I listen to alot of Congolese music, old and new but I do not understand Lingala and my French isnt so great.  I always wonder what makes something a hit song or not.  To me many of the most popular vocalist sound wise dont really cut it but theyre still "the best".   Many times Ive heard tracks where I thought man this must be a total hit but it isnt as popular as I though it would be.  There also seems to be a genuine lack of interest in music from Congo-Brazza, why is that?  In my opinion, some of their artist produce music (instrumentally speaking) far better than many of the Congo-Kinshasa groups but they dont seem to be as popular.

-In a nutshell, what makes a group/song popular in you guys' ears?

I agree on your thoughts on Congo-Brazza music. At least to the extent that when that branch emerged and gained higher reputation in the 90's by Extra Musica, it seemed to have more potential in it than their Kinshasa counterparts. In my opinion, though Extra Musica copied Wenge musica, they could expell them in choruses, could keep up with them in animation, and could add one more twist to the sound instrumentally. I still consider them best regarding choruses and rumba melodies. But just as the bands in Kinshasa, they also declined in overall sound during the years, at least accoarding to my ears. Solos are not as interesing as before, nor the performance of the atalakus, but fortunately the choruses still sound very good and I also like the singers, however I definately miss the old ones, like Oxygéne or Papy Bastin. Apart from this, in my opinion, from all the bands in the past decade, Extra Musica could export this classical Congolese band lineup and sound to abroad to the world music scene the best. They had the most international-compatible profile, in my opinion, as a Congolese band. (Famous Congolese artists from Kinshasa living abroad mostly operate as individuals.)