profile: Bana ba Kongo

Bana ba Kongo is a collective of three very different Lusaka-based 20-somethings .  Founded in 2011, the groups music takes a very light-hearted approach to life and living.  Though very tempting to put the group down as a chiunda band, its nearly impossible to clearly define what musical genre Bana ba Kongo can be placed in, as the music is a fusion of many diverse genres. 

Just from the name (which, they insist, must be pronounced with hard ‘b’s!), there is absolutely nothing ordinary about this group.  The band’s music draws influences primarily from the work of contemporaries such as Mozegator, the Mimbulu Family and Ama Blax as well as Nasty D and the kalindula legends of the 80s and 90s.  Their sound, which is the brainchild of main producer Nkandu “stretch.dj” Kataya, is the final product of years of experimenting with different sounds such as house, kalindula, boostele, classic rock, hip-hop and dancehall. 

Freshmen (Ba Fresh)

Freshmen

Albert Njapau (real name Albert Njapau) hails from Chamba Valley in Lusaka, a quite fitting point of origin for the multi-talented singer/rapper. Anyone who knows "Ba Fresh" knows that his trademark is his incredible sense of humor. In the studio, Fresh is responsible for many of Bana Ba Kongo's insanely danceable drum patterns. Fresh has a fair amount of production experience working as Stretch's assistant during his time with  X.Y.Z Entertainment.  Fresh’s lyrical subject matter varies from side-splitting comedy to social commentary to catchy, feel-good call-and-responses.  On stage Fresh can fairly be called the most distinguished dancer of the three

One Billyon

One Billyon

Born Jilowa Wambilisome twenty years ago in Lusaka, Billy (as he is affectionately known) is a product of Mupapa School in Ndola. Billy's biggest strength lies in his versatility, counting song-writing and singing in all imaginable styles as his main threats. Billy can boom out a strong ragga hook, or something far more soulful and emotional at the drop of a hat. Coupled with his knack for creating concepts out of nothing, Billy hopes for a bright future in the game.  The happy-go-lucky University of Lusaka Commerce student counts Bob Marley and P.K. Chishala among his inspirations, and strongly admires the work of T-Sean and B Flow. 

Aubzee (Popo Fyuta)

Aubzee

If its not always his voice, its certainly his rhythms that are behind every BBK record.  Aubrey Chikoyo’s upbringing is rooted in music; his father being an accomplished guitar player.  During his school years in Kabwe, Aubzee and a group of friends were always to be found banging on drums and singing songs at every Kalonga High football match.  His ability on the drums can be heard on songs like “Bengi ba Baila” (where he collaborated  on production with cousin stretch.dj) and "Waluvyanya".  Known also as “Popo Fyuta” and “Red Panther”, Aubzee distinguishing mark lyrically is his poetic use of the Bemba language in his unique delivery, reminiscent of Shimba Boyd of Mimbulu Family in tone and Shimasta in terms of imagery. Metaphors and wordplay are his main staple as he adds to the group’s overall fresh sound.  

Bana first came on the scene late last year with their provocative Internet release ‘Lwimbo lwa Nsele’ which caused a major furor on the underground.  Despite not receiving any airplay (for obvious reasons) the group attracted attention from bar and pub owners, often being invited to perform a few tunes for their patrons. The feedback and response thus far has been encouraging, with many showering praise on the groups outlandish outfits and solid stage-work.  As of writing, Bana have all but wrapped up work on their yet-to-be-titled debut album set to hit shelves in July this year.

Bana Ba Kongo’s music is definitely a breath of fresh air in a Zambian music industry stifled with bubblegum music.  From day one, BBK have always strived to go back to the fundamentals and present a uniquely Zambian sound with a 21st century twist.  Despite the often edgy subject matter and sometimes unconventional approach to song structure, Bana believes that their music will keep people across the continent grooving for a long time to come!

Study Break Music

I've been listening to a lot of different music the past week. 

It started with the song they play during the champagne celebration at the end of each F1 race.  I googled it a couple years back and discovered it was composed by a French dude called Georges Bizet... It was the prelude to a quite famous work of his called Carmen.  I spent some time trying to download the mp3, which i eventually succeded in getting.  But in the the process I was led to discover Montserrat Caballet, a very talented Spanish vocalist who was responsible for the beautiful delivery of Habanera in that exact same opera.  Her prolific career as an operatic singer led her to work in later years with Freddie Mercury (who I really like) of Queen, particularly on the song 'Barcelona' (which was actually used as the theme song for the '92 Barcelona Olympics after Mercury's demise of AIDS).  Interestingly I've known of Freddie Mercury for forever, and I remember the Barcelona song from childhood, but I had never heard of Caballe.  Turns out she had quite an illustrious career.  If I'm not mistaken she's still alive somewhere.

What really woke me up was all the Queen material I found on YouTube. I watched some of the band's best performances including the famous Live Aid Concert at Wembley in London 1985.  They were truly great performers, and I think a lot of guys in entertainment can take a leaf from those incredible bunch of guys.  Take some time to click the link above and watch the video.  There's a reason the call it the world wide web.  Everything is connected, and you can go from here to anywhere with a click of the mouse.  You know how YouTube is, with the suggestions on the side of the page you click another video of interest and so on and so forth ad infinitum.

Eventually I found myself in 1969 at the famous Woodstock concert. And for the second time in my life I listened to Jimi Hendrix rendition of "the Star-Spangled Banner".  My first impression of the piece when I watched it a couple years ago, were simply that it was the over-artistic attempts by a long-haired junkie to create an edgy and non-conventional travesty of the national anthem of his country on the least likely of instruments.  I really was not impressed.

But strangely (and for a reason that was until not so long incomprehensible to myself), that one performance of that one song has been hailed as one of the greatest musical performances of history.  So, this time I sat down and actually bothered to do a little background research as to what exactly the funny looking black man with the upside-down guitar was trying to achieve with his whining guitar.  My research, as it turns out, revealed that Mr. Hendrix actually enlisted in the US Army in 1961 and served a year in the 101st Airborne Division, before being discharged for being, effectively, a lazy bum.  Simultaneous to that historic concert in upstate New York, the American nation was at war in a far-far away place in Asia known as Vietnam.  Fighting age American soldiers were being conscripted into service of their country against the ugly communist threat.  Many were dying.  The government was fighting an unpopular war; the American people were quite understandably and for lack of a more concise phrase, pissed-off. And needed an escape.  And that they found with things like the hippie movement, drugs and of course, music.  In fact the concert was billed as "An Aquarian Exposition in White Lake, NY ... 3 days of peace & music".  Indeed turbulent times in the United States, and it was against this backdrop that James Marshall Allen Hendrix stepped onto stage  on the 18th day of August.

Hendrix begins the piece with the usual familiar first strains "oh say can you see"  ... and proceeds to play the familiar tune, with-out much deviation from the original.  Upon reaching the line where the lyrics would ordinarily read "and the rockets red glare... the bombs bursting in air" Hendrix proceeds to turn his guitar into an unearthly synthesizer, replicating the chaos of the war in Vietnam replete with dropping bombs, airplane sounds and explosions.  The emotion on his face really is amazing.  The most definitive moment of the whole piece for me is where he plays a few bars from "Taps" which is the slow haunting bugle melody played for departed soldiers being laid to rest in the US military.

Genius.


I wish I was there, really.  Not to party, no.  I'm told that the four day Woodstock concert was at some points nothing more than a big drug convention.  But I wish I was there to see that one magic moment of music history.  Alas, I was born many years too late in an African country far away.

But some people don't get rock.  And its perfectly understandable, I guess.  To each his own.  So there's some of the stuff that kept me busy the past five days.  Take some time to click on the links.  Open your minds! Cheers guys!

State of the [Hip-Hop] Nation pt. 1

A historian or musicologist can walk you through the origins of the hip-hop genre in the Republic of Zambia.  I however, am no historian or musicologist.  I'm simply an opinionated former DJ/producer.  As such I won't talk about the journey so much as our current destination.

It would be nearly impossible to write a piece on local hip-hop without acknowledging the contribution of C.R.I.$.I.S aka Mr. Swagger.  At a time when few dreamt of making a career of music, let alone hip-hop, Mr. Katongo was on his grind.  The results?  A CV filled with accolades, globe trotting adventures and some solid albums under his belt.

Which brings us to a critical talking point: C.R.I.$.I.S raps in English.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  Or so you'd think.  However, for a reason that is very hard to understand, English rappers have not been wholly embraced in Zambia.  Its an old story, but I feel its worth mentioning for the sake of seeking a solution to the problem.  You'd hear Rick Ross playing in a random barbershop in Kamanga, or a blue bus blaring Nicki Minaj on Great East Road.  Your chances of hearing Zone Fam from the pre-Ndine Chikali era?  Nix.  Fancy slotting into a token and spinning something from the late Soosh Matix?  Think again.  Wanna listen to something from the Juggernauts on your favourite afternoon drive time show?  Chances are, your favourite DJ has only a vague idea who or what the Juggernauts are.

And thats just the reality.  As I alluded to in my tweets on Thursday evening, Zambia is endowed with a multitude of naturally gifted rappers.  Lyrically and poetically (wait, is there a difference?) the likes of Skrypted and K.R.Y.T.I.C  could give any MC on this planet a serious run for their money.  The diminutive Klappa Heiz  has one of THE most convincing deliveries I've ever heard.  That deep rumble from the litttle man makes you want to shit yourself with fear.  Like he's gonna jump out ya speakers and strangle you.  We have the likes of K-Star who, I'm told, can freestyle for hours on end.  Non-stop. the list just goes on and on and on

Looking though at the mainstream, we find an encouraging picture.  The wealth of rappers who can spit in vernacular is impressive.  Credit of course must be given to the founding fathers of the vernac game; the Leo Muntus and Masta Flows of this world.  They opened up the doors for generation 'D' referring of course to the two (literally) big ones: Tommy and Slap.  At a time when we didnt think a rap song in Nyanja would ever sound right, those two burst onto the scene in late 2005.  The game hasn't really been the same since. There was of course the infamous debate as to who stole who's style, and we can talk about that till the cows come home. But we won't.  Hoofed quadrupeds aside, I think that particular argument was simply too close to call.  And this far down the line, its hardly relevant, seeing as one of them has ceased to be musically relevant as of this writing.  But I digress.  The Slapdee/Tommy D feud sparked a surging interest in hip-hop.  Now every kid had a dream of being the next chart topper.  Radio stations began to take notice and our modern hip-hop era was born.  And it brought Alpha Romeo, LB, Zone Fam, J.O.B, Bobby East, Brisky,  etc etc etc etc.

I'm always asked about my opinion of Macky 2.  I here for the first time for the record, I give it.  The man is pretty impressive.  He has certainly brought a certain breath of fresh air into the game.  His rhyming and pattern is solid, his hooks catchy and he has the very handy ability to sing, rap and produce under different stage names.  I struggle to think of anything negative to say about his artistic ability.  Shockingly he's a pretty quiet and soft-spoken guy in person the few occasions I've met him.  

Bringing us to the other Kaira brother, Chef 187.  It isn't everyday I'm blown out of the water by one particular artists, but I will admit I was very impressed the first time I heard him.  What i particular love is how he daringly went and explored rap in Bemba, which is previously almost unexplored territory.  I forsee a bright future for him.

Camstar continues to impress.  I think he is best placed to really make it big locally, as he's a beast on either side of the linguistic fence.  Bemba, Nyanja, English, Cam will spit it, sometimes in the same verse.  By his own admission he isn't much of a punchliner, but his wordplay and storytelling abilities are certainly above par.  In my very humble opinion, for now, the crown is effectively his.  Its just that the general public don't know it yet.  You'll see, and you'll tell me I was right after all.

For now, I'll let you digest this all.  When we come back with part 2, I'll be critiquing our current star(lets) and telling you who to look out for the future, and the contribution of third non-rapping parties to the game.  And we'll wrap up with the bigger picture of African and global hip-hop and where we may slot in.

Stay blessed!