Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Work by: Karen Bergmann

Edited by: Caroline Khameneh

• General Information
  • Independence: June 30, 1960 from Belgium
  • Population: 75 million
  • Size: 905,355 square miles
  • Capital: Kinshasa
• Ethnic Groups
  • Mongo
    • Located: Equatorial forest between Congo and Kasai/Sankuru Rivers
    • Facts: They speak Mongo/Nkundo, Lingala
  • Luba
    • Located: Southern Democratic Republic of the Congo
    • Facts: They speak Luba-Kasai, Luba-Katanga, Swahili
  • Kongo
    • Located: Near Atlantic Coast
    • Facts:They speak kikongo
  • Mbuti
    • Located: near Ituri Rainforest
    • Facts: They speak Efe, Asoa, Kango
• Genres
  • Kwasa Kwasa
    • Dance genre
    • Slow dance rhythm
• Soukous
  • Dance music genre
  • Originated from African rumba music of Belgian Congo and French Congo
• Tcha tcho
  • slower style of soukous
  • term invented by Olomide
• Ndombolo
  • Subgenre of soukous
  • Fast hip-swinging dance genre
• Instruments
  • Molimo trumpet
    • Known as: trumpet
    • Fact: instrument of Mbuti ethnic group
  • Slit log drum
    • Known as: hollow percussion instrument
    • Fact: idiophone
  • Kalimba/Likembé
    • Known as: thumb piano
    • Fact: lamellophone and plucked idiophone
  • Bambonda
    • Known as: upright drums
    • Fact: played by men beating sticks on wooden sides and hands on the skins
• Artists
  • Papa Wemba (Shungu Wembadio)
  • Congolese Rumba and Kwasa kwasa genre
    • Started career in group Zaiko Langa-Langa
    • Viva la Musica – ensemble that incorporated traditional dances
  • Jean Bosco Mwenda
  • Katanga Troubadour
  • Guitar compositions based on thumb piano style
• Koffi Olomide (Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba)
  • Soukous/Ndombolo and Tcha tcho genre
  • Played in Viva la Musica with Papa Wemba
• Konono No. 1
  • Congotronics/Bazombo trance genre
  • Amplified thumb pianos, percussion, rap-style vocals
  • Band formed years ago but evolved drastically in early 2000s
• Scholars
  • G. Kubik
  • AP Merriam
  • R. Brandel


Congo Music

• References
  • https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cg.html
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo
  • http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~epsadm03/mbuti.html
  • http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/country/content.country/congo_drc__zaire__17/en_US
  • http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com
  • http://norient.com/en/academic/ethnomusicologyreview/ (Bazombo trance)
  • Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries
  • Map: http://www.ezilon.com/maps/images/africa/D-R-of-Congo-road-map.gif
  • Regions: http://www.mapsofworld.com/democratic-republic-of-congo/maps/democratic-republic-of-congo-political-map.jpg
  • Music is primarily vocal – (Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zdazJ0X1nc) (Ex. in Smithsoniam Global Sound – search for Mbuti under Cultural Groups)
  • (Picture: http://pe.beprimitive.com/collections/artifacts/musical-instruments/products/A0310-881-molimo-or-ritual-trumpet-based?page=1&total_pages=1&viewall=yes) Louis Sarno recording
  • Slit log drum (Picture:  http://heritagealliance.ucf.edu/folklife/zagbo/f_lokole.html) (Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NstqJj-BtZ0) (Ex. in Smithsonian Global Sound)
  • Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDKwu9enNzs) (Ex. in Smithsonian Global Sound)
  • Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL7A_5wSMFI)
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqUyY3MGf-A
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkJFfn6avSo
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD4wosTrUrE
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cU19URUe6o