Album review

Papa Wemba

A Well-Informed Man

Paris 

28/12/2001 - 

Papa Wemba, the "Kasaï Nightingale" has just turned 52, but his career is going stronger than ever. Indeed, the Godfather of Congolese rumba has just released a new album, Bakala Dia Kuba (which not only features an impressive list of guest stars but also brings together the various styles he has played in the course of his 30-year career). RFI/Musique met up with the snappy dresser responsible for launching the S.A.P.E. movement in the early 80s, before his mega-concert at Bercy Stadium in Paris on New Year's Eve.

Papa Wemba, your new album is called Bakala Dia Kuba, which, in English, means "Well-Informed Man". Would you say the title reflects your current state of mind in any way?
It's true that I wanted to put something of myself across in the album title. The thing is, I've come to feel responsible for my 'clan' out there. I feel like I've got a whole tribe of followers behind me and I have to sort of keep an eye on them, you know, make sure they don't go off the rails and end up on the wrong side of the tracks. If you take a look at the album cover you'll see there's just an image of my eyes. Eyes are precious things for human beings, you know, the human stare is charged with an incredible power. I think my eyes on the album cover convey a sense of soul and melancholy - because that's very much part of my personality. But there's also another idea going on there and that's about staying vigilant and aware. There's a sense that my eyes can see miles into the distance - and that's something else I feel very strongly about my personality.

After a career spanning more than 30 years and a whole string of successful album, should we see Bakala Dia Kuba as a sort of 'personal assessment' of your career?
No, I don't see it in those terms. I wouldn't refer to Bakala Dia Kuba as an album that sums up my career - because it's certainly not the last album I intend to make! I think Bakala Dia Kuba is more a case of taking a step back and looking where I'm at. Before I started work on this album I sat down and listened to a lot of my old albums - and, in particular, all the records I've made since settling in France 15 years ago now. The thing is, I've always been involved in playing several different musical styles at the same time. And basically the idea with the new album was to bring all those different musical styles together on one CD. If you listen to the new album, you'll find there's a bit of everything going on. There are songs which experiment with soul influences and soukouss. But others are recorded in a more Latin-style - and a couple of tracks are pure Congolese rumba from Kinshasa!

Your music has always been very dance-oriented, but whatever style you play in your lyrics always play a major role too. Apart from the obvious role call of thanks at the beginning of several tracks, what are the main themes you tackle on your new album?
Well, I'd say I'm concerned about a lot of different issues, like intolerance and ignorance, for example. Another message I'm keen to get across is the importance of love and friendship in life - love and friendship are absolutely essential if you want to see any kind of peace on earth! I'm also into the idea of teaching the younger generation to respect their elders. We all know a child is supposed to obey his parents but it's important that young people should listen to their grandparents as well, even if they weren't directly responsible for bringing him into the world. I didn't forget to mention my parents or my sons in my songs either!

You invited quite a few famous compatriots to guest on your new album - like Ray Lema and Lokua Kanza, for example. Why did you decide to work with guest stars? Did you feel Papa Wemba wasn't enough in his own right?
You know, I still see myself as an artist who's 'stuck in the tunnel'. I don't feel I've come out the other side yet! The main reason I invited people like Ray and Lokua to work on my new album is because I feel they really know the music. Ray was born into the Congolese music tradition and he grew up steeped in the music. Even though he's never played rumba on his own albums, he possesses a complete mastery of it. I feel incredibly honoured that Ray accepted my invitation and came into the studio to work with me because he not only brought his art and his musical skills, but his soul too!
As for Lokua Kanza, he's someone I have a lot of respect for. He's got the same kind of musical "baggage" as Ray and he's really established himself as a brilliant solo artist over the last few years. There are other guests on my album, too, people like Suzy Kasseya, for example. Suzy is another of the absolute greats in my opinion. In the 70s and 80s he was known in the music business as the One-Man Hit Machine. I feel that all the artists who guested on my album really gave the best of themselves - and I won out at the end of the day because I got to lord it over everyone! (Laughs).

You're known as the "Kasaï Nightingale" because of your distinctive high voice. I know that your mother played a major role in helping you develop your singing talent. What did she do exactly?
Well, my father didn't want me to take up a singing career, because I was his first-born son. He would have preferred me to become a doctor or a lawyer, you know... He'd have liked me to have a 'proper' job and be a 'real' person in society. In his eyes, singing just wasn't a real profession. After my father died there was just me and my mother left - she brought me up on her own with no help from anyone. My mother earned her living as a professional mourner. She used to go round singing at wakes and funerals. I remember hearing her perform under the night stars and singing right through until dawn. I was very close to her, actually, and she used t take me with her wherever she went. So I grew up with the sound of this haunting, melancholy music in my ears. My mother wasn't just my first teacher, either. She was my first audience too. She was always there encouraging me when I was practising my scales and trying my voice out loud. I remember when I arrived in France in 1986 I wanted to take professional singing lessons. But Ray Lema advised me against it. He turned round and told me that there was nothing a professional singing teacher could teach me! That gave me a lot of confidence in myself, hearing that from someone older who I respected. In fact, from that moment on, I decided to make my voice an instrument in its own right.

At one stage in your career you were signed to Peter Gabriel's Real World label. I know you're not with the label any more, but what would you say you got out of working with a pop star like Gabriel?
Well, frankly, I'd say what Peter Gabriel did for me was to introduce my music to a new audience - to rock fans around the world. Going on an international tour with Peter meant I broke through on the rock scene and my music went down really well, in fact. It was at that point that I understood that Anglo-Saxon music is the real reference in life, you know. It really rules the music world. And if you want to be considered as a modern artist you've got to get out there and reach that audience - because that audience is just so vast. Having said that, however, I never abandoned my African fans. I remained true to them and to my roots with my "Viva la Musica" orchestra. It was almost as if I were pursuing two totally different careers at the same time, in fact.

Talking of Africa, I know you go back to the Democratic Republic of Congo from time to time. What's the music scene like in Kinshasa right now after the recent troubles in your homeland?
Yes, it's true that when I don't have any particular commitments in Paris I jump on a plane and go back to Congo for a month or a few weeks. It does me good, you know, because I have to admit I do really miss my homeland. As for what's going on in Kin right now, I wouldn't say they're exactly living it up on every street corner right now. But the men and women who live in Kinshasa have a wonderful capacity for rising above it all, you know. They don't give a damn about what's happening on the political front! They go out and party whatever's happening. They love their town and they love their music - and nobody can take that away from them. Things are certainly never dull out there, I can tell you!

What happened to the S.A.P.E. - the "Société des ambianceurs et personnes élégantes" - the music and fashion movement you launched back in the early 80s?
Well, more than 20 years on, all I can say is the S.A.P.E. is nothing more than a name now. The thing is, we've all grown older and moved on in life now. We're all mature, responsible people these days. We've got children, and some of us, even grandchildren of our own... Times have changed and we've got different concerns. I'd say we still like to dress stylishly, but the attitude's not the same as it was. The S.A.P.E. has left its mark on the younger generation, though. You still find "sapeurs" in night-clubs in Africa these days, even if they are a lot younger now. They're all there strutting around dressed up to the nines - boys as well as girls!

You're about to perform extracts from your new album at Bercy stadium, one of the biggest music venues in Paris. Do you see this as one of the greatest challenges in your career to date?
Well, singing in front of 17,000 people is obviously a big deal. But I honestly wouldn't say I'm stressed or worried about it at all. The way I see it, the "Palais omnisports" at Bercy is a venue like any other. And I've performed in venues a lot bigger than Bercy in the course of my world tours. I've played at festivals where there were audiences of 25,000 - and sometimes up to 30,000 even! So I can't say I'm scared about the idea of performing at Bercy. The only venue which has ever overwhelmed me is the Olympia, in fact. But I'm not stressed about playing at Bercy at all. I'm confident my voice will reach out and touch the audience, no matter how many of them there are. And that's what it's all about, after all!

Papa Wemba Bakala Dia Kuba (Next Music/Sono) 2001

Daniel  Lieuze

Translation : Julie  Street