No, Emeneya went to Europe with his band Victoria Eleison in April 1991 on world tour touring in Europe (Spain, Portugal, France, U.K., Germany, Netherlands, Italy, etc.), Asia (South Corea and Japan) and also the America (USA & Canada). Then when they wanted to return to Zaire, those lootings by Mobutu's soldiers started. Due to that situation, were waiting for some months, wanting the tensions to appease, in the same period you had also the Conference Nationale Souveraine. Then through their tourpromoter Gerard Akueson they received papers, which made Emeneya think that it wasn't necessary anymore to return to Kinshasa and the whole band profiting with those papers to bring their wive and children to Europe. Like Papa Wemba, Emeneya wanted also work on a world-music career to make his audience bigger, like the way Nzinzi made him know in many African countries (Cameroun, Ivory Coast, etc.) and opened him for many festivals in Europe. He also hired some foreigners in his band (bass, drums, singers). But the most people in the Congolese community weren't happen, saying that he was killing his band. Then when he released his solo album Everybody in 1993, the album wasn't well received at that time by his own community nor by the foreign public. At that the same he was heavenily critized by the press, saying that he abandoned the authentic rhythm of Victoria Eleison to Wenge Musica. In many interviews between 1999 to 2003, when being asked, why he stopped with the rhythm of Nzinzi and Everybody, he said would always refer to it, saying that nobody in the community supported it, while most found it good the way Wemba released Emotion & Le Voyageur. After Everbody, he wanted to take a pause, in meantime bandmembers like Malembe Chante, Auguy Lutula and co would return to Kinshasa to visit their families, etc. and also promote Victoria a little bit there. Emeneya wasn't receiving lucrative contracts from his brewery Primus nor tabaco-companies for concerts in Kinshasa, compared to Wemba (settled in France since 1987) who was since 1988 receiving every year contracts from breweries Bralima and Unibra to promote their products (Primus, Skol, Castel Beer, Dopel, etc.) through open-air concerts until 1998 when he decided to settle definitively in Kinshasa. With the years going on, Emeneya was letting to much space to Koffi Olomidé, Wenge Musica and his mentor Papa Wemba. People started to say that he was finished, others saying that he run away from Wenge Musica's succes, like the way people claimed that Wemba ran away in 1987 from Victoria Eleison's succes, who was back then the most popular band in Zaire. Emeneya's own fans were were worried and wanted him to go back to Kinshasa. The album of his band "Pas de Contact" and his own solo album Succes Fous weren't well received. In October 1997, he finally returned, planning a concert at Stade des Martyrs (being by the way big stars and bands were performing at Parc des Princes and at that time newly build stadium Stade de France). Newpapers first skeptical about his return, but Emeneya shut their mouths by getting received by 30.000 people and setting a record by performing in front of 50.000 spectators at Stade des Martyrs (Back then artists weren't able to even reach 10.000 spectators when performing there, having also to organise festivals to reach a big public).
JB Mpiana presented them at LSC, because they were "bana poto", Richard Mukena coming from Belgium, JDL from France and Bikou le Brun from U.K. JDL & Richard Mukena both joined in 1999, you can see Richard Mukena sitting behind Fi-Carre when they performed the song Masuwa at Stade des Martyrs. At that time they were not known because they hadn't song on TH. So when those TH-concerts started, JB Mpiana started to present them in every big event of Kinshasa to the crowd (FIKIN, Bandal, etc.). Bikou le Brun joined in 2000 when JB Mpiana came to mix TH, he was introduced by JB's staff of London.
JDL used to be JB's mukala when touring in Europe and continued to be it when coming in Europe, JB sending him get some food and being also his bodyguard at the same time. It's not for nothing that Jordan Kusa dissed by without naming his name in that Ben Laden vs Les Allies-VHS. Saying that he used to be a keyboard-player in the past and a bodyguard at Quick-Restaurant.
I think that Emeneya just wanted to copy what Papa Wemba used to do with him, when being in his band Viva La Musica (1977-1982) and still continued to do until 2003 when he got arrested. But Emeneya not having the luck like Wemba and doing it on wrong moments.
When coming back to Kinshasa just before the release of Longue Histoire, he gave the reason that he disagreed with the tour promoter that he only could tour with a few musicians of Kinshasa joined by them former Victoria-musicians (Huits Kilo's, Mbuji Mayi, Malembe Chant, Auguy Lutula, etc.). Saying that the whole band would soon join Guy Moller, Zoe Bella and co in the US through Kenya, which didn't happen. They went to Kenya, but the tour went wrong and Emeneya ended up by abandoning the band there for months without money, before rejoining them again after 6 months recording quickly along Mbuta Likasu and Victoria the VHS "Ba Nganga na Bango Bakufi" and after that they went to Tanzania, where they recorded the clips of Longue Histoire. But the tou didn't go well because the tour-promoter ran away with the money, so they were forced to have some more concerts to pay some debts they had to the hotel where they were staying. At that same time tensions growed in the band, when Emeneya announced that they won't tour in Europe anymore and that they had to wait for next year. Giving the reason that if they would tour there, that they would return without cars and peannuts, because of the tour just being for 3 months. The musicians on their side thought that Emeneya not wanted to bring them to Europe, because they were since 1998 waiting for a tour and their rivals of Nouvelle Ecriture and Quartier Latin mocking them and stealing their sidechicks with their expensive cars. Guys like Zoe Bella and Guy Moller who rejoined the band in Kenya, were also mad, because Emeneya still hadn't gave them the money, he promised to give for the tickets they paid to rejoin the band. So it made them the musicians think about forming a their own band, when arriving in Kinshasa.
When they finally arrived in Kinshasa after some concerts in Zambia and Lubumbashi. Emeneya changed his version about the cancelled tour in the US, saying that tthe our promoter used to bring ngulu's to the United States and wanted to use his band for it, which made him refuse to tour in the US (but that's not a reason to bring 3 musicians and abandon them there)Anyway, it created alot problems for the tour promoter (I don't remember his name) when Emeneya decided to not respect his contract and also for other artists who already negotiated for another tour. General Defao for example wasn't able to finish his tour, because he was stuck in Kenya, since that they embassady refused to give him visa's.
Somono and Lebou didn't felt they should lead. It was that they were fed up with Sam's behaviour and Sam wanting to have total control overthe band by elimating everyone who co-founded Academy one by one. Somono left because he was angry that the contract Sam Tshintu signed with Bralima (Primus) wasn't fair, seeing that it was not for the group, but for himself. Lebou Kabuya left because he felt that they weren't giving him the value as co-founder and chef d'orchestre of Academia and he was also mad that they gave him peanuts when the tour, which made also Pathy Bass leave for the same reasons and both guys ending up by forming Quartier Latin Integral.
Abilissi already left before the recordings of Viagra.
It were hard times for Nyoka Longo. He almost lost the entire band, but Dindo Yogo, Nono, Meridjo, Zamuangana, Mbuta Matima and Oncle Bapius remained loyal to him after meeting with Ngoss who financed Zaiko Familia Dei. Nyoka Longo was lucky that Papa Moleka corrupted Nono, otherwise it would have been more difficult to surive the split.
In the same period of TH anyways. It was supposed to come out in 1999. But when he released the EP "Never Again Plus, Plus Jamais" (which had a song dedicated to the late Pepe Kalle, one for Congo who was in war and a remix of his Viva La Musica hit Teint de Bronze), recordlabels started to doubt because he was asking big money for the album, while the EP flopped very hard.So he and his close friends (JDK Decor and co) went to record Longue Histoire on their own fees in Kinshasa. The album had first 10 song, then 13 songs with the time going the demand from donors were growing and Emeneya couldn't reject, because he needed that money and it suited also well to its album-title. Then when he wanted to release the album towards start of 2000, he received a phone-call in Kinshasa that their was a new dance (Tchaku Libondas) who was hot in Kinshasa at the same time Didi Kinuani and his friends wanted a song dedicated to Bana Lunda, the friends they lost when looking a for a better life in at that time dangerous diamond-province of Angola and hard time they had before coming rich (the song was called Basali Nteke) and another song next to it, which made it 17 songs in total. When Emeneya arrived in Kinshasa they added Tchaku Libondas next to animations also Bill Clinton's new cri at that time (Bana bazo lia te). Drummer Signora Depatra Uomo asked if Emeneya couldn't make a remix of the Victoria Eleison Anthem of 1982, which made them record But na Filet, it wasadapted to their team of 2000 and the cri's of atalaku's. When finally finishing recording Longue Histoire in Kinshasa, he went to the US with Guy Moller and Mbuta Bass, Zoe Bella. But for whatever reasons, Emeneya decided to abandon them in New York, while they had to tour there for some months and went directly to Paris. Guy Moller, Zoe Bella and Mbuta Bass were sent away from their hotels when the tour-promoter discovered that Emeneya ran away and they had to sleep for 2 days on the streets. Emeneya mixed Longue Histoire in Paris and released the album later in two volumes (volume 1 & volume 2). He made some big money, but after a few months his friend JDK Decor ran away with a part of the money, which made him not being able to promote the album more after the succes. JDK became suddenly close to Papa Wemba and became his concertpromoter for his event at Bercy. Not long after that more problems occured in his band and became worser when Guy Moller and Zoe rejoined in the band in Kenya with also a conflict with his friend Mambo de Panama when arriving in Kinshasa with the band, after that Victoria Eleison spent like 8 or 6 months in Kenya (they had a hard time there).
The original version of But na Filet. It was played since Victoria Eleison's birth in 1982 at the start of their concerts and in 1984 released on disc and each year adapted in concerts with new cri's.
Emeneya in Kinshasa when recording Longue Histoire in 1999 with the new dance Kiwanzenza. The dance Tchaku Libondas wasn't arrived yet.
They had so much potential, but they disbanned in no time. Suzuki could have done so much in the 6 remain years before rejoining Quartier Latin. I remember reading in those Grand LAC magazine of Sam Mpengo Mbey, that he was recording an album back in 2004, having some pictures of him singing in the studio. What happened to that album ? What became of the dancers Ruffin and Franc Congolais ? Ruffin is Riz au Lait right ?
Is it because of what Popolipo said on 13:06 min that Lebou didn't play on Viagra the way he used to play on Sanction ? Was this Abilissi's last concert with Academia ? Because he isn't much on stage compared to Abel Benz or did OGP Productions just choose the songs that he didn't sung that day.
I found that part of Evoloko and his son Tonton Lay funny, when he dedicates his son to hit the high notes "aaah nga eeh" and Tonton Lay also repeating it. I'm not used to see Suzuki with long hair.
I hope that IGWEJUNIOR10130 also has their fara-fara against Wenge Maison Mere in Paris.
Wasn't there any love for Academia any more in Brussels or was there another Congolese band performing in Brussels on Christmas? Because the hall isn't packed like the way when JB Mpiana would perform there.
Bandmembers refused to go with him to Uganda, because they feared that it would create problems for them (Congo was back then in war against Rwanda and Uganda who supported the rebel-groups RCD of Wamba dia Wamba & MLC of Jean Pierre Bemba), since that they all saw how people were burned on the streets and killed in Kinshasa when the war started. General Defao was furious that they were refusing, so at some point he was fed up and decided to fire the whole band when they came for a concert in Laussane. After it he went to France for a few concerts with session musicians, the recordings of Nessy de London and went immediatly to Uganda for concerts joined by Big Stars-members who were staying in Nairobi at that time (the of Mbetenge, Tshotsholi and co). The most of the musicians who were fired went to settle to UK (because they had still the visa in their passeports), some went to the US, Kabose already left a few weeks before and joined Anti Choc and Montana went to record his own album before joining Koffi's Quartier Latin.
What about Embargo by Patrouille des Stars , it dropped in the beginning of September 2000 and they were nominated in the Kota Awards ?
Fire album one of my all time faves like @Manzambi said I didn’t hear them for a while but when I listened to it I haven’t stopped, definitely in the debate for top 3 albums of 2000
lol are you serious ? Maybe for Brazzaville-albums. 2000 had also albums like A La Une, Force de Frappe & Jeu Muke who all came out towards the end of 2000.
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