Zaïko Langa Langa

Founded in Kinshasa in December 1969 in the wake of Bel Guide National, Zaïko Langa Langa is part of Congolese rumba while shifting it toward a more nervous format centered on guitars, percussion and the sebene, without a dominant brass section. Initially conceived as a collective of young musicians, Zaïko Langa Langa imposed in the 1970s an urban aesthetic linked to Kinshasa youth and popularized the cavacha rhythm, associated with drummer Meridjo Belobi, before integrating in the early 1980s the formula with atalaku, which became common in Congolese music. The group’s trajectory is also marked by numerous departures and recompositions, with singers and musicians such as Papa Wemba, Félix Manuaku Waku, Bozi Boziana and Bimi Ombale passing through, and from 1981 leadership became concentrated around Jossart N’Yoka Longo. The discography notably includes Non Stop Dancing (1974), Zekete Zekete 2e Épisode (1983), Nippon Banzai (1986), Ici Ça Va... Fungola Motema (1990), Avis de Recherche (1995) and Sève (2019). Present in Kinshasa, Central Africa, Europe and Congolese diasporas, Zaïko Langa Langa develops a fast, danceable, choral rumba at the crossroads of soukous and ndombolo.