Two represenentative of Sony wanted to talk with Koffi to sign a contract with them. But Koffi refused to let them enter in his logde before performing at Zenith de Paris in 1998. I guess that he didn’t even that they were working for Sony.

Do you think signing with them woulda made him bigger in world music? Do you think they woulda made him water his music down like Papa Wemba had to in the late 80s/early 90s or do you think he wouldnt been able to still give us Force de Frappes, Effrakatas and such?

I'm not sure. Congolese lacks alot of promotion now these days. The music is true a classic but I'm not sure how it would have done in Sony.

Do you think signing with them woulda made him bigger in world music? Do you think they woulda made him water his music down like Papa Wemba had to in the late 80s/early 90s or do you think he wouldnt been able to still give us Force de Frappes, Effrakatas and such?

Yes, don't forget that he was close to perform at Parc des Princes in 2001. But the administration refusing it, because they didn't knew him, because he was an African and he didn't sign with a Major. Somewhere in 2006 he attacked the French media for being racist, when he was interviewed by a French channel, with them all feeling humiliated. Forgetting that they had some quota on European media for putting foreign music. Even local artists like Lynnsha, Passi, etc. suffered, before changing it somewhere in 2012. David Monsoh used to say that many French television-channels refused to put Koffi's music, because it wasn't commercial enough and it was to African.
In 2000 when he had to release Force de Frappe, he was again close to sign with a big major company. Alot of English, America and French labels were following until 2002. But i don't know what him didn't made to sign with them.

Album like Force de Frappe, Affaire d'Etat, Ulimatum, Droit de Veto, Magie and Pas de Faux Pas were procuded by Koffi himself with his label "Universal Tcha-Tcho" with Sonodisc doing the distribution deals.

It's possible that he could produce classic album like Effrakata, etc. But with then putting some commercials song in that album and/or featerings with topstars of that era. Like he did on Attenat with Passi and Goumba Gawlo which made it easier for him to promote his show of Bercy and getting more sympathy from African youngsters who were born in France. Or he could do Papa Wemba's style by release Congolese solo albums in meantime (Pole Position, Nouvelle Ecriture & Foridoles). Papa Wemba's world-music career made him more known in Africa with songs like Show Me The Way, Rail On, Le Voygeur & Maria Valencia. Because before that he was only known in Zaire and it's neighbor countries. Back in the days he was also not releasing solo-album. When he was releasing his discs it were mostly singels who they were calling 45 tours or a disc with 4 songs with then 2 songs or 1 being credited to him and rest of the songs being done by Viva La Musica singers (Dindo Yogo, Emeneya, Fafa de Molokai, Lidjo Kwempa, Luciana, Maray Maray, etc.). His only solo albums of that era were Zea of 1982 and Proclamation which made more a duo-album with Stervos Niarcos. Wemba started to release solo albums when he started his world music-career. The first one was 'Papa Wemba' released somewhere in 1989 which had remix-songs, Le Voyageur in 1991. Then in the Congolese community he started also to release solo albums after being critizised for being finished and only singing in sapeurs albums (Modogo Gianfranco Ferre, Pacha, etc.) and his singers who had on the moment for fame then him (Reddy, Stino, Joly, etc.) and only focusing on his world career. This all made him release Foridoles and 5 years later Fula Ngenge as solo albums. In the years between it he released also Nouvelle Ecriture, Pole Position were he gave his musicians he occasion to put songs with himself having 4/6 songs in the album. In an album like 'L he barely sung only in Safari and Ba Yankee were he did some shout outs and sung in the chorus. It's not really Wemba's cup of tea to release solo-albums, he really started to focus on that when Nouvelle Ecriture started to die. Realize that it wasn't even his idea to create his own band Viva La Musica in 1977, back in 1975 his friends adviced him to start his own band because of Evoloko being jealous to him in Isifi, but he didn't had the faith in himself. Which made him ask Mavuela, Bozi to create a band together in called Yoka Lokola which didn't last a year.

Thank god he didn’t. Imagine a full albums with songs like african kings, si si si, chocolat?
1994-2008 was a great run & he didnt need them.

That is surely why kester and bmg did not work also,he was busy doing songs with animation like tchalufu when they expected nzinzi like songs

Thats true. We tend to think of signing with a major as a good thing but when you think back on it we wouldnt have had all the classic songs that he made in the early 2000s.

And it works out in the end too because now Koffi will be able to tour FOREVER solely off of his old catalog. He technically doesnt need to release any new songs and he’d be just fine as far as touring. Kind of like the rock and roll stars from the 70s. They still tour the world and sell out shows because of their classics. If he woulda signed it woulda probably reduced that catalog that we know in half as far as songs that people would buy tickets to hear/see.