Generally, music is made to be enjoyed—that is, listened to and danced to. Nonetheless, the urge to understand it better has often led to the classification of music into genres and other clusters.
That’s why the issue of genre oftentimes escapes even the musicians themselves, and on some other occasions, discussants can't agree on which genre a song belongs to. Even the parameters that define these genres are also contested at times. These very parameters may also vary from genre to genre.
For example, reggae as a genre is identified by the dominance of the rhythm guitar and the manner in which it is strummed, the predominant theme of resistance, and the near-religious theology of Rastafarianism. So, what is the rumba genre identified with?
Before we venture into this dissection, it is worth noting that we must first correctly identify the specimen. Rumba is broader than what Congolese musicians do, thus the need to stick to the prefix Congolese before rumba, a term that offers some precision.
Congolese rumba is a fusion of the Afro-Cuban beat imported to Africa and fused with melodies and other aspects of traditional African music. This convergence was made possible by the elements of the trans-Atlantic slave trade floating back to the Atlantic shores in West Africa. This music is also referred to, albeit erroneously, by other terminologies.
The first is rhumba. Rhumba is an Anglicized or Americanized variation or alternative spelling. It has been accepted by several dictionaries as an alternative spelling, but most still stick to rumba. However, a dig into its etymological Cuban origin points to rumba as the correct spelling.
However, for a collective noun for rattlesnakes, the dictionary is strict on spellings. Rhumba it is.
The other term commonly used to refer to Congolese rumba is Lingala. To some people, a "Lingala song" means a rumba song. This is incorrect. Lingala is a language, not a genre of music.
Lingala is a Central Bantu language spoken mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo, widely known as the expressive lyrical language of Congolese rumba.
Apart from rhumba and Lingala, the other term often used interchangeably with Congolese rumba is soukous. It is worth noting that European scholars consider soukous as the genre of music that comes from Congo. To them, rumba is strictly that Cuban dance. That’s why Wikipedia describes every Congolese musician as a "soukous musician."
Soukous, in the strict sense of the meaning, is a subgenre of Congolese rumba. Soukous, which is defined by its high tempo and the absence of saxophones, trumpets, or clarinets, was the peak of Congolese rumba in terms of popularity. Its origin is debatable and may have been contributed to by more than one factor.
One of the theories advanced to explain its emergence was the highlife effects from West Africa carried back into the DRC by remnants of the giant African All Stars, upon its disbandment in the early 1980s. Highlife was very popular in West Africa in that era.
This coincided with the mass immigration of Congolese musicians into Europe, a factor that is thought to have triggered the emergence of the subgenre. This became the peak of Congolese music as far as popularity is concerned, although this may not necessarily define the peak of its creativity, which happened in the 1960s.
Superior recording equipment and better marketing prospects made music sales soar beyond what was its traditional base.
The other subgenres of rumba may not have attained similar success. They are pachanga, cavacha, bolero, merengue, charanga, cha-cha-cha, and, much late,r a different version of soukous known as techno-soukous.
Some of these subgenres were imported from Cuba and were done exactly as they were in their places of origin. This explains why several songs by Congolese bands in the 1970s were done in Spanish. Songs like "El Cuini" by Verckys or "African Jazz Mokili Mobimba" are cover versions of songs that were originally done by Cuban musicians.
Cavacha had the epicenter of its evolution at Maison Veve, the state-of-the-art recording studio established by Verckys Kiamuangana in 1972. Music was now becoming the center of attraction in entertainment joints and other events, performance being the in-thing, especially after the "Rumble in the Jungle" bout between American pugilists George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, which happened in Kinshasa in 1974 and featured, among others, American rock star James Brown.
This subgenre was defined by an extended segment meant for dancing. It was initially graced by an extensive saxophone section, but bands like Zaiko got rid of the sax and created an extended guitar session for dancing. Dancers became part of the bands. On the other hand, odemba, ndombolo, kwasa kwasa, etc., are more dance styles than subgenres.
Other attempts have also been made to cluster Congolese rumba by chronology. This has always been crafted over the years that musicians and bands existed. These have been first, second, third, fourth, and fifth generations. The first being that of the era preceding the advent of recording technology.
These musicians are Adou Elenga, Paul Kamba, Wendo Nkolosoy, Henri Bowane, Leon Bukasa, Manuel D'Oliveira, etc. They performed from the mid-1940s to the 1950s. Recording technology came to Kinshasa in 1948.
The second generation includes Franco, Nico, Tabu Ley, Bavon, Bokelo, Grand Kalle, and many others. The third is the cavacha generation of the 1970s, including groups like Lipua Lipua. The fourth is Soukous, and the fifth is the generation of Wenge, etc.
This music has also been clustered alongside bands. In the 1960s and 1970s, bands followed either the OK Jazz School or the African Jazz School. The OK Jazz School was identified by Vicky Longomba's voice and Franco's guitar. It featured no mi-solo, and the singing was done by several vocalists creating harmony. Franco called it Odemba. Upon his death, the band switched to mayeno, which is more soukous.
"There were two solo guitars, first and second solo, but no mi-solo, in this school of Congolese rumba," Pierre Mandjeku Lengo told Jabulani Radio, while elucidating the various schools of Congolese rumba. Pierre, also known as Dizzy, has played guitar for Conga 68, Orchestra Veve, Kosa Kosa, Festival Des Maquisards, Afrisa, OKJ, and African All Stars. He currently resides in Brussels, where he heads Odemba OK Jazz, which performs in Europe.
The other school was the Fiesta school, identified by Dr. Nico's guitar and Grand Kalle's voice. This style had a mi-solo, and the singing was mostly done by one vocalist. Festival Des Maquisards, Afrisa, African Fiesta National, etc., followed this school. The mi-solo was innovated in this school.
The other factors that stand out in identifying Congolese rumba are the melody of the singing, the style of the solo guitar, which often takes the melody of the lead vocalist, the language, which is Lingala, and the segmentation of the song into two parts: one for singing and the second for dancing.
Congolese rumba also has related genres like the Kenyan benga, whose guitar style, i.e., solo riffs and singing style, differentiates them. Congolese bands in Nairobi and other African cities also had styles that were different from their counterparts in the DRC but still fell within the respective genres. Also worth noting is that not all Congolese music is rumba. A notable example is mutwashi, perfected by Tshala Muana. That was basically a traditional folk dance of the Baluba people done with modern instruments.
Other genres around Africa have also been gravitating towards Congolese rumba for years. Congolese rumba is more than just a genre; it is a living archive of history, culture, and identity expressed through rhythm and melody. Its enduring influence across Africa and beyond affirms its place as one of the continent’s greatest musical legacies.
By Jerome Ogola
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