Today marks 25 years since Papa Wemba performed at the Zénith de Paris.
The concert is now considered one of the best shows of the 1998–2002 era, due to the great work of the band Nouvelle Ecriture and the exceptional performance of the “Fioti-Fioti” dancers, who were trained by choreographer Lambio Lambio. Late Lambio Lambio would, because of his work at Zenith and later Olympia, gain during the ACMCO ceremonies, the trophy of best choreographer of the year 2000. Wemba himself would gain the special jury along with Koffi, due to the shows of Zenith and Olympia. But what’s the story behind this legendary event? You’re about to find out.
Background;
On March 20th, 1999, Papa Wemba performed at the Zénith de Paris to celebrate his 30-year career in music. He was joined by his four bands: Molokai, Viva La Musica “Cour des Grands,” Le Quatro, and Nouvelle Écriture.
After the concert, many fans felt that Nouvelle Écriture deserved their own full-length Zénith show, as their time on stage had been relatively short. In fact, some fans believed that Nouvelle Écriture had delivered the best performance of all four bands. Behind the scenes, there were already rumors that a solo concert for Nouvelle Écriture at the Zénith was being planned for the following year.
Nouvelle Écriture’s triumph at the Zénith inspired Alpacino to incorporate the cri “Luyambula Miziki, Bana Nouvelle Écriture ba confirmer na Zénith. Aah botika eeh, botika botika Musique!” in the intro of Nouvelle Ecriture at shows that followed in their Europe tour and performances in Kinshasa. The cri was at that same time seen as a shot towards Viva la Musica “Cour des Grands”, since that Alcapino was requesting without naming artists, to stop music, since that they “Nouvelle Ecriture” confirmed their superiority at Zenith.
In the same period, choreographer Lambio Lambio, who had taken part in Nouvelle Écriture’s previous European tour in 1998, was disappointed to be left behind. During the birth of Nouvelle Écriture in 1996, he had recruited and trained dancers Chantal Mogao, Mimi Tchivundu, Coco Maria, Bijoux, and Chantal Niota, who were collectively known as “Ba Petites Chance Eloko Pamba.” In 1998, he toured with them alongside Nouvelle Écriture (by then, Bijoux had already left) and after the tour, only two of the four remaining dancers returned.
When Papa Wemba prepared Nouvelle Écriture for the Zénith 1999 concert, he decided to take only Mimi Tchivundu and Coco Maria.
Lambio even considered leaving the group altogether, but was advised by his father to come up with something new. His father suggested that Wemba may not have brought him to Europe because he hadn’t innovated. Inspired by this, Lambio launched a recruitment campaign for a new group of young dancers aged 14 to 19. Announcements were made on TV and radio, and in the following days, several girls applied, many brought by their parents. Lambio selected 11 of them and decided to give them all dreadlocks as a signature look. He then began appearing on television with the new group.
Bozi, who had just returned from Wemba’s Zénith performance, saw the girls and later informed Wemba about the Fioti Fioti and the work they were doing. Shortly after, footage of the group was sent to Wemba, and he was impressed. Alpacino added the Fioti Fioti to his cri “Elengi ya kobina,” and Wemba gave both Lambio Lambio and the Fioti Fioti a shout-out in the song Martina B.
When Wemba returned from recording Fula Ngenge and his short European tour with Nouvelle Écriture, Lambio presented the Fioti Fioti to him at Village Molokai. The following week, they made their first TV appearance, where they were interviewed by journalist Mbuyi Bwebwe, and later performed at Nouvelle Écriture’s first show after the tour, held at Cinemax.
However, there was also a lot of criticism. Some people said it was inappropriate to put such young girls on stage in front of adult audiences, and others insisted they should be in school. "The Fioti Fiotis showcased their talents in the Ya Biso Moko clips. In the bonus, each of them was introduced individually and given a nickname inspired by Congolese singers such as Alain Mpela, JB Mpiana, Werrason and Koffi Olomide."
In June 1999, the album Fula Ngenge was released and became a huge success.
On July 10th, Papa Wemba performed at Forest National in Brussels to celebrate his 50th birthday and, as at the Zénith, his 30-year career in music. He performed with Viva La Musica “Cour des Grands” and Molokai, with guest appearances from Nyoka Longo, Evoloko, and King Kester Emeneya, but without Nouvelle Écriture, who were in Kinshasa at the time.
In August 1999, a three-day festival was organized at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa to celebrate Papa Wemba’s 50th anniversary and 30 years in the music industry.
After the event, Nouvelle Écriture went on tour in several African countries (Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Togo, etc.). In the meantime, tensions within the band grew due to payment issues.
After a trip to Ethiopia to celebrate the new millennium, Bendoson, Pompom Miyake, Ramazani, and Christian na Nzenze decided to leave Nouvelle Écriture and form their own band. They also called it Nouvelle Écriture, but added “de l’an 2000” to distinguish it. In the months that followed, Bendoson launched several attacks in the press against Papa Wemba and his team. The conflict escalated to the point where Bendoson sued Papa Wemba over the rights to the name, claiming he was the one who originally came up with it.
He made a registered trademark for the name Nouvelle Écriture, which forced Papa Wemba camp to rename the name of the group to Nouvelle Écrita, although the original name Nouvelle Écriture continued to be used.
To fill the void left by lead guitarist Ramazani, guitarist Dady Bola was recruited. To replace keyboard player Christian na Nzenze, they brought in Nzenze Madodanga, the son of the renowned keyboardist Nzenze Mongengo (who had played in Zaiko Langa Langa and Grand Zaiko Wawa, and had supported various soukous artists in Europe).Papa Wemba, who decided to go immediately to Europe after the split, in order to secure contracts for the upcoming tour, publicly accused Koffi Olomidé, King Kester Emeneya, and Verckys Kiamuangana of influencing the members to leave Nouvelle Écriture. In the same month (January 2000), the music videos from Fula Ngenge were finally released on the market. Meanwhile, Wemba was offered a contract for a concert at Zénith in April 2000.
The months Papa Wemba spent in Europe caused people to doubt the future of Nouvelle Écriture, with many thinking the group was finished. he incertitude about the future, made also singer Bogus Bompema leave Nouvelle Ecriture as well, to start his solo-career. It was a disappointment for Wemba, who had planned to fully showcase Bogus’ talent in the next album. Like Alpacino and Pathy Patechko, Bogus was supposed to contribute two songs to the project.
Mid-March, the Zénith show was officially scheduled for June 3rd. After signing the contracts for Zénith and participating to the recordings of Le Quatro-album +1, that reunited him, Bozi Boziana, Evoloko Lay and Gina Efonge, Papa Wemba returned to Kinshasa and found that Nouvelle Écriture had been working hard. After Wemba’s arrival, they went into maquis (bootcamp) in Benseke to prepare both the À La Une album and Zénith concert, which was also partially prepared at Village Molokai. At the same time, arranger Alfred Nzimbi joined the group to start recording À La Une at Studio Meko.
In Europe, several influential staff members, fans, and donors, including Maman Shaguy Sharufa, Mère Malou, and Joel “Photo” Mbetenge, started mobilizing fans for Papa Wemba’s upcoming concert at Zénith.
During the preparations for Zénith, Papa Wemba also gave several concerts in Kinshasa.. At the start of the year 2000, Papa Wemba announced that he had adopted the nickname Vieux Neutre, wanting to start the new millennium fresh and also in response to accusations that he was siding too much with JB Mpiana. He clarified that he had always remained neutral and that he wanted to meet with Werrason, to shorten the misunderstandings that existed, which eventually happened when both artists performed together in Pointe-Noire, during an event sponsored by phone-company TeleCel.
Towards the end of May 2000, Nouvelle Écriture finally travelled to Europe. The trip led to euphoria among many band members who were traveling to Europe for the first time, including Thierry Mogratana, lead guitarist Dady Bola, rhythm guitarist Zilco Shabani, percussionist Denzu Mbonda, singer Jean Apocalyps, drummer Deo Sfr who had been in Nouvelle Ecriture since it's birth (but missed out on the 1998-tour and Zenith 1999) and of course, the Fioti Fioti. But at the same time it also created some drama. The Viva-veterans Pinos Tembo and Ishari Mukulapio were left behind. Pinos was really furious, going as far as insulting Wemba, after having given away all his clothes, as Wemba had promised him back in 1999, before the Zénith trip, that he would take him on the next tour and help him settle in Europe. The incident made his song being removed from the À La Une tracklist. In desperation, Pinos decided to sell some of his belongings and travel to Ivory Coast, hoping to make his way to Europe. Unfortunately, he ended up stranded there like many other Congolese people that were trying to get into Europe through West-African countries (Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast and Mali) also known as “Bana Rally”.
D-Day
On 3 June 2000, Nouvelle Écriture finally performed at Zénith de Paris. The group proved all critics wrong by performing in a packed venue. The concert was hosted by journalist Rouph Mbuta Nganga and featured comedian Siatula, who had been in Europe for a few months at that moment and had alot of popularity due to his movie Kombi Ewuti Poto.
The Fioti Fiotis definitely stole the show with their energetic choreographies during songs like Analengo, M’Odikenda, Fula Ngenge, Est-ce Que, Kolo Histoire, as well as the instrumental interludes. However, it was their comedic act impersonating Congo’s top bandleaders (Koffi, Wemba, Reddy, Stino, JB Mpiana, Werrason, Marie Paul, etc.) that became the main attraction. One of the most talked-about moments was when the public asked for a replay of Solola Bien, leading to debates after the show between JB and Werra-fans, with Werra-fans claiming that “Werrason” had outshone “JB Mpiana.” The event also marked a “reconciliation” between Koffi and Papa Wemba. However, when the official VHS of the concert was released, Koffi reacted furiously. This was due to the portrayal by Julie Mulanga, who impersonated him, mentioning his late brother Didi, which Koffi found disrespectful.
During the song Maria, singer Apocalyps used the moment to throw shots towards Bendoson. When the VHS was released, Bendoson, who had at that time already been abandoned by his peers Pompom Miyake and Ramazani, was mocked by journalists for Apocalyps’ remarks. These same attacks would later resurface in some of the tracks on À La Une.
The python bucket hat and matching jacket were one of the three outfits Papa Wemba wore during his Zénith concert, a look that earned him the nickname 'Vieux Python', given by members of the jet-set government, who were group of sapeurs
At the end of the concert, Papa Wemba announced to the audience that he had launched his own website, where fans could follow his latest news. He also revealed that he would perform at L’Olympia Bruno Coquatrix on July 29th, although the show was later postponed to September 2nd.
Aftermath;
Photo Joel Mbetenge, who played a major role in promoting the event, was granted exclusive rights to the footage of the show. The official VHS sold like crazy. One month later, Mbetenge released a Volume 2, but most of that cassette was used to promote Werrason’s upcoming Bercy concert, in collaboration with journalist Zacharie Bababaswe. Some of the remaining footage from the Zénith concert, such as the Fioti Fioti performing the track Trop Bon, Trop Couillon with New Jack, was later used in the VHS Sur la Route de l’Olympia.
Towards the end of the year, an audio album of the concert was released under the title Esprit de Fête.
After the Zénith concert, Nouvelle Écriture performed in Lausanne, London, and Cologne. However, Viva La Musica “Cour des Grands” was not involved in these shows, which caused discontent among its members. Even before the tour began, Papa Wemba had stated that the 2000 European tour would be exclusively for Nouvelle Écriture.
Reddy Amisi was angry and considered leaving the group, but was advised by his elder, King Kester Emeneya, to stay and prove his worth. Stino, who also tempted to leave, received the same advice from Emeneya. The two decided to join forces and began working on a new project called Belle Alliance, which would later be renamed Fin d’Exil.
Despite this, Papa Wemba continued to humiliate Reddy, Stino, and other Viva musicians in interviews. Tensions between Wemba and the old guard ran so high that Reddy openly criticized him in the well-known VHS La Vérité de l’An 2000.
Like every year until 2004, journalists from the DR Congo gathered to select the best artists of the year. In 2000, Papa Wemba received, along with Koffi Olomidé, a special trophy for the performances he delivered at Zénith and Olympia. Lambio Lambio was awarded the trophy for Best Choreographer. However, at the same time, Lambio Lambio faced criticism by the press for his arrogance, and rumors circulated that he had asked the Fioti Fioti to carry him on a tshipoyi during the ceremony.
