“Kenyans cannot be helped. You mean, with the crippling economy and the troubles, they paid KSh 10,000 to go watch Fally Ipupa lip-sync? Don't get me wrong. I love Lingala music. But only when it is real. My assessment is that Fally Ipupa's performance wasn't. Dr Miguna observed as debate over Congolese musician Fally Ipupa's concert at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi raged online. Dr Miguna, a Canada-based Kenyan lawyer and public intellectual, is known to comment on topical issues, but over the years, his opinion on matters of music has been rare.
That he had a comment on this particular one tells a tale of something that went terribly wrong. This was possibly in tandem with John Bogart's take that a man has to bite a dog, and not the opposite, to make news. Fally Ipupa landed in Nairobi on 3rd September and was scheduled to perform at Uhuru Gardens. In a city with a big appetite for Congolese music, it was obvious that the venue would be full, and indeed, that turned out to be the case, as exemplified by the few videos that have been posted online.
However, much to the chagrin of the patrons, Fally Ipupa did what many fans never thought would happen. He only lip-synced as his songs beamed loudly through the speakers and danced to the music on stage with his troupe of dancers. This is not what many fans of rumba music would expect from their superstars. The tradition is that a musician travels with his entire band for concerts. They set the stage, strum the guitars, and the speakers come alive to offer fans a first-hand experience of the songs they so love, being performed right before them. In this era when technology offers means of refining studio recordings, authentic rumba fans have for long been left clinging to concerts as the only opportunity to experience the real music with a human signature.
In modern recording, drum sets rarely make their way into the studios. At times, one guitarist does both solo and rhythm using double-tracking technology, and a bassist can also be introduced. For that reason, it is only at a live concert that fans get to enjoy the experience of a full band. A typical stage for a concert by a Congolese musician would have at least three guitarists, and on some occasions four, depending on the band's style; one drummer, one percussionist, several vocalists who also turn out to be dancers, and a keyboardist or trumpet and saxophone players.
This means that intricate wiring has to happen to connect all these players to the system. Such a stage, always graced by at least a dozen participants or more, means that one man alone with dancers, on the podium for a rumba concert is, in itself, strange. With a large team of saxophone and trombone/trumpet players, a typical OK Jazz stage would normally have around 20 people. Fally Ipupa is presently one of the biggest brands in Congolese music, and an announcement of his concert is naturally expected to attract attention from music lovers. He has performed several times in Kenya before, and on all such occasions, he has been accompanied by his band.
His band, ranked among the best in the DRC, has had the services of musicians like Atele Kunianga (chef d’orchestre), Djino Liaki (long-serving member), Willy Zola (guitarist), Felly Tyson (guitarist), Zagalo Liccompa (rhythm guitarist), Wallo Liyeye (bassist), Choumen Lunguila (percussionist), Arnaud Madruma (drummer), Alex Shua (synthesizer), Junior Motukwa (singer), Nathan Munkala (singer), and Dady Masudi (singer). Having travelled without his backup instrumentalists ought to have been a red flag for rumba lovers, but again, maybe one would think he would hire local musicians to back him up. The disappointment was registered far and wide, with fans who attended the show complaining that they never got a return for the KSh 10,000 they paid for the show.
One fan wrote, “You pay 10,000 shillings to listen to a flash disc,” while yet another lamented that he would not have attended had he known what was in the offing. Rumba fans are known to uphold standards. In some other genres, this would have been normal, but for rumba, this fell short of what they anticipated, having it in mind that visiting Congolese musicians perform live on stage and even those who hold concerts regularly at clubs perform with a whole band live. This is what rumba fans have been weaned on for ages. Alongside Ferre Gola, the 48-year-old Fally Ipupa remains one of the biggest names in the generation that succeeded the Wenge Musica generation in Congolese music. He has travelled extensively across the world and has more than 200 songs in his discography.
Maybe he will have to organize another show in Nairobi and travel with the whole band to restore the confidence of his fans.
BY JEROME OGOLA