Not really compared to the 1977-1982 era, where he had a good relationship with the media (despite a part claiming that he was destroying the new generaation with la sape and weed). Here he was produced by Gillet d'Or which back then not a really a big recordlabel like the way VEVE was and it was also the era where the music-industry in Zaire started to decline. However, Maningo was the single that was recorded before the long Europe-tour that brought that to Japan. The tour did Viva La Musica well, who was losing more and more against Victoria Eleison, Zaiko Langa Langa and Choc Stars. When they came back in 1986, problems started to reappear again and Wemba started slowly with the migration of Viva La Musica to Europe. Gaillee was the last disc he made with them in 1986 before going to Europe on his own for a few months and then returning in Spring 1977 to get a part of the band to bring them to Paris and settle them there. The press then mocking him, claiming that he run away for Victoria Eleison's succes.
1982-1987 was a difficult era for Papa Wemba. The press would often attack him for not paying musicians due to the creation of Victoria Eleison and the interviews of Emeneya making it worser. Verckys then also paying journalists to make articles against Papa Wemba and hype Victoria Eleison alot (something which would backfire Emeneya later on his career). Papa Wemba didn't knew what to do, because he didn't had instruments which made it very hard to perform with a good sound every weekend. Because of that he went abroad in 1984, to look for financial support, new instruments and a possibility to start an international career. In the documentary "Le Chef Coutumier de Village Molokai" made by the Belgian press, you could see him being proud when coming back in Kinshasa and saying that he had bought his own instruments. His long stay in Europe backfired against him since that he would stay for 8 months in Europe, while musicians weren't getting paid by his staff and the economic crisis becoming harder in Zaire.
Papa Wemba started to get respect from the press back once he started to live in Europe and them seeing how he was making progress with his international career through Martin Meissonier, performing at multiple festivals in Europe, USA and Canada, coming often back to Japan and meeting multiple stars before signing with Peter Gabriel in 1991. With the dead of Franco and Tabu Ley being in exil, he also suddenly became kind of a "big brother" in the Congolese music-scene. Just look to the interviews from 1991 to 1998 made with Congolese journalists, you will see how much respect they were giving him. The European press who liked to follow him also inviting him often from 1988 to talk about Congolese music and the history of it.
