemba's staff said to him to he had to start his own band but he wasn't sure about himself so he manipulated Mavuela and Bozi with some false stories. Than they followed him and created Yoka Lokole, leaving Evoloko alone. But it flopped in the 3 first months with Isifi of Evoloko and Zaiko beating them very hard. Then Mbuta Mashakado of Zaiko (he was imitating James Brown) joined Yoka Lokole, after leadership-wars with Nyoka Longo who was jealous of him. The succes started when Mavuela released Bana Kin (the song of the year and attack against people who weren't coming from Kinshasa) and Maloba Ya Koko. Mavuela Somo (who was nothing in Zaiko and Isifi) became then the main star along with Mbuta Mashakado. Then leadership-wars started and Wemba was forced out of the band. He wanted then to return to Zaiko and was excepting a visit from them, but nobody came. His staff tried to convice him to start his own band, but he wasn't sure of himself. His staff started to recruit musicians, but Wemba didn't care.He started then to rehease with Evoloko and his band Isifi Melodia with Evoloko starting to humilate him which didn't please Wemba's staff and they forced him to go at home. With then finally agreeing start his own band with Viva La Musica being created in december 1976 and giving his first concert on 26th february 1977 at bar Type K.

Back from 1971 until 1974 Zaiko had image of thugs and people who smocked alot of weed with Evoloko and Gina. But Zaiko's image changed in 1975 after the departure of Les Quatro. With Nyoka Longo, Bimi Ombale, Lengi Lenga and Likinga Redo recreating a new image of a band of intellectuals. With Nyoka Longo being the main-star since 1975 made until this day made him getting all the credits. While we had alot of people who contributed to the succes of Zaiko.

Wenge EL Paris had still succes in 1999 and 2000, but yes it was not more like before November 1998 when Titanic and Force d'Intervention Rapide came out. People say that it Marie Paul went down because he helped Werrason, but if you well it was more his own fault. He forced Manda Chante out of the band, while it was the moment to fight the Maison Mere vs BCBG virus and form a block. But despite that he had still those crazy crowd concerts with him winning the fara-fara against Werrason after Solola Bien. Things went wrong when he brought Wenge EL Paris back to Europe. In Europe his concerts had low attendence and then you got also the war of Marie Paul against journalist Zacharie Bababaswe. And the big blunder he made during a interview they asked him "ce quoi ton fruit prefere" with him saying "les beignets" and in an other question they asked him what job his wife does with him replying "homme d'affaire", while it is "femme d'affaires". Marie Paul made many blunders in interviews, but this time everybody payed attention to it with fans of other bands mocking him and many fans turing him the back, because of shame. His album K.O. Debout "Carte Jaune" very hard with him accussing Werrason and his staff doing witchcraft on that album and corrupt the excecutive producer Claude Mussay. Marie Paul made a strong comeback with the album Eboulement and planned to return to Kinshasa. The album was in the beginning well received but went quickly down in the music-charts, since the cd's still didn't arrive in the two Congo's and also because you need to be present in Congo to promote albums. Then things turned bad. His bandsmembers started to disrespect him and starting to leave one by one. With Marie Paul started lose his head and preaching people in the streets with the bible. When Zacharie Bababaswe heard that he decided to bring Marie Paul back to Kinshasa and re-starting Wenge EL Paris with Alain Mwepu and his brother Liverpool who still reheasering in his 4 years absence. But the succes wasn't there anymore with Marie Paul not being able to walk with big crowds behind him, like in years of 1992-2000. 2 years ago rumors appeard that him losing his succes didn't have to do with Werrason, but it was because of his atalaku Doukoure (who was doing alot of nasty work for him sacrifing alot of people, throwing nkisi at places where they had to perform, save some nkisi of the band at home). Rumors said that he wasn't happy the way Marie Paul treating him and wanting to earn more with Marie Paul punishing him by leaving him behind in Kinshasa which made him angry and throwing alot of nkisi away. This all backfired at him with him losing his head. He made an interview in Luanda where made some revelations.

When I say decline, I was talking about the musical aspect, not success. I should've been more precise.

Papa na Roissy is a better song that the songs you've listed from Pentagone.

If you compare the first Koffi Olympia (Mboshi is the only atalaku) and the V12 Abidjan concert (Somono is the only atalaku), you'll see why Somono is better.

Plus, Mboshi never made a song as good as Mbirime. I don't hate Mboshi but he always appeared as a bootleg Caludgi.

You're right about Marie Paul. I like the guy but he played himself. Instead of letting Werra die on the side road and becoming the only adversary for JB he went and helped Werra. It was a dumb move. One of the reasons Manda left (he said it himself) is because Manda wasn't agreeing with the help Marie Paul was giving Werra and Maison Mère.

I watched that concert of Koffi in Abidjan, but Somono didn't really impress me. When I saw that video for the first time was really dissapointed, I was waiting then for Beevans. I was seeing Somono as a faux animateur until a saw the video of Koffi's 40th birthday. He was lucky to travel with Quartier Latin in Europe in 1997, because he hadn't a new crie. That toko bina selele of Boketshu 1er saved him. When Academia started without Mboshi people said that Somono was finished, because he wasn't really able to let people move you will see that he voice was many time messed up. His duo's with Mboshi weren't the same anymore when he rejoined Quartier Latin after Olympia.

Mbirime isn't a song. It is a generic and it wasn't even composed by Somono himself. Baron Manoka was the original composer of that song, but they co-credited it to Somono, since that he was atalaku. A big part of Mbirime is a old Kikongo-folklore song. Edo Nganga from Brazzaville remixed a little in OK Jazz naming it Ba O.K. Batele Wo. Somono isn't really reactive he was always repeating the same cries of Station Japana in Quartier Latin & Academia.



If we are talking about songs. Than I would say that Somono never made a good song like Prototype, which credited to Mboshi Lipassa. Name me a song of Somono that everybody can remember.



If are talking your talking about musical aspect. Then it's from V12. Because after that Koffi didn't came with something new. Alot of rumba's he did after V12 were copies of Fouta Djallon. If we don't look to the chorus of V12we can then even say that it's Noblesse Oblige. Because Fouta Djallon has the same style of Classe Tendresse.

Manda Chante didn't leave by himself. He was forced out by Marie Paul who wanted to be the only leader of Wenge EL Paris and not wanted to share the money anymore with him. With him saying to the musicians that they don't must rehease anymore with him and that had to chose for him or Manda Chante with everybody chosing for Marie Paul, because they feared Marie Paul and didn't believe in Manda succeeding in a solo carreer. Before that they performed two times without him with nobody saying to him that they had a concert. Yes I saw him saying it sometimes that didn't agree with Marie Paul helping Werrason, but it wasn't of the main reasons that he left. That thing of Marie Paul helping Werrason is just a little problem. Before that many things happened between him and Marie Paul. If he would just leave for that, he would left Wenge EL Paris already in 1995.

That's not true Bill Clinton has 2 main crie, who people will remember him for it. He made the Mbuji-Mayi animation which alot of bands adopted, Delta Force of Pepe Kalle, Big Stars of Defao, Victoria Eleison of King Kester Emeneya and many others. After that he made his most famous crie "Tatu Kansebu", which almost everybody copied and from that atalaku's started animating in Tshiluba. Because before that animation was always done in Lingala or Kikongo and sometimes but very rare in Ki-humbu/Ki-teke (the original languague of Kinshasa).

Evoloko was totally overrated singer in the Zaiko age. He was never that special to begin with. Unfortunately people such as my idols Franco and Pepe Kalle thought he was "special". This man was a wreck in making. His voice is so annoying. He is not the worst singer but he is not the best at all. For some reason my parents love his songs so much that they always want me to play them. I don't know what they see special about him. SMH.

Koffi Olomide was better with Josky than with everyone else. Josky and Koffi Olomide had a special musical connection that Koffi did not have with anyone else. Josky gave Koffi the chance to express himself in many ways.

Franco was better with Vicky Longomba than with Madilu System or Youlou Mabiala. Franco and Vicky understood each other well musically better than they did with others. Vicky was a classical tenor singer while Franco was a wild baritone singer and they mashed to a accurate harmony.

Nyboma belonged to Pepe Kalle and not Madilu. Pepe Kalle made Nyboma a better singer than anyone else. Including Koffi Olomide, Wuta Mayi, Madilu, and others.

Papa Wemba should have done a duet song with Ntesa Dalienst. Ntesa and Papa Wemba would have been a better duo

Franco should have gotten Tino Minkwa into OKJ. He would have been a great addition into OKJ.

Fally Ipupa and Heritier need to do a duet together

Madilu, Papa Wemba and Tabu Ley would have been a great trio.

Koffi Olomide was very jealous of the Wenge Musica style of music.

and I got more but that is what I got so far.

I watched that concert of Koffi in Abidjan, but Somono didn't really impress me. When I saw that video for the first time was really dissapointed, I was waiting then for Beevans. I was seeing Somono as a faux animateur until a saw the video of Koffi's 40th birthday. He was lucky to travel with Quartier Latin in Europe in 1997, because he hadn't a new crie. That toko bina selele of Boketshu 1er saved him. When Academia started without Mboshi people said that Somono was finished, because he wasn't really able to let people move you will see that he voice was many time messed up. His duo's with Mboshi weren't the same anymore when he rejoined Quartier Latin after Olympia.

Mbirime isn't a song. It is a generic and it wasn't even composed by Somono himself. Baron Manoka was the original composer of that song, but they co-credited it to Somono, since that he was atalaku. A big part of Mbirime is a old Kikongo-folklore song. Edo Nganga from Brazzaville remixed a little in OK Jazz naming it Ba O.K. Batele Wo. Somono isn't really reactive he was always repeating the same cries of Station Japana in Quartier Latin & Academia.



If we are talking about songs. Than I would say that Somono never made a good song like Prototype, which credited to Mboshi Lipassa. Name me a song of Somono that everybody can remember.



If are talking your talking about musical aspect. Then it's from V12. Because after that Koffi didn't came with something new. Alot of rumba's he did after V12 were copies of Fouta Djallon. If we don't look to the chorus of V12we can then even say that it's Noblesse Oblige. Because Fouta Djallon has the same style of Classe Tendresse.

Manda Chante didn't leave by himself. He was forced out by Marie Paul who wanted to be the only leader of Wenge EL Paris and not wanted to share the money anymore with him. With him saying to the musicians that they don't must rehease anymore with him and that had to chose for him or Manda Chante with everybody chosing for Marie Paul, because they feared Marie Paul and didn't believe in Manda succeeding in a solo carreer. Before that they performed two times without him with nobody saying to him that they had a concert. Yes I saw him saying it sometimes that didn't agree with Marie Paul helping Werrason, but it wasn't of the main reasons that he left. That thing of Marie Paul helping Werrason is just a little problem. Before that many things happened between him and Marie Paul. If he would just leave for that, he would left Wenge EL Paris already in 1995.

That's not true Bill Clinton has 2 main crie, who people will remember him for it. He made the Mbuji-Mayi animation which alot of bands adopted, Delta Force of Pepe Kalle, Big Stars of Defao, Victoria Eleison of King Kester Emeneya and many others. After that he made his most famous crie "Tatu Kansebu", which almost everybody copied and from that atalaku's started animating in Tshiluba. Because before that animation was always done in Lingala or Kikongo and sometimes but very rare in Ki-humbu/Ki-teke (the original languague of Kinshasa).

Mboshi and Somono both did not create a to of "cri". They manly took them from somewhere. However, when it comes to performing those cris,  Somono was better. Somono has the voice and the cadence to make you dance. Somono has a crazy groove. Mboshi is sometimes boring. But I'm not saying he's bad but there is a hierarchy between the two. Somono can move the crowd and control the place. Look at the Paris Ultimatum concert, Somono clearly outshines Mboshi.



For the song, you're right, it wasn't Somono's, even if I still put it above Prototype. It was a bad example.

For Koffi, you're also right. Koffi started declining WITH Loi, not after.

Nobody cares about Mbuji Mayi Kananga and Tatu Kansebu anymore. Those cris did not pass the test of time like other iconic cris of the 90's. Koyimbiko is more remembered than any Clinton's cris. To be honest, the sebens from intervention rapide and Solola Bien are not even mentioned anymore. If you put Loi, Dede sur Mesure or Ndombolo ya solo in a party today, people will dance, even the young kids. If you put solola Bien, the reaction will be meh. Some people will dance but that's it.

Evoloko was totally overrated singer in the Zaiko age. He was never that special to begin with. Unfortunately people such as my idols Franco and Pepe Kalle thought he was "special". This man was a wreck in making. His voice is so annoying. He is not the worst singer but he is not the best at all. For some reason my parents love his songs so much that they always want me to play them. I don't know what they see special about him. SMH.

Koffi Olomide was better with Josky than with everyone else. Josky and Koffi Olomide had a special musical connection that Koffi did not have with anyone else. Josky gave Koffi the chance to express himself in many ways.

Franco was better with Vicky Longomba than with Madilu System or Youlou Mabiala. Franco and Vicky understood each other well musically better than they did with others. Vicky was a classical tenor singer while Franco was a wild baritone singer and they mashed to a accurate harmony.

Nyboma belonged to Pepe Kalle and not Madilu. Pepe Kalle made Nyboma a better singer than anyone else. Including Koffi Olomide, Wuta Mayi, Madilu, and others.

Papa Wemba should have done a duet song with Ntesa Dalienst. Ntesa and Papa Wemba would have been a better duo

Franco should have gotten Tino Minkwa into OKJ. He would have been a great addition into OKJ.

Fally Ipupa and Heritier need to do a duet together

Madilu, Papa Wemba and Tabu Ley would have been a great trio.

Koffi Olomide was very jealous of the Wenge Musica style of music.

and I got more but that is what I got so far.

That's not true, more people will dance to Solola Bien than Ndombolo ya Solo. little kids born in the late 90's and 2000's dont even know hot to dance Ndombolo Ya Solo, since that there isn't a videoclip. While Solola Bien is each year promoted on Instagram-pages. It's also many times very rare to hear Ndombolo Ya Solo on parties or it had to be a 50th anniversairy of someone or people who like JB Mpiana alot. If they put generics of JB Mpiana then it's mostly only Mpunda and Kipe Ya Yo (Lopele).

Evoloko was totally overrated singer in the Zaiko age. He was never that special to begin with. Unfortunately people such as my idols Franco and Pepe Kalle thought he was "special". This man was a wreck in making. His voice is so annoying. He is not the worst singer but he is not the best at all. For some reason my parents love his songs so much that they always want me to play them. I don't know what they see special about him. SMH.

Koffi Olomide was better with Josky than with everyone else. Josky and Koffi Olomide had a special musical connection that Koffi did not have with anyone else. Josky gave Koffi the chance to express himself in many ways.

Franco was better with Vicky Longomba than with Madilu System or Youlou Mabiala. Franco and Vicky understood each other well musically better than they did with others. Vicky was a classical tenor singer while Franco was a wild baritone singer and they mashed to a accurate harmony.

Nyboma belonged to Pepe Kalle and not Madilu. Pepe Kalle made Nyboma a better singer than anyone else. Including Koffi Olomide, Wuta Mayi, Madilu, and others.

Papa Wemba should have done a duet song with Ntesa Dalienst. Ntesa and Papa Wemba would have been a better duo

Franco should have gotten Tino Minkwa into OKJ. He would have been a great addition into OKJ.

Fally Ipupa and Heritier need to do a duet together

Madilu, Papa Wemba and Tabu Ley would have been a great trio.

Koffi Olomide was very jealous of the Wenge Musica style of music.

and I got more but that is what I got so far.

Hahaha say that right in the face to people who were born in the 50's and who witness the succes of Zaiko's Amujagi generation 1971-1974 and they will beat you in your face. Say that even in Koffi's face and he will say that are crazy in your head. It's because of Evoloko that Wemba changed his singing-style Wemba himself was a big fan of Evoloko in Zaiko. Wemba copied Evoloko's singing-style. The problem with Evoloko is that he doesn't do any effort with his voice anymore, since he became the only leader in Langa Langa Stars back in 1985. Back in the years 1973, 74, 75 & 76 every boy wanted to be like Evoloko. Evoloko & Gina Efonge are with Tabu Ley the idols of the most guys born in the 70's. If Evoloko wasn't jealous then Wemba wouldn't get a chance to succeed in his solo career.