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Papa Wemba is back
A Changed Man
Paris
24/10/2003 -
RFI Musique: One of the nicknames you’ve acquired in the course of your career is "Foridole" (maker of idols). Is your new album intended as a personal statement or a springboard for tomorrow’s idols?
Papa Wemba: Somo Trop is the album by my group, Nouvelle Ecrita, which was originally intended for release in March. But given all the problems I’ve had lately the recording sessions got delayed. I wanted the new album to make as big an impact as possible so I really invested myself in it and tried to give it my signature touch. The new album’s a double CD featuring 17 tracks, some of which were recorded in Kinshasa without me – as I’m still not allowed to leave France – and the rest were recorded here in Paris.
As for the title, it's an expression in Lingala. When something overwhelming happens to us where I come from you say "somo trop" – which basically means "it’s beyond me." And I can honestly say the things that have happened to me lately are well and truly beyond me!
There’s a song on your last album, Bakala Dia Kuba, which in retrospect seems to have been a bit premonitory. You sing about having to protect this tribe so no evil befalls them…
You know, four years ago I was invited to play at Fleury-Mérogis prison for the "Fête de la musique" to try and brighten up the inmates’ lives. And then a few months ago I ended up becoming an inmate of the prison myself. I spent three months and three weeks there. So you see a pleasurable act can bring misfortune in its wake… When I went along to play that concert in prison I had no idea what lay in store for me. I just thought I was doing a good deed, you know, doing my job. I never imagined for one moment that a few years down the track I’d end up as an inmate there and find myself singing in the prison church on Sundays.
You wrote one of the songs on your new album, Numéro d’écrou (Under Lock and Key). Is this an autobiographical account of your time in jail?
I don’t actually talk about my prison experience as such. Numéro d’écrou is about my encounter with Jesus. I was sitting in my cell one day and I heard this voice saying, "Papa Wemba, you have to become my slave." I heard Jesus’s voice telling me this and I accepted his order. Prison really affected me on a spiritual level, you know. When my kids came to see me in prison they found a totally changed man. I kept talking to them about spiritual stuff. Everything I said to them sprang from my faith. And when I got out of prison the first house I visited was the House of the Lord. I went straight to the cathedral in Evry and stayed there forty minutes praying my thanks to the Lord.
Talking of faith, religious songs are very important in African culture, aren’t they? Why do you think this is?
I think Africans have a better understanding of what faith is than their Western counterparts because they’ve suffered more in life. Africans have suffered years of injustice, slavery and independence and the scars are still there in their souls. That’s why Africans are closer to their faith. They listen to it and live it on a daily basis. But people who live in the West live in much more comfortable conditions. They’ve got practically everything at their fingertips. Kids can rely on their parents to give them a helping hand and they’ve always got a bit of money behind them. There’s a lot less suffering here than there is in Africa. Where I come from women give birth alone in their huts without any assistance from midwives or doctors. And at the end of the day that’s why Africans are more likely to believe in God.
Despite having become a follower of Jesus you still appear to be a dedicated follower of fashion. You’re still a committed sapeur!
Yes, I am. That’s something I can’t change. You have to make certain choices in life and that’s a choice I’ve made forever!
Did you get a lot of support from people in your home village of Molokaï during your time in prison?
My manager was especially supportive. He wrote to me all the time. And my keyboard-player, Patrick Bebey (son of the late Francis Bebey) was really there for me too. I got really depressed if I was sitting in my cell between 5 and 5.30 and I didn’t have any mail. When you’re locked up in prison and you get a letter it allows you to escape for a few moments in your head. You’re transported somewhere else while you’re reading it. Daily contact with the outside world is really important when you’re inside.
Is your concert at Le Zénith tomorrow night intended as a sort of reunion with your fans?
I’d say it’s a reunion, but a reunion with an added dimension because Jesus is involved this time. My concert on Saturday will be different from anything I’ve done in the past 33 years. It’s going to be the start of another career, a career with Jesus. My message will have a strong Biblical slant this time.
Can fans expect a more personal, "world" album from you at some point?
Yes, they certainly can. I’ve been talking with my manager Fabien Tellier and I’ve decided to stick my neck out and take a few risks like I did on the album Emotion with Lokua Kanza. I’m someone who likes taking risks. If all goes according to plan the album should come out some time next year.
Somo Trop (Next Music)
Papa Wemba is in concert at Le Zénith, Paris (25 October, 6pm - midnight).
*The singer was accused of having been involved in smuggling hundreds of illegal immigrants from The Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) into Europe
Pierre René-Worms
Translation : Julie Street
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