Guys lets have this discussion.

1.How should a good Rhumba be played? what should it entail?


2. How should a good generic be played? what should it entail?


You may give your response and support it with a sample clip.


Thanks in advance.

Guys lets have this discussion.

1.How should a good Rhumba be played? what should it entail?





2. How should a good generic be played? what should it entail?



You may give your response and support it with a sample clip.


Thanks in advance.

Decepta is not a generique. Its a normal song ending by a sebene like almost all songs who were released between 1970 and 2003. Tracks like Loi, Pile Ou Face, Etage Ya Suka, Solola Bien, Operation Dragon, Titanic, Ndombolo Ya Solo and Kolo Histoire are generics.

Generics are tracks with only animations and seben in it. Its called generique because it was kind like an intro of the album and presentation of all main cries of the album, in that era  70%/80% of the Congolese albums had sebenes and animations from atalaku's. Then from 2006/07 when those rumba-albums ca,e they were still releasing generics, because it was it made bandleaders get contracts for African countries (Ivory Coast, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia) and they had atalakus in the band. Koffi once made clear after releasing B.E.K., that he didn't even need to put generics in his album and that he just did that to please his African fans, adding that he left "those noisy animations" to his Ivorian friends who are making Coupe Decale and that he would put in his following album the generique as 6th or 7th song of the album, as reaction on the question of Marc Tabu why he put the generique Bendele as last song of BEK. Also saying that a bandleader has to sing (a shot to Werrason) and not letting atalaku's do all the work and his singers.

a good generique as to played like this just 5 min or very short (2 min/3 min) to give the people desire to dance more.






a good rumba has to be played on live with shakers and a cowbell with a good rhyhm-guitar, mi-solo guitare and a lead guitare




Computer made rumba's aren't bad, but you have then to hire Philiphe Guez to let it sound wonderful.



10 years I used to like acoustic rumba's, but it was overused by G-5 artists (Ferre Gola, Fally Ipupa, etc.) including the old guard which made me hate it.

Hello! I'm a new member of this forum after snooping around a lot! I find it really interesting how you guys like to criticize and pick the elements of Congolese music out bit by bit! So I thought "Hmmm maybe I'll join in" because there are people on this forum that have a similar mindset and approach to music to me!

For me, a good rumba would be something like CLASSE TENDRESSE by Koffi Olomide. Classe Tendresse because of the fantastic arrangement. In the intro, you hear the sounds of a stream running and you're taken into this tropical land where you then hear the marimbas and synth bells kick in. And as the singing comes in, you have Koffi subtlely singing away his verses along with the fantastic Philippe Guez (Who to me is responsible for arranging a lot of fantastic rumbas), playing the piano away along with the legendary Beniko swaying away on the rhythm guitar. As it is a song of love, the arrangement is perfect, the interlude ar 2:22 where the harpsichord solo comes in breaks the monotony which is what I like. Around the 3:15 mark where there is a change in rhythm, you have the sound of the piano once again played by Guez along with the flute that sweeps through every now and then and the string section too! But lastly, you can't forget the heart-throbbing guitar solo played by Beniko. In my opinion, it's the best rumba he has made and one that is well produced by both him and Guez. Maybe without a single bit of mabanga, the song would sound so much better.

For me, today's Rumba's sound a bit meh so I keep it old school ya know!

But what makes Classe Tendresse in my opinion, a standard rumba that artists can follow. (This doesn't apply to all by the way)
1. Maybe incorporating sounds of nature. (Or just any way to make it sound nice really).
2. Recording a live piano.
3. Actually speaking on a proper subject that's not sex (Like in today's songs "OKO MATA NGA") and not a mabanga song to Alita Tshamala or Adolphe Muteba Tshilamwina etc. Maybe stay on the more romantic side as it's easier?
4. Chord changes and interludes to break the monotonie cycle.
5. Maybe including live orchestral instruments like the flute you heard.
6. Not so much mabanga. Like, I'm not willing to speak ill of Werra, but he ruined "Victime D'Amour" for me with his never-ending mabanga, I ended up learning the names instead of the lyrics! Good song, but destroying it with mabanga... really bad idea.
7. A gentle introduction like you're being taken somewhere. When I first heard Classe Tendresse, I thought I was being taken into some sort of paradise or a jungle with the sun rays passing through the tree leaves. It's a good way to welcome the listener into the song, knowing of the arrangement and the lyrical content it consists.

So that's my opinion! And my first post! Thanks for coming to my "TED Talk"

1) A good rhumba requires an excellent rhythm guitarist because his melody is the foundation for the entire song. From there, the band can quickly fill in the space with lush sounds.



Although lyrics are important component to a great rhumba, as long as the singer(s) brings genuine passion to the topic at hand then people can forgive the use of mabanga.

In my opinion, a good rumba should last around 5-8 minutes, have deep and meaningful lyrics about love, life, social situations and so on (y'know, telling a story), and finally end with a satisfying lead guitar partition. It also helps if the rhythm guitar is audible throughout the entire song, because it's the base of the song like Wenge95 said. Mabanga should be kept to a minimum, preferably during a few instrumental sections and the intro. If at least one group member's going to have a vocal part, it should relate to the song's meaning and not just be 30 seconds of mabanga.

Case in point:

I almost forgot. A good rumba also means no autotune, like these artists can sing but the autotune effect is so heavily rinsed out!