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Hip Hop in Congo On this page we list some crews from the two Congos: there's the Democratic Republic of Congo (capital: Kinshasa) and its neighbour which is also called Congo (capital: Brazzaville). For years Kinshasa has been an important place in African music: it's from here that many rumba (soukous, ndombolo etc) bands started out, capturing audiences continent-wide and globally as far as Japan. The collapse of the nation state in the 1980's has not been a serious threat to the city's nightlife and many rumba bands are still performing. The music that spread all over Africa like malaria originated here. Bands such as Zaiko Langa Langa, TPOK Jazz and other legends that started out mostly in the 1970's first introduced certain innovations into rumba music that are still being played today. These 'grandmasters' still have a firm hold over music in Congo-K and consquently it is not easy for other musical directions to get any grip on Congolese soil. Still there have been some exceptions to the rule. One style which managed to break the monopoly of rumba, soukous, kwassa kwassa et al is Hip Hop. As has been the case in other countries (eg Senegal) hip hop has had a large appeal to the younger generation. Rap music (such as the imported Parisian French rap) talks about a world that youth can relate to. Also it is easier to get started in hip hop than it would be to pursue a carreer in rumba music. All it takes is a microphone and some basic equipment (instead of two turntables many producers use a keyboard of any sort). Most of the time rappers can operate independently instead of having to borrow their instruments from a wealthy businessman (eg 'Saddam Hussein', a son of Mobutu who used to work with Wenge Musica and others). Since 1991 many new rap groups have sprung up. Some claim that there are by now a few hundred rap groups in Kinshasa alone. Unfortunately the Kinshasa scene has not yet broken through on the international market, only a few songs have been released on a compilation. There's one rapper who did a track on the late Pepe Kalle's last album! Sounds OK, even in a funny mix with the rest of the song which is very uptempo. To listen, see our sounds section. Kaysha Solo Album (cd): I'm ready (Endor/Sony France 1999) Single: Bounce baby (Endor 1999) This mc has been in touch with Rumba-Kali for well over 2 years now. His internet presence was felt with the 'organized bambino'-website with the tight self-made graphics, and the bio of the Kinshasa-born, France-raised artist raised curiosity as to what his mic skills would amount to. Not much was heard of him lately. We had to wait for this cd to know more about his music, and the wait has not been in vain: Kaysha spent much of his time in the studio and touring abroad to come up with this lovely piece of plastic. It seems as if these days the 'Congo side' is emerging from the crowd, not just with a refreshing mic presentation but even more so with a innovative production. Take the example of Bisso na Bisso (see below), the crew formed around well known rapper Passi. They came up with the concept of mixing Congolese samples with a hip hop attitude. Now Kaysha, being a travelled man and one who grew up listening to various musical styles, shows his love for the sweet zouk sound of Antillian-French Kassav, Jean-Michel Rotin and others. Many of the songs on his first album I'm Ready are driven by a zouk sample. Mixing zouk with rap has been done before by Antillian crews but this time it's done professionally, and it clearly has hit appeal. Kaysha's rapping is not bad at all, kind of Bad Boy label-style but without the player edge: 'I don't push a lex, I push a bike but ladies like my sex'. So don't expect any grab at defeating metaphoring emcees, it's Kaysha rapping nicely with the music. This is an album that you will play when your girl is around (and to the female readers, an album that you will play whenever) because it is as sweet as the zouk samples make it. To add another cliché - it makes you feel the tropics at sunset. Maybe that's how I'm ready has become an instant hit in many West-African countries over the past few weeks, according to the mc himself. He deserves it, and hopefully his zouk-style rap will invite other rappers to experiment with mixing other musical genres into their hip hop bowl. The cd, together with a cd-single of 'Bounce baby' in 3 mixes (hip hop, zouk and ragga-ish) has been available in France distributed by Sony. You may also try Kaysha's website Organized Bambino. Bisso na Bisso Members: 2 Bal + Benji, Mystik, Lino, Arsenik Album: Racines (Sony France/Virgin, 1999), Live (Sony France/Virgin, 1999) A new supergroup from Congo (both sides of the river, that is Congo-Brazzaville and 'Democratic' Congo-Kinshasa), but they are actually all living in France so it's much like the rumba music by the likes of Alain Kounkou: one could argue that it's not African music as it's made abroad. However the focus of this group is definitely on their mother country. Well known rapper Passi decided to get together with his selection of Congo-born, France-living emcees. To all those who said that you can't rap over a rumba-sample, wait until you hear their album that's out through V2/Sony France. Now after the first single off the album, also entitled 'Bisso na Bisso' was such a success in France -it made it to pop charts- the Congolese superstar Koffi Olomide proposed to do a featuring with Passi on his new album. You can listen to one of their tracks in our sounds section. New: buy the album (cd only) at Amazon website. For a realaudio interview with Passi (by French music tv MCM) on Bisso and his own carreer, click here. If you understand French, go and read a good interview with some Bisso members at the website of French hip hop mag Rap et Ragga (look for issue #25). Fatima CIA Members: B-Flash, ZDF... Singles: Septembre Noir, Afrique sur la crique Fatima CIA have been among the first to get serious about hip hop in Kinshasa. They have been around since 1991 and have recently issued a new single and a video which talks about the 1991 army violence in Congo-K. Bawta Kin A new group from Kinshasa

A classic: the 'Racines' album (1999) by Bisso na Bisso, which made the French speaking part of the world realize that there is hip hop in Africa, and that an Africa identity can be cool. :: DAMN! :: Damn! You may remember rapper 'Ya Kid-D' of the euro-house group Technotronic, quite well known in the early 90's with a couple of international releases... What you didn't know is that she's originally from Congo!