Congo Vibes
Music => Congolese Music => Topic started by: Mfumu Vata on September 16, 2025, 19:29
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On September 16, 2000, JB Mpiana made history with his performance at LSC in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. What made this concert remarkable was not just the music, but the context. It took place on the same day that his great rival Werrason performed at Bercy. Since the split of Wenge Musica 4x4, the rivalry between the two leaders had grown, with each of them wanting to prove their supremacy above the other.
The event was briefly forgotten, but 25 years later, the memory of that night lives on thanks to various interviews with BCBG musicians and staff members. The LSC concert is remembered not only for the music itself, but also for how it captured the spirit of the “fara-fara” between Werrason and JB Mpiana.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJVKe_KjJIg&t=10s
Background;
After the split of the group Wenge Musica 4x4, a rivalry started between the two leaders Werrason and JB Mpiana. The rivalry became fierce after the release of the albums Force d’Intervention Rapide and Titanic that got released towards the end of 1998. When JB Mpiana performed at l’Espalande de Palais du Peuple, a race between both guys started about who could get the biggest crowd during events and the war really started.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvuUcilizhI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRrmYvP3ZHs
In June 1999, JB Mpiana performed at Zenith de Paris, making him the first of his generation to perform. However, in order to sabotage the show, Werrason planned an event the same day in Paris’ suburb Villejuif. The hall itself didn’t mean anything, it was very small (800 places), but the fact that Werrason planned an event the same day as JB Mpiana created polemic. The stories about JB Mpiana not selling the venue out, made the polemic only bigger and JB Mpiana being mocked weeks for it. But on the end, JB Mpiana’s show would be voted as the best of the year and by many music fans also seen as best Zenith-show ever. Werra’s Villejuif being for years forgotten until nostalgic fans started to re-talk about the event after 15 years and former bandmembers of both Wenge BCBG and Wenge Maison Mere being asked about the fara-fara.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93yC-cj5ACU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qljpxb1wF7s&list=RDqljpxb1wF7s&start_radio=1&t=4341s
Not being forgotten, how Werrason tried to sabotage his show. The BCBG-camp announced a few weeks before Werrason’s Bercy that they would perform at LSC. In that period, JB Mpiana just released TH, which was a huge success in Congo, taking immediately the n1 spot in all music-charts. Despite the success, the Maison Mere-camp would do all their best by denigrating the album in the media. In the period around the release of TH, there was also a lot of polemic, because of Wenge BCBG recruiting Bill Clinton’s little brother Kilimanjaro and the same Kilimanjaro claiming that most cri’s were his creations and stolen by his big brother.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgYXRFjBkm0&list=RDtgYXRFjBkm0&start_radio=1
A few weeks after the release, JB Mpiana got invited by the French ambassador to perform at the French embassy in Kinshasa. Two months after the release of TH, JB Mpiana and Wenge BCBG would give their first official performance at FIKIN. The weeks that followed they gave concerts at the fancy-fair of l’Esplanade de Stade des Martyrs, Terrain Municipale Bandalungwa, Palais de Parlement in Brazzaville and Maison Francais in Lemba.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfOWuUdXn9E
LSC was an ordinary hall in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, with a capacity of 1,500, while Congolese artists started performing in the mythic halls of Paris. JB Mpiana was also criticized for planning an event in such hall. When he or his musicians were asked about it, they would downplay the criticism. JB Mpiana’s quick trip to Europe made people speculate if JB Mpiana didn’t like Kinshasa and even rumors being spread that he went to Europe, because of having problems with authorities and not being being-pro LD Kabila. In the period after the release of TH, articles were spread that JB Mpiana and Alain Mpela got arrested because of the song Kinshasa, that apparently didn’t please politicians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us8IoTrepQI
Just before the trip, rumors were spread that the show at LSC was cancelled. But when being interviewed by journalist Lolo Milolo, JB Mpiana and Alain Mpela made clear that the event was maintained and that a long tour would follow and the announcement of the group-album Internet.
The event;
Wenge BCBG’s arrival in Paris was triumphal and at some point even fights started of fans of BCBG against Maison Mere and concert-promoter/businessman/photographer Joel Photo Mbetenge, who used to support Wenge Maison Mere openly, trying to attack the musicians of Wenge BCBG physically but being stopped by people. The footage of the incident and BCBG’s arrival in Chateau Rouge was put as a bonus in the LSC-videotape towards the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJEZJTi0ew0
Coming to the show itself, many were surprised to not see Ali Mbonda, who was part of Wenge BCBG for some months and in that era, many cassettes being sold in Europe of the VHS ‘Ali Mbonda akati se layi na BCBG’ when joined them from Wenge Maison Mere. People were also surprised to not see Bill Clinton’s little brother Kilimanjaro who was seen in the VHS ‘TH ou Rien’. Journalists that came to LSC were informed that they were not allowed to film the show and only getting the authorization to interview the musicians, it irritated many of them and BCBG being a little bit boycotted in the first weeks of their tour in Europe by some journalists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDdGnTyixmo
Journalist Zacharie Bababaswe who was there for Werrason’s Bercy’s show, also interviewed some musicians and also filmed a part of the sound-check. The following day he sent the images of the sound-check to Kinshasa, which made people in in Kinshasa believe that nobody showed up at JB’s show at LSC. After the fara-fara, WMM-fans would spread the same rumors and people started to believe it. It's only when concert Badive-released the videotape of the show that people discovered that it was not true, but it was already to late. WMM-fans would use the point that the show of JB Mpiana at LSC wasn’t sold out because the crowd were sitting on chairs like gospel concerts, to cover the mpiaka. Digitalcongo who was a bit pro-Maison Mere started to write articles about JB Mpiana failing at LSC and taking it as an example for two years, if an artist wanted to perform over. For example, before Adolphe Dominguez performed there, they would write will he win like Academia or fail like JB Mpiana and Wenge El Paris.
When performing at LSC on September 16th, JB Mpiana had also support from several artists such as Gina Efonge, Aime Buanga (his old friend of Wenge Musica Bakolo Esthetique), Djuna Djanana of Viva la Musica and many others. Gina Efonge even went on stage to sing with Wenge BCBG. But when the cassette came many some people were not happy for the way, JB Mpiana didn’t sing with him when trying to do the ‘ question-response’ improvisation and let Alain Mpela sing, which made people say that JB Mpiana was arrogant and disrespected Gina Efonge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXf6sEYJEMM
The Aftermath;
Another show took place the following day at LSC. The hall was packed with the double amount of the crowd being outside the hall. The concert would later get released by Badive under the title ‘Volcan na Zamba’. The event itself and one that followed in November at the same LSC are often mistaken as the one of the fara-fara. The show of the second day was presented by Zacharie Bababaswe, who BCBG-fans were seeing as a pro-Werrason journalist. The public forced him to say ‘JB Mpiana is the leader of the 4th generation’ when he was about to present the show. Because of the success another event was planned for November 2000. The cassette of the fara-fara show would be released on the market as "Sauve Qui Peut".
The buzz around the LSC event along with the succes of TH made concert-promoters go towards JB Mpiana, wanting to plan a show at Bercy for November/December. JB Mpiana declined the offer, wanting the event getting planned for the next Europe-tour. Him not having performed at Bercy in that period, made WMM-fans say “JB a sauter Bercy”, claiming that JB Mpiana was afraid for Bercy and just skipped it. In response of it BCBG-fans replied that Bercy was not at their level and that they would perform at Stade de France in 2001 straight away.
In the weeks and months that came, the success of TH kept growing. For whatever reason, Quartier Latin that just arrived in Kinshasa from their long Europe and Africa-tour started to send their spokesmen Zobozi and Kisindjora on tv to attack JB Mpiana openly and weeks long confrontations would start between Quartier Latin and Wenge BCBG-spokemen in Kinshasa. Both groups would at some point receive a 7 months suspension from TV of Kinshasa, but it got quickly lifted after involvement of some politicians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDtjCOnI3f0
The show at LSC in November was even a bigger success. During the show, journalist Addy Londole would take some footage of fans crying and falling down with the ambulance coming, just because of getting emotional for the song 48 Heures Gecoco that would end up as ‘best song of the year’ instead of ‘Vita Imana’.
The hall was so crowded that some people had to be placed backstage, a part of JB’s staff around JB said that it was time to prepare a huge event at Bercy for 2001. The concert got released under the same Arrestation and was seen as one of 2000’s best concerts.