The "Kwassa Kwassa" is a variant of the soukous (a very peculiar type of African rumba) characterized by the speed of its rhythms, in which traditional African instruments are combined with others of European origin. And it is the Kwassa Kwassa that places Kanda Bongo Man as one of the giants of African music.
His solo career began to take off after moving to Paris in 1979, where his music began incorporating elements of the then vibrant zouk music (originally from the French West Indies). His first solo albums, Iyole in 1981 and Djessy in 1982, soon became great successes thanks to the structural changes he implemented to soukous music by encouraging guitar solos after each verse and at the beginning of each song. This way of approaching the soukous gave rise to the Kwassa Kwassa as a dance rhythm, where the hips move back and forth while the hands move along the hips.
Behind the voice and charismatic scenic presence of Kanga Bongo Man are the guitars of Diblo Dibala and Rigo Star (which also enriched, at the time, the albums of Paul Simon and Papa Wemba), and those of Nene Tchakou and Dally Kimoko, considered of the best soukous guitarists in the world, giving rise to a twinning that gave his music a wonderfully cheerful and resonant quality.
The present compilation, King Of Kwassa Kwassa (2011), gathers its main songs recorded between 1984 and 1991, songs that marked an entire era of Parisian soukous and that show us a band at the height of its fullness.
CD1
01. Malinga
02. Zing Zong
03. Belle Amie
04. Isambe
05. J.T.
06. Sai
07. Aime
08. Amour Fou
09. Bayembi
10. Monie
CD2
01. Naloti
02. Cantique
03. Iyole
04. Ebeneza
05. Djessy
06. Mosali
07. Mazina
08. Ekipe
09. Yonde Love Me
10. Emame
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