coming soon... should be ready by tonight hopefully

Looking forward to that!!

Very much waiting archos.

THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF MABANGA

receiving money for having praised somebody during a concert  or any type of ceremony is something which has always existed,on various forms
but in congolese music,it really started in 1981 with viva la musica after their first ever europe tour,some close friends of kester emeneya (the group of sapeurs named la firenze) proposed him to promote them in return of clothes,and a little amount of money
sometimes
from 1980 to 1990 it was adopted by all groups and still at a reasonable level,then afterwards it started developing into a proper business which is vital for artists to survive
nowadays,its rare to see an album with more than one song not specially dedicated to a certain person,and it is even more rare to have songs without any name mentioned
and all this has a price

THE PRICES AND DIVERSE WAY OF PAYING

when it started becoming a business,it went from 100 dollars or 100 euros to nowadays up to 1500 dollars or euros to be mentioned in a song by a big star
those who are not seen as big stars rarely exceed the 1000 dollar mark
then there is also "special" mabanga mainly destined to politic personalities, for example president of equatorial guinea obiang offered 10 000   dollars to werrason as his name was mentioned in solola bien generique
if you want your name to be mentioned several times in a song then you have to pay 5 times the price if its 5 times your name mentioned,10 times if its ten,but if you have a close contact with artist sometimes you agree with him a certain price instead of paying it "individually"
but like in the 80's and 90's the system of being dedicated in return of clothes still exists
apart from that,there is also the fact of having his name mentioned by a group member or the leader during a concert having to go on stage,which is agreed before the concert and which start from 500 dollars for top artists and upwards
then you can also "buy" a song,this phenomenon has really blossomed after 2000 where the topic of the songs rarely exists anymore and is replaced with the name of that person
in the past,we had plenty of songs which talked about injustice,patience and so on,and which were the titles of the songs,whereas today songs despite their title not always being the name of the person the song is dedicated to,the songs are identified as the song artist X did for person Y
those songs are payed from 3000 dollars and upwards each,so far the most expensive song ever is fally ipupa's much demanded emeraude which was bought 25 000 dollars
and when the person who paid a song did not respect the amount they agreed before,musicians feel free to sell the other half of the song to somebody else

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CUSTOMERS

the first category of customers are "simple" fans of musicians who consider the fact of being dedicated by their favourite artists as a bonus to the pleasure they already have at listening to their songs
those are the guys who want to dedicated the less,many have been dedicated in maximum 2 albums in their whole life
the second category are sapeurs or in general fashion addicts who either "pay' musicians with clothes or are even willing to pay extra money to be dedicated  with originality(their names and massive titles behind,the king of this or that brand for example)
the third category are businessmen who cooperate with musicians(and now comedians) to promote their companies in their songs
for example,koffi in droit de veto who said " edson international trader delivers your car at home",or "kin fret services" or diamond companies of serge kassanda,didi kinuani,tshatsho mbala,kardozo mwamba and so on....
the fourth category is heavy fans who never want to miss being mentioned in any album of their favourite stars or in general famous artists for their personal pleasure and social recognition
maybe 90 per cent of the most popular people of DRC and Congo Brazzaville are that popular because their names were mentioned often in many famous songs

THE OBSESSION OF MABANGA

like have been said earlier,mabanga has a big role in congolese society but some people really take it to extreme level and leaders know it and use it even though sometimes it leads them to disgusting things(IMO)
apart the conventional ways of being dedicated i mentioned before,some customers steal things for musicians in return of mabanga or even have to see sorcerers so that they constantly have money to pay musicians and be praised in songs(with all the sacrifices it requires for them)
many people had mental problems when they falled and they were not able anymore to be dedicated,some accept hetero and homosexual intercourse with people in return of money to be able of getting mabanga in big stars' albums
and even worse,some have hetero and homosexual intercourse with artists themselves just for mabanga
also,many of customers want their names to be mentioned at specific moments of the songs and are even willing to pay extra money to be dedicated at that moment instead of somebody else,this actually lead several times to disputes between two or several customers waiting in studio to hear their name at an important part of the song


THE EXTREME IMPORTANCE OF MABANGA FINANCIALLY FOR ARTISTS

With the lack of producers,musicians use money from mabanga to pay their studio and clip fees,sometimes they have to add some extra money of their own to finish the work
sometimes they actually make massive profit compared to what they spent,for example papa wemba and his album in process said that he spent 80 000 dollars  in studio and did 20 songs,whereas he really dedicates a lot of people plus those who buy songs he can make a profit of three times what he paid
so what happens is that musicians fund a good part of the album fees first with their own money and help from their donors then once they are in the process they announce it on tv as they know they will have a massive lot of demand(especially the big stars),so they wait until they are satisfied with the money they gained and especially if it has covered studio and clip fees well
but this waiting is not only due to money,there is also a human relationship side in it,its important for musicians to be loyal to some of their friends who become customers(business is business) so they allow enough time to the recording and co process so that those people have time to contact them
another reasons which made mabanga become extremely important if not vital is the fact the copyright company of drc did nothing for decades
for example,wenge musica in their 15 years before split had never received  any money for their songs from the copyright company,as a result jb mpiana and werrason the two leaders are among those who are the most reliant on mabanga
in the  past,albums were recorded within a year maximum or a year and half,but now it often takes several years partly because of what mabanga implies
many album especially from the big stars require months of studio sessions only for mabanga

MABANGA USED IN WITCHCRAFT

it happens less and less,i  dont even know if it still exists,but for sure at some point musicians where using the names of some of the people they dedicated and cursing them with the help of sorcerers for their success,so that those people become like their slaves

Thank you for the insight on mabnaga, but what about the musicians of the leaders how do their mabanga's work like... do donors go like leader A here is $10,000 take half and give the other half  to a artist of your choice or they just individually give the artists the money. And are the artists (leaders and their artists) required to say their names at concerts where they are not going to be there (ex. Cameroon) and what about when the artists of the leaders have songs (ex. Le prince De la Ville by Heritier is for Guy Malela) how does that work or is it the same as their boss. And what about concert mabanga how does that work.

Thank you for good work archos. My question is, in the case of Guillain Esamba of culture he always dedicate Zeka Luzeka in songs and in concerts.What is the arrangement in such a case? note that he is the only member of culture who normally dedicate Luzeka. Lastly who is this man Mike Mosisi?

Arches comment on the mabangas that artists get on shouting some names is those that got to individuals artists not the band or the leader..by the way bin laden has been calling out tedday tendai since 2009.
how is the album mabanga shared out ?

Great insight!! Cheers

Thank you for the insight on mabnaga, but what about the musicians of the leaders how do their mabanga's work like... do donors go like leader A here is $10,000 take half and give the other half  to a artist of your choice or they just individually give the artists the money. And are the artists (leaders and their artists) required to say their names at concerts where they are not going to be there (ex. Cameroon) and what about when the artists of the leaders have songs (ex. Le prince De la Ville by Heritier is for Guy Malela) how does that work or is it the same as their boss. And what about concert mabanga how does that work.

what happens when band members participate in an album they agree for mabanga with many people,whether they have  a song in album or not,then they show the list of people to leader who decides to  spread a couple of the  names( 2 or 4 maximum depending of the role of that musicians) in all songs,then a bit more freedom  in their own songs but if leader wants he take some money out of what the guy who was dedicated the song to paid
for example  in a la queue leu leu,werra was given lists by all his musicians and he cut a part on all of those who released songs(ferré and co), i think koffi and jb also do this
and sometimes,band members agree with customers but those people are not dedicated at the end because leader has priority(when  the musicians have had too much  demand or if  its minor band member,ba canailles like we say)
also leaders can decide to reject the name their musician present them because the person who wants to be dedicated does not support the group enough or they have conflicts
even though musicians who release songs are paid by the guys who bought it,leaders know very well how much they are given
concert mabanga has two sides,many are dedicated for free because they are very very close friends or they have so much positive collaboration that they have become like friends,for example patrick bolonia who has been so generous with jb  that jb dedicates him even when playing in abidjan  or in kampala or paris
the second side of mabanga in concerts is that you contact band members who give a certain part of their lists to leaders as those guys who want it  prefer leader to dedicate them but since they have no contact with them they do it through musicians
 the other part of their lists they dedicate them themselves but once again dont even imagine dedicating a guy leader does not appreciate
for example before jb's failed zenith,many had contact genta,abraham and co  and agreed for mabanga,and paid musicians and jb himself,but  since the concert did not happen they had to pay back or find a solution  in general

Thank you for good work archos. My question is, in the case of Guillain Esamba of culture he always dedicate Zeka Luzeka in songs and in concerts.What is the arrangement in such a case? note that he is the only member of culture who normally dedicate Luzeka. Lastly who is this man Mike Mosisi?

zeka luzeka is wazekwa's brother,and essamba has been in cultura almost from day one so they have become like family
mike mosisi is a businessman from here in paris and a good friend of koffi

Thank you for the insight on mabnaga, but what about the musicians of the leaders how do their mabanga's work like... do donors go like leader A here is $10,000 take half and give the other half  to a artist of your choice or they just individually give the artists the money. And are the artists (leaders and their artists) required to say their names at concerts where they are not going to be there (ex. Cameroon) and what about when the artists of the leaders have songs (ex. Le prince De la Ville by Heritier is for Guy Malela) how does that work or is it the same as their boss. And what about concert mabanga how does that work.

what happens when band members participate in an album they agree for mabanga with many people,whether they have  a song in album or not,then they show the list of people to leader who decides to  spread a couple of the  names( 2 or 4 maximum depending of the role of that musicians) in all songs,then a bit more freedom  in their own songs but if leader wants he take some money out of what the guy who was dedicated the song to paid
for example  in a la queue leu leu,werra was given lists by all his musicians and he cut a part on all of those who released songs(ferré and co), i think koffi and jb also do this
and sometimes,band members agree with customers but those people are not dedicated at the end because leader has priority(when  the musicians have had too much  demand or if  its minor band member,ba canailles like we say)
also leaders can decide to reject the name their musician present them because the person who wants to be dedicated does not support the group enough or they have conflicts
even though musicians who release songs are paid by the guys who bought it,leaders know very well how much they are given
concert mabanga has two sides,many are dedicated for free because they are very very close friends or they have so much positive collaboration that they have become like friends,for example patrick bolonia who has been so generous with jb  that jb dedicates him even when playing in abidjan  or in kampala or paris
the second side of mabanga in concerts is that you contact band members who give a certain part of their lists to leaders as those guys who want it  prefer leader to dedicate them but since they have no contact with them they do it through musicians
 the other part of their lists they dedicate them themselves but once again dont even imagine dedicating a guy leader does not appreciate
for example before jb's failed zenith,many had contact genta,abraham and co  and agreed for mabanga,and paid musicians and jb himself,but  since the concert did not happen they had to pay back or find a solution  in general

Thank you again for the info.

Archos, as always thank you very much for your insight on Congolese mabanga. I will quickly say that Kinshasa is a late comer to this, however, it turned to be very extreme in mentality.
One time I was a Nigerian band concert and the people started showering money (dollars) at the musicians, particularly the leader. Money was raining like water all over. I asked why, they said that it is the tradition to shower musicians with money from ages. (open tradition). The guy went on to explain that business men have used to advertise their business, clubs have used it to popularize their union and persons have used to promote themselves dating back decades.
The one thing I noticed on the video of the history of Papa Wemba and SAPE that DJ Sly posted, a women was willing to steal and sleep with Papa Wemba for a song dedication; that I found very appalling –bad.
IT IS A GOOD THING THAT I DON’T HEAR LINGALA, I JUST ANJOY THE SONGS. It could have been a turn-off.

IT IS A GOOD THING THAT I DON’T HEAR LINGALA, I JUST ANJOY THE SONGS. It could have been a turn-off.

If the mabanga is a part of the lyrics and you want to sing along with it then you have to say the names but it gets annoying when they do mabanga after mabanga after mabanga and it's in the middle of the song or if they do a mabanga over singing or the chrous, it's ok if it's like two or three names names a the beginning  of the song and they music is playing and if they say a dedication like every five seconds or at the end of a song.

Archos thanks for the info. However the mabanga was somewhat around during the 1970s and 1980s but the difference was then they usually were speaking of the musicians.

I know Pepe Kalle loved to speak about Coco Mandimba who was a diamond collecter in Katanga. Very interesting info. I know a lot of Muluba people are based in Katanga. I would not be surprised if part of Pepe's family was from Katanga.

Thank you for good work archos. My question is, in the case of Guillain Esamba of culture he always dedicate Zeka Luzeka in songs and in concerts.What is the arrangement in such a case? note that he is the only member of culture who normally dedicate Luzeka. Lastly who is this man Mike Mosisi?

zeka luzeka is wazekwa's brother,and essamba has been in cultura almost from day one so they have become like family
mike mosisi is a businessman from here in paris and a good friend of koffi

Thank you archos. I din't know Zeka is Wazekwa's bro, But as well he looks very rich.