Papa Wemba conquered the world with music

When I was asked by the editor to write about the fallen Papa Wemba, I wondered what I would write. Would I write an obituary? Would I write a profile? Would I just comment on his discography?
For an internationally acclaimed musician whose death featured on CNN and BBC as a breaking news item, how would I bring Papa Wemba’s story home and ‘Ugandanise’ it?
The Congolese star collapsed and died on stage while performing during a music festival in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He was 66 and married to Marie Lozolo Amazone.
Papa Wemba’s mother was a pleureuse (professional dirge singer) who could be hired to sing at funerals. She died in 1973.
His mother was one of Papa Wemba’s earlier influences. “If my mother was still alive, I would be rich in words and rich in melodies. Mother was my first teacher and my first audience,” he is quoted as saying on his official website.
Papa Wemba’s professional career began in 1969 as part of the pioneer singers of what has variously been referred to as the Youth Movement of Congolese music embodied in l’Orchestre Zaiko Langa Langa.

Zaiko Langa Langa was the first band to play a more raucous version of the Congolese rumba aimed at Kinshasa’s younger generation. The singers choreographed stage routines and created dance strokes for their followers.
And Papa Wemba was on Zaiko Langa Langa’s line up of vocalists which also included other strong vocals in Michel “Evoloko Joker” Anto and Siméon Mavuela Somo. In addition to his tenor, Papa Wemba was also a composer scoring a number of hits including Liwa Ya Somo (scary death).

Conflict
As is always the case in these things, success in popularity and number of band members in Zaiko Langa Langa brought some friction; Papa Wemba and some of the other singers felt stifled.
In 1974, the band dismissed singer Evoloko Joker. In the heat of things, Papa Wemba, Mavuela and Bozi Bozian also left Zaiko Langa Langa and joined Evoloko Joker to form l’Ochestre Isifi Lokole.

A year later, Papa Wemba and Mavuela left Isifi Lokole and formed Yoka Lokole and were later to split in 1977. Papa Wemba then formed Viva la Musica, which provided a platform to showcase his talent without the stifling of would-be rivals. Viva La Musica was an immediate success. In 1979, Papa Wemba left his band to perform alongside Tabu Ley and Afrisa Internationale. In 1982, he recorded in Paris as a solo for Franco Luambo Makiadi’s Visa 1980 label. This seemingly selfish behaviour led a number of his musicians to leave Viva La Musica.

July 1986 was the start of La Vie Est Belle (life is beautiful), a joint project of Belgian director Benoit Lamy and Zaire’s Ngangura Mweze. La Vie Est Belle is the story of a young, impoverished singer who comes to the city in search of stardom. The sound track features much of Papa Wemba’s music, including the title song.

Going it alone
About a year later, he announced that he was going solo in order to achieve a more international sound and audience. In Paris, Papa Wemba re-recorded seven of his songs in collaboration with French producer Martin Meissonnier.
The result was a very un-Congolese sounding disc entitled simply Papa Wemba which alienated old fans; yet it also failed to attract new ones. Singing in Lingala, he headlined Peter Gabriel’s World of Music and Dance tour and secured a global audience.

It is his courting of international audience that may have brought Papa Wemba’s music to Uganda. Otherwise, the Youth Movement was never really successfully in penetrating the East African market then dominated Franco, Tabu Ley and Kyamuangana Mateta (of Orchestre Veve). The first album that attracted Ugandans was the highly publicised Wake Up, collaboration with Kofi Olomide who already had a footprint in Uganda with three albums namely Papa Plus, Andrada and Bana Magie.

Papa Wemba’s international appeal was enhanced when he worked with an international cast of musicians that included Gabriel, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Youssou N’dour, Lucky Dube, and South African vocalist Brenda Fasi on a tour sponsored by International Committee of the Red Cross.

But the most popular of Papa Wemba’s works in Uganda was the single Show Me the Way which had very un-Congolese beats yet retained the aura of Afro-Rumba accompanied with lead vocals.

Conquering Uganda
Show Me the Way actually offered Ugandans what Tabu Ley’s Muzina didn’t do; a bridge that was later to deliver Uganda’s popular dance to hip hop.
A newspaper once asked what Congolese musician Ugandans preferred to perform in Kampala. Most of the entries voted for Papa Wemba (and looked forward to him playing Show Me the Way live). That’s how Show Me the Way was popular in Uganda. The other song that appealed to Ugandans was Iyolela. “I am speaking from the heart when I say that Paris has allowed me to go everywhere - to reach the summit of international show business,” Papa Wemba said in an interview with CNN.

Papa Wemba bio
Papa Wemba was born Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba on June 14, 1949 at Lobefu in the Kasai Region of DR Congo. As a direct descendent of a long line of the Tetela tribal warrior chiefs, he was supposed to be raised for the role of a tribal warrior chief. Unfortunately, this was not possible because in 1955, Papa Wemba’s family moved to Leopoldville (Kinshasa). However, he was later to earn the title ‘chief’ from the elders for his contribution to music and culture (but not as a warrior).
His father died in 1966, after which he joined the choir of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Kinshasa. That must have been the beginning of what was later to be a singing career that spanned 50 years.

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