Regardless of country, music from Africa is often presented as folklore, old, unchanging and almost primitive. Music from both sides of the river Congo has continually disproved that notion through a frenetic, revolutionary development of styles. The urban sound of Kin’Gongolo Kiniata is no exception; arguably it’s a phenomenon that with more power than any contemporary band from Kinshasa shakes the foundations we take for granted in dance music. An incredibly intense mix of punk, electro, Afro pop and soukous, played on self-made instruments. A staggering soundscape that bursts forth with hectic street life, with lyrics in Lingala against the war that has torn The Congo apart for decades and songs about and homages to itinerant workers. Sounds of hope and despair, this is the next generation of Congolese music.
