I had friday finally the time to watch it. It took me 2 days to finish it. Thierry Kabundi and the team of TopCongo had to do four or five episodes, because Nyoka Longo’s career is too long to be discussed in just five hours.
Nyoka Longo’s version of the birth of Zaiko Langa Langa really opened my eyes and made question Manuaku's version about Zaiko's creation. As well, the story of what led Félix Manuaku to create Grand Zaiko Wawa and the trip to Nice with Zaiko Familia Dei performing in Portugal. I wonder how Zaiko would have been if Manuaku had accepted their offer to rejoin the band in 1988 after the split
There are still some points I would have liked to hear from Nyoka’s perspective. For example, when Langa Langa Stars was created and shortly afterwards Zaiko not being able to perform for nine months. Or how Nyoka Longo and Bimi Ombale were excluded from “Le Quatro” within Zaiko, forcing them to sing on their own and sometimes with Papa Wemba.
It’s a shame that Thierry Kabundi didn’t go into more detail when talking about Zaiko visiting Abbé Loya in 1996. Was it because of the many deaths in the band? In just four years, Zaiko lost several members: Zamuangana, Alpha Kopeya, Shiro Vuemba, Mbuta Matima and Omela Toko. The following year, Baroza Bansimba also passed away.
I remember that back in 2013/2014, during the combattants era, the “ngulu affair” involving Nyoka Longo resurfaced again, and he was reportedly sentenced to five years in Belgium. I thought that it was fake news at that time, because the case was already closed. It's crazy to hear that it was true. Nyoka Longo did well to fill an appeal, because for he was living freely without problem for 6 years in Belgium and left the country in 2009 without any problem I wonder if it was the same artist who was behind the affair in 2002. And why was Zacharie Bababaswe involved in the 2002 plot? Did he have a personal issue with Nyoka Longo? Ironically, Bababaswe had hosted several concerts for Zaiko Langa Langa during their tour just before Nyoka’s arrest.
Here, Nyoka Longo says that the late Nono Monzuluku was also part of the plot to destroy his career. But if you listen to Nono Monzuluku’s interview about how the police arrested him, you realize tat he had no choice but to admit that he had travelled with a fake passport. Also he would still perform with them, when Zaiko would come in France until Nyoka Longo returned back to Congo in 2009. Nyoka Longo saying this about late Nono, made me question whether the things he said about Dindo Yogo and the Zaiko split were true. Back in 1999 or 2000, Dindo gave an interview saying that Nyoka Longo was totally against him returning to Zaiko after talking to different influent fans/donors. However, when I hear his version of the 1988 split, it sounds credible because Bimi was indeed the only member of Zaiko Familia Dei who was an admin in Zaiko (1980-1988).
For years it was said that Ngossana was behind the Zaiko split, but I’m surprised to hear that it was not him. If that’s the case, then who was it? late Omar Bongo? Nyoka Longo says here that ministers had already informed him that Zaiko would soon split and that they had to defend it because it was related to sovereignty and they could not let Zaiko to be sold to Gabon.
I believe that the respect Nyoka Longo has for Mbilia Bel prevented him from saying openly that Zaiko would have become her backing band if they had succeeded in removing him as president. I also think that the interview with the son of Ilo Pablo made him avoid going into more detail about Ilo Pablo, in order not to hurt their family members, something that already happened after Oncle Bapius’ interview. The split of Zaiko is like the split of Wenge Musica everyone has their own version. I hope that old cassettes of Ilo Pablo and Bimi Ombale will eventually surface so we can hear their versions of the split. I wonder what Mobutu was thinking about them praising Gabon and singing in Kiteke.
Hearing Nyoka Longo talk about how newspapers spoke negatively about him for almost three months made me realize how difficult it is to be a bandleader in Congo. At that time they didn’t have spokespeople like artists do today who could defend them in the media. Reacting directly to every former employees would only damage his image at that time. The event at FIKIN 1988 is definitely one of the five biggest moments in Zaiko’s 56-year history.
Attaque Lazer was the weakest version of Zaiko in my opinion. I never really liked them. It's only recently have I started listening seriously to the album Eureka, because the work of many artists today doesn’t convince me anymore
