Jdog,

I would like to inform you that most of the Congolese Singers have no Managers. Some just use their close friends to pick up their phones when they don’t feel like talking; the friend improvises himself as the Manager. After the conversation is over, he goes back to the “friend” status. It is very hard to deal with a Congolese Artist. I dealt with Tiken Jah Fakoly, Alpha Blondy, Papa Wemba and a Salsa band from Toronto. The person I had trouble dealing with was the OLDEST one;  Papa Wemba.

Why was Papa Wemba hard to deal with?

He surrounds himself with his "pire petits" (I have no problem with that). But the thing is that one of them is acting as a Manager. I don't want to name people here, but the Guy I am talking about does not speak proper French and does not know anything in English. Nowadays...if you want to do business with (and for) Artists like Papa Wemba or Koffi, you need to speak these two languages. The other problem is that the Guy does not have any respect for what we call TIME. He does not apologize when being late. Most of what he says and does is improvised LOL.  ::)He has no stage plan, number of Singers and Musicians is never known LOL. Number of people travelling with the band is never known, etc. Now tell me, how can you plan something with this kind of people.

Papa Wemba himself is kind of an easy going Guy and does not like talking too much. But he is lazy when it comes to organization. So people taking care of his business are just Comedians (Mosaka's colleagues). The only thing Papa Wemba does best and takes serious is the musical art.

In my opinion, the only moment Papa Wemba had a real Professional Manager was between 1988 and 1998. The guy was a Japanese named Junko Kameshima. I feel comfrotable saying his name because he was a real professional. Junko was not dealing with Viva La Musica but MOLOKAI (the world music band). That was the same time Papa Wemba had a contract with the World Music Recording Label called Real World.; Peter Gabriel is the founder. Every thing was well organized.

One day I was talking to the Boss of the Festival Nuit d'Afrique in Montreal. He said this to me: "I WILL NEVER INVITE CONGOLESE MUSICIANS BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT SERIOUS". If you see a Congolese band in that festival, that means it a small band based in Montreal and the leader maybe his friend. They usually play in very small venues.

kie kie kie djodjo osekisi nga mabe.... this is the sad reality of the music of the "grand pretres" surrounded by friends and petits trying to handle responsabilities they have no special skills for
on another note it seems spokesmen have been forbidden to go on tv by kimbuta

on another note it seems spokesmen have been forbidden to go on tv by kimbuta

That's a very good NEWS! I'm so happy!

Jdog,

I would like to inform you that most of the Congolese Singers have no Managers. Some just use their close friends to pick up their phones when they don’t feel like talking; the friend improvises himself as the Manager. After the conversation is over, he goes back to the “friend” status. It is very hard to deal with a Congolese Artist. I dealt with Tiken Jah Fakoly, Alpha Blondy, Papa Wemba and a Salsa band from Toronto. The person I had trouble dealing with was the OLDEST one;  Papa Wemba.

Why was Papa Wemba hard to deal with?

He surrounds himself with his "pire petits" (I have no problem with that). But the thing is that one of them is acting as a Manager. I don't want to name people here, but the Guy I am talking about does not speak proper French and does not know anything in English. Nowadays...if you want to do business with (and for) Artists like Papa Wemba or Koffi, you need to speak these two languages. The other problem is that the Guy does not have any respect for what we call TIME. He does not apologize when being late. Most of what he says and does is improvised LOL.  ::)He has no stage plan, number of Singers and Musicians is never known LOL. Number of people travelling with the band is never known, etc. Now tell me, how can you plan something with this kind of people.

Papa Wemba himself is kind of an easy going Guy and does not like talking too much. But he is lazy when it comes to organization. So people taking care of his business are just Comedians (Mosaka's colleagues). The only thing Papa Wemba does best and takes serious is the musical art.

In my opinion, the only moment Papa Wemba had a real Professional Manager was between 1988 and 1998. The guy was a Japanese named Junko Kameshima. I feel comfrotable saying his name because he was a real professional. Junko was not dealing with Viva La Musica but MOLOKAI (the world music band). That was the same time Papa Wemba had a contract with the World Music Recording Label called Real World.; Peter Gabriel is the founder. Every thing was well organized.

One day I was talking to the Boss of the Festival Nuit d'Afrique in Montreal. He said this to me: "I WILL NEVER INVITE CONGOLESE MUSICIANS BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT SERIOUS". If you see a Congolese band in that festival, that means it a small band based in Montreal and the leader maybe his friend. They usually play in very small venues.

Wow how can music advance further if they'd do  know how to do business.