With today most hits having songs with the synthesizers having the main role, can we say that that synthesizers are nowadays more important than the lead guitar ?
I do not follow Congolese music much anymore like in the past. But are keyboarder-players that are behind the hits of today more known than lead guitarists ? Or are they still less known than their collegues.
I don't think they are more known outside of Thierry Synthe and Fabregas keyboardist you hardly hear the name of other synthetic players but yes, Synthetic is becoming prevalent, I don't think Favregas started it, it is more like Lacoste who did it with his Boniomai style and then after him everybody follow suite if you listen to Parking by Werra there is hardly any lead guitar
Same for Protégé Base who is actually a Kuduro song who has just regular guitar olaying but as a back up to the synthesizers
And even JB despite Zebuka having a lot of Ndombolo solo start with the synthe
But I think what really cemented Synthe was first Elok'Oyo by Fally Ipupa who basically just did what Lacoste did which is to take that Mabele Elisi style and modernizing it a bit
And also Congo Brazzaville now with first Arafa Tshena who brought a little bit of a revolution with his folkloristic Brazza music with those beautiful choirs he makes
1:44 NGL from thus oart is the best part of the song Arafa Tshena's melancholic voice s so beautiful
And then Roga Roga after trying to make a more Ndombolo song like Patati Patata
And Moyini Mbote whom to be honest it has a very great choir at the beginning first starting as the traditional Congolese Extra Mysica style of choir to them go and have a more Malian/West African type of choir to then have Bondomania killed it with the solo
He copied Arafa Tshena, Kevin Mbouande
and all those Brazza artists who were making synthe based music
And made it a huge success so much so that him and Innoss B a lot of times are between the most played if not the only played songs in African parties outside of the Golden France and Belgium
If you know Arafat Tshena this is a pure copy of his style with a little bit of difference to not making it sound obvious, man if they were in Europe Arafa could have smiled Roga and get a lot of money but we are in Africa so.
Plus you said in a previous post Mfumu Vata, you were actually right, Congolese music get more famous after a particular style have been established (Luke Ndombolo and now Boniomai) when there is a completely new style who comes over and it is usually a leader only who makes it this time, I always hated this because this means that Atalaku won't be as much important as before, but if that means pushing Congolese music forward why not?
