I came yesterday across to this video. This was when gospel singer l’Or Mbongo had huge success with her albums ‘Tina eza na Tina’ and ‘Nsimbulu’. In 2004 she came to Europe for a tour and performed in Brussels at Cirque Royal. At that time Cirque Royal had a capacity of 3.500 before being reduced to 2.000 in 2018.
From 15:02 min
What surprised me, is seeing hoe full of people, Cirque Royal was. While when Werrason performed there in 2001, he wasn’t able to sell the venue out. However, it is important to note that his Europe-tour was going towards the end when he performed there (Congolese people tend to support other bands if you stay more than 6 months, because of liking to something that is new). Also many people not liking Werrason anymore because of the videos Adolphe Dominguez made about his departure
I wonder if there were no other gospel artists that performed there. Because Werrason is the only secular artist that performed at Cirque Royal. The rest of Congolese artists only performing at small halls like Clarigde, Concert Noble, La Madeleine and on rare occasions at BOZAR, when being in Brussels
Why do lead guitarists often don’t like to share that role ? Don’t they realize that the sebenes of the may end up monotonous when having just one lead guitarist ? Because each lead guitarist has his own touch.
So Mogratana’s story was true, about Werrason warning him for Flamme, giving the example what Flamme did to Coréen, when he joined Wenge Maison Mere. It makes sense why Burkina Faso doesn’t like Flamme when being asked about his time in WMM. I remember Flamme giving a weird reaction when being asked his opinion at La Zamba Playa, about Mogratana joining Maison Mere, giving then the example of Burkina Faso (indirectly saying that he may not stay long in WMM).
What I don’t understand is Flamme being a ‘new born Christian’. But when being asked if he ever done witchcraft, he always deny. But when other bandmembers of his time are asked about him in private they reveal different stuff and saying that he was sometimes weird. Is it that he’s scared to lose his head ? Because it has been said that some artists sign pacts and when revealing secrets they end up by passing away, struggling in life or losing their head. Flamme himself said at some point, that people have to stop to listen to his work in Maison Mere because it has is full with spirits and comes from the cemetery. But if that is true, how could he have done it without doing witchcraft?
But why did Werrason not ask Coreen to switch to lead, when Flamme left ? Because Coreen is a great solist, just listen to his work with Gatho Beevans and Bozi Boziana, he even plays better than Mogeanatana. They were waisting their time when they were looking for solists when Kimbangu Solo left.
Here Naelis sharing Papa Wemba singing Sai Sai at Olympia. I think that it comes from the bonus of Bakala dia Kuba, where you had a part of Olympia's BTS
Now I don't hear anybody saying artiste local. Do y'all remember how people 10 years ago claimed that JB wasn't known in Ivory Coast and calling him artiste local ?
first of all,they will NEVER let him have that title,since he was not a musician,but the way he explained the start and the names he mentioned were exactly that,the founder thing is a bit exaggerated but you know with congolese people and pride,somebody can whistle a bit of a melody while having fun then when the musicians around hear and build a song from there that person will come and say that he's the full author composer once the song is a hit so thats a bit of the same but its clear also that in the start a lot of people were involved in both wenge's until they were forced to make a clear choice so it could either be a full lie to make buzz or an exaggerated story
You have a point. Because until now nobody of Maison Mere as reacted to Francis Kalombo, while the interview is already since a week on the internet. You would except Sankara to react immediatly.
If it's true why nobody that used to be around Werrason ever mentioned his name when talking about the first week after the split? Also I noticed that everyone claims to be the one that gave Werrason the idea to go to Bandal (Sankara, Werra's bodyguard, real Pi-Roger, etc.)
Btw about Francis Kalombo claiming to be the concertpromoter Maison Mere's first concert, I think that I heard twice that the concert was organised by Pi-Roger Ibuna
Today, it’s 25 years ago that JB Mpiana performed at Olympia Bruno Coquatrix. l’Olympia is France most mythic musichall. French pop-artists mostly perform there when they breakthrough the music-scene. At the time that JB Mpiana performed at Olympia, there were barely African artists that performed there. The African artists that would perform at Olympia, would mostly come from Northern Africa. It was only on rare occasions that artists from Subsaharan-Africa would perform there. The first African male artist to perform at Olympia was Tabu Ley Rochereau in 1970, after Myriam Makeba (who would perform there as American artist) and an Egyptian female artist in 1969 (I forgot her name). In the years that followed, the only Congolese artist that performed there was Abeti Masikini (1971, twice in 1973 and 1986). Orchestre Sosoliso missing their occasion in 1975, after Franco orchestrating a complot against them.
The performance of Koffi Olomidé at Olympia in 1998 opened the door for Congolese artists and from then it wasn’t a myth anymore to perform there.
Before that JB Mpiana performed at Olympia, he had several problems. The rivalry with Werrason became at some pikt intense and made him in no time being one of the most hated artists (He would refer to it in the song Acapella) Especially from the moment when his name was mentioned for being behind the plot to block Werrason to get visa’s for the Schengen Area, while he had nothing to do with it. As revenge for the visa problems, the camp of Maison Mere decided to plan a concert in Villejuif the same day as JB Mpiana’s event at Zénith de Paris, which was already planned for months. After the concert, people that even weren’t at the event, claimed that the show was really bad. JB Mpiana would also be mocked for weeks by not only the Maison-Mere for not selling Zénith out, but also Quartier Latin (Savanet Depitcho, JF Ifongé, Champion Djikapela and Zingeti le Ras Kaback) in Kinshasa, not being happy that JB already performed at Zénith after a few month from their event and hoping that he would fail (before the event at Zénith, there was a big polemic going on when JB’s car was burned by Zoulou-gangsters and then later confessing that they were sended by Koffi, who was apparently not happy that he bought the same car like him)
But things changed from the moment the VHS of JB Mpiana’s Zénith came out. People being surprised about the sound of the concert (at the that time the sound of Congolese concerts in Europe were often not really good), also about the way they did a long medley of more than an 1 hour, the choreography, etc. JB Mpiana immediately earned a lot of respect because of that concert (ACMCO would voted the concert as best concert of the year, towards the end of 1999). The show it self would influence Congolese bands to start their big shows in Paris with medleys of 2/3 songs, but they never gave BCBG the credit for being influenced by them. However the problems were still not done. People in Europe were wondering where Blaise Bula was, only to know that he already left and started preparing his album in Kinshasa. Also fingers being pointed at Alain Mpela for Makaba’s departure, after that stories were spread about him not allowing Makaba to go on stage.
After Zénith, late Monsieur Simon came with a contract for Olympia. JB was then wondering what he could give the public, after already having performed at Zénith. Because when Koffi Olomidé performed the previous year at Olympia, journalists and music-fans criticized him for not coming with something new or social at Zénith de Paris, three months later. Because of that, JB Mpiana decided to contact choreographer Maitre Kembo, who collaborated with Zaïko Langa Langa and Mbilia Bel for big Kinshasa shows in the late 1980s and 1990s, to come with ideas. In addition, the new artistic director Titina Al Capone, who was the brain behind the Zénith-show they prepare for almost 5 months, came with a new concept for Olympia.
Before preparing Olympia, Wenge BCBG went to Canada for a series of concerts. After performing in Toronto, Aimelia and the dancers Miette Shegue and late Patricia Bingetox were victim of a huge car accident. The accident got late Patricia paralyzed. Aimelia who was already in bad terms with JB and some bandmembers would later get punished by not getting allowed to sing in TH. Having already a bad reputation due to rumors about Manda Chante and Blaise Kembo inter past, those who weren’t liking JB would spread rumors that he wanted to sacrifice his own musicians for his album and anti-BCBG journalists in Kinshasa writing articles in newspapers with those claims.
When returning back in Europe. Wenge BCBG would start the preparations of Olympia and perform in meantime in Geneva, Brussels and London.
The show of JB Mpiana at Olympia took place one week after that of his rival Werrason, who performed the week before at Palais des Sports. The show ended up by being a big success. The Congolese and French-speaking African press would praise JB Mpiana for having performed at Olympia with his age. Because back then many African artists that performed at Olympia were already in their 40s, but JB Mpiana being 32 years old at that time. Also people liked how the set-up of the show was (folklore, intro, jb entrance, medley, the choreography’s, etc.). During the concert JB Mpiana also received from his manager Simon Ndjonang a gold record for his solo-album Feux de l’Amour, that had sold 150.000 copies around the world. It was quickly contested by King Kester Emeneya and journalist Zacharie Bababaswe who went to record a VHS called “Dossier Disque d’Or” going to SACEM to look if the gold records that Koffi received for Loi, Papa Wemba for Emotion and JB Mpiana for Feux de l’Amour were real. It created a lot of polemic.
JB Mpiana gold record for Feux de l’Amour was seen as a victory, not only for himself but also for his fans. In their eyes JB Mpiana hadn’t to prove anything, because he had already done Zénith & Olympia and received a gold record while his rival (Werrason) had in their eyes, a long way to go, to prove that. BCBG would came a lot of noise about it in EP “Ya Pas Photo, Ya Pas Match” and the album TH.
The fanswere so overwhelmed that they claimed that JB Mpiana hadn’t a place anymore to perform in Paris and that only Stade de France was left. It started first as a joke, but Roger Ngandu who was in Kinshasa started to take it seriously and announced it on tv-channels that they would perform there in 2001.
Like the Zénith-show, the release of the show at Olympia would made JB once again earn a lot of respect and ACMCO voting it as the best concert of the 20th century (it was contested by many people who saw it as disrespect towards the big shows Abeti made at Palais du Peuple, Cine Palladium abroad with his band and the many shows of Tabu Ley in Zaïre, the US and Olympia). JB Mpiana really set the bar high for Olympia. It made his idol Papa Wemba having the same question for his own Olympia the following year, after performing at Zénith, about what to give to the public.
The work that Maitre Kembo did for JB at Olympia, made Koffi contact him to collaborate for Bercy and train his dancers. JB would contact him 2 years later again for Bercy, which made Koffi furious and threatening him, especially for having recruited Bibi Sucre, who was one of his favorites, but at the same time left behind in Kinshasa for Zénith 2002. It resulted in Maitre Kembo attacking him on tv when being on tv with the dancers.
From 2:33 min
The succes of Zénith and Olympia made the BCBG fans impatient for JB’s return to Kinshasa and wondering how the show at Stade des Martyrs would be. Titina Al Capone and Burkina Faso would like Zenith being praised for their work at Olympia and the same for Aimelia “La voix Le plus aigue”. People being amazed about how he was able to scream “eeeeeeeeh” seconds long without breathing during Papito. The fans of BCBG and journalists were really waiting for Aimelia, only to discover that he decided to stay in Europe, when BCBG returned
I never understood why youtubers and journalists keep interviewing her and why artists are bringing her to Europe. That' s the disadvantage of internet. Now everybody can just talk. 25 years ago people like Manicke would never get the chance to get interviewed.
To be honest, I already heard those rumors, but in a different way, that it was something spiritual and that two others singers of his generation were also became victims, them three ending up by becoming junkies. But the rumor only being known within the QL-clan. We will never know if it was true. JF Ifonge indirectly referred to it, but he didn't mention the names. The story was that when he joined QL, he heard rumors that the bandleader suddenly could appear in your room and that your life was ruined if the thing happened to you, before starting with the Cameroon-story.
That of the 2nd generation was known, because in Effrakata-days rumors were spread that people saw one singer kiss a friend of him on the streets in Chateau Rouge and then others saying that the bandleader himself actually also sleeps with men and those men were his own singers. But many weren't taking it serious until Zobozi exposing it 10/15 years later and everybody knowing it. The same singer that was caught in Chateau Rouge, apparently did the same thing in Kinshasa-nightclubs before Bercy with one of his friends. Some people that used to go to public rehearsals of Quartier Latin at 5/5, claim that another singer was also sleeping with his friends he used to walk with and that the joke QL-singers were making in animation "about him having to stop with guys" being actually true
Kisindjora was already exposed a long time ago. I remember once a story being spread that she was in conflict with Didier Lacoste over a known journalist that used to date them both. Also other stories spread by facebook-pages, about men in europe complaining that she made their women bisexuals, citing some names we hear in songs and stories about women going for months to Kinshasa to be with her. JF Ifonge himself also talked a few times about Kisindjora giving him girls, but sometimes refusing saying that x being her girlfriend. It was already known in the time when she used to be in BCBG, that she had a preference for women.
Makaba wasn't relevant anymore when he played on Bakala dia Kuba and he was forced out from Wenge BCBG. He already worked with Papa Wemba on Fula Ngenge and Wake Up in the past. Wemba invited on his album him because he saw it as a lose for music to not see a such talented guitarist active anymore, like he did with Pepe Felly Manuaku on Pole Position
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