i came to realize that even though alain makaba has proven to be one of the one who revolutionized Congolese music  by his new style of arrangement  and sound ..he did not really have lot of hit sebens that hooked people at the first glance. top generic were actually played by other guitarist such as , maitre ficare , japonais , and mbokalya. the most danceable   generic was mulolo,kin ebouge ,pile ou face and maybe titanic, the rest were just good to listen too  but not really danceable . on the other hand roga has proven on every new album starting from the nouveau missil to obligatoire that he can make people jump from thier sit and hit the dance flore in less than a minute . he has poven even in collaboration that he can bring something different and still can make you dance ( listen to cameleon  in attentat , ane bring  the extract of time is money) you can feel the groove he brings . makaba had to play in album such as wake up  and co , however , im pretty sure that if roga was a bit famous and experienced  back then , he probably had over shined makaba.  here are some nice seben of roga and makaba

Ive kindof stated something similar in the past. The problem that Roga Roga/Extra Musica has is that every sebene/generique they make sounds like a continuation of the last from Etat Major in 1998 to today with his latest release a few months ago. I honestly beleieve as a whole when it comes to the sebene, Extra was always better. When Roga roga plays, its always something simple yet catchy.  Makaba's stuff is more technical and takes more skill to play and he makes it look easy. He is easily top 5 in terms of skill level in COngolese music.  Makaba is by far the better of the two in everyway except creating that catchy simple loop. 

I think that Makaba and Roga had their ways to be creative. They were genius with their guitars. But my question is why did Roga Roga chose to be a solo guitarist instead of trying to the lead singer in the early days of Extra Musica.

You have posted several songs by Roga Roga then you add just one by Wenge BCBG and Makaba wasn't the soloist on it. When Makaba ruled, the likes of Roga Roga were not on the scene, they came later infact Roga Roga modelled himself around Makaba's style and even picked the same make,model and colour of guitar that Makaba used and still uses so that should tell you a lot.
Both guitarists are excellent soloists and it's hard to tell the difference between the two. There is a reason why every soloist today says Makaba is their idol and inspiration.

You have posted several songs by Roga Roga then you add just one by Wenge BCBG and Makaba wasn't the soloist on it. When Makaba ruled, the likes of Roga Roga were not on the scene, they came later infact Roga Roga modelled himself around Makaba's style and even picked the same make,model and colour of guitar that Makaba used and still uses so that should tell you a lot.
Both guitarists are excellent soloists and it's hard to tell the difference between the two. There is a reason why every soloist today says Makaba is their idol and inspiration.

Though it may be a matter of personal opinion, I have to disagree with then when you say that it is hard to tell the difference between the two. They may share the same style of guitar but many other solist have used that same model besides roga roga including diblo dibala, mboka liya, caien madoka and others but Id argue that none of them have similar styles of playing. Makaba changed the game with his play and is a very skilled musician. That is why he is idolized in my opinion.

You have posted several songs by Roga Roga then you add just one by Wenge BCBG and Makaba wasn't the soloist on it. When Makaba ruled, the likes of Roga Roga were not on the scene, they came later infact Roga Roga modelled himself around Makaba's style and even picked the same make,model and colour of guitar that Makaba used and still uses so that should tell you a lot.
Both guitarists are excellent soloists and it's hard to tell the difference between the two. There is a reason why every soloist today says Makaba is their idol and inspiration.

im sorry but i dont really recall makaba playing  kalayi boing or pentagone or even  feux de l'amour.. i was in fact talking about danceable generique , not real song with seben in them, of course some will say that most of extra musica generique such as freddy nelson, la difference or lossambo where real songs with seben  but they were actually considered as generique (first song of the album) and where really catchy.
makaba has played lots of seben songs and in fact were all  great to listen to in my opinion  but were not  as danceable as roga seben.
in fact makaba will and always remain the best due to originality,skills and Technics , but roga is the one who put you in the mood  and get the groove going. that the reason why i said he has better seben than makaba.

I find makaba to be more superior in technicality. Listen to Titre C'est Trop and you have my answer. He also loved/s to play faint crystal clear or sharp licks that sometimes used to be swallowed by the shout of animators. With roga roga the difference is with audibility of the sound. He is louder and with ramatulai and kila mbongo his contribution looks superb. The only song where makaba catches up with roga in terms of audibility is on generic pile au face.

Mrvibes,am failing to understand what you're saying. Sebene is sebene  doesn't matter if one is generique or song with sebene, It is the sebene by Wenge Musica that changed congolese music forever. There is nothing extraordinary that Roga Roga and Extra  Musica brought,after Makaba,the only other soloist who changed the soloing styles is Flamme Kapaya and now everyone wants to play like Kapaya.

Whatever happened to Makaba's studio project?

Mrvibes,am failing to understand what you're saying. Sebene is sebene  doesn't matter if one is generique or song with sebene, It is the sebene by Wenge Musica that changed congolese music forever. There is nothing extraordinary that Roga Roga and Extra  Musica brought,after Makaba,the only other soloist who changed the soloing styles is Flamme Kapaya and now everyone wants to play like Kapaya.

Ditto, Kin é Bouger single-handedly revolutionized Congolese music with Makaba's artistic direction based on sheer attention to detail, in every aspect. Crystal clear licks, proper use of synthesizers, bringing the best out of singers (particularly JB). 1990-1991 everybody was dancing to Kin é Bouger. Even the remix was wildly popular, a first in modern Congolese music? What was  amazing was the maturity shown in the album despite the group being quite young (early 20s) Bon Chic, Bon Gout. Lets not forget Les Anges Adorables (1994) either. Then you have Pile ou Face (1995), the precursor to the generqiue.

I mean you had established artists like Koffi finding a Ekokota copy cats and inheriting their style becuase public wanted more of what Wenge introducted. Everybody also had a tenor response when Tutu surged to light with Ndombolo.

Extra Musica, though hugely successful, initially had to fend off critics calling them "Brazza's Wenge". They changed rhythm style after the Les Nouveaux Missiles (fantasic album) being accused of copying Wenge's style. The popular sebenes with very audible guitar and distortion like Etat Major and Losambo came in the late 90's(1997-98) after Wenge disbanded. Finding a new big fanbase in West Africa also helped to give Extra Musica identity, which matured in Trop C'est Trop and Obligatoire.

Ditto, Kin é Bouger single-handedly revolutionized Congolese music with Makaba's artistic direction based on sheer attention to detail, in every aspect. Crystal clear licks, proper use of synthesizers, bringing the best out of singers (particularly JB). 1990-1991 everybody was dancing to Kin é Bouger. Even the remix was wildly popular, a first in modern Congolese music? What was  amazing was the maturity shown in the album despite the group being quite young (early 20s) Bon Chic, Bon Gout. Lets not forget Les Anges Adorables (1994) either. Then you have Pile ou Face (1995), the precursor to the generqiue.

I mean you had established artists like Koffi finding a Ekokota copy cats and inheriting their style becuase public wanted more of what Wenge introducted. Everybody also had a tenor response when Tutu surged to light with Ndombolo.

Extra Musica, though hugely successful, initially had to fend off critics calling them "Brazza's Wenge". They changed rhythm style after the Les Nouveaux Missiles (fantasic album) being accused of copying Wenge's style. The popular sebenes with very audible guitar and distortion like Etat Major and Losambo came in the late 90's(1997-98) after Wenge disbanded. Finding a new big fanbase in West Africa also helped to give Extra Musica identity, which matured in Trop C'est Trop and Obligatoire.

Voila!!!!!

As a guitarist I consider Makaba as the top of Congolese soloists.

There is a significant difference between the two however, that is undeniable. Though Extra Musica as it once was doesn't exist any more, Roga-Roga is still going well. Makaba, however, has disappeared after the split of Wenge. That is quite sad considering that he was the backbone of Wenge actually.

The difference is that Makaba has always been a reserved, almost shy character. He has been content doing session work and is living quite well. Roga Roga, on other the hand, was always a sort of egomanic, forcing the oringal members out of Extra over the years.

You remember the failed 20th anniversary reunion? Nowadays I believe he refuses to play guitar on stage, which unfortunate as he's a very average singer frankly.

Makaba has not disappeared, he's working in the background with several musicians whilst still settling down in Kinshasa, let's remember that he just moved back after many years abroad doing normal work and in his music studio as a Producer of not only Congolese music. I read that he had issues with customs clearance and all that for his studio equipment maybe that's why his studio has not started yet but he is involved in local music projects and was the main man in the last Vodacom Best of the Best, a Congolese version of the live musical X Factor.

On Roga Roga, he doesn't like playing guitar anymore, he prefers to sing now that most of his singers have gone solo, his Artistic Director and previously rhythm guitarist Digital Sono is the one playing lead and let's not forget that all of Roga Roga's music sounds exactly the same, only the first Extra Musica albums made an impact, post Wenge Musica era.

Yeah, that's true he is working in the background, but as a band member or leader he is not known. Just take Diblo Dibala, for example. He worked a lot in the background, as a studio musician, but you can read his name on several albums, and he even has his own band and releasing CDs. Or Caien Madoka, maybe he doesn't have an own band either, not even an own album, however he is very well known as a session musician, you can hear his name many times. Makaba is even more in the bacground than them. That is sad, compared to how big talent he is. After his solo albums, I could imagine him with a same career like Diblo.