Jabulani Library

FRANCO: GWIJI ASIYESAHULIKA (MIAKA 36 TANGU KIFO CHAKE)

October 12, 2025 - 03:49 AM Habari za kifo chake zilisambaratisha. Zilikuwa za ghafla mno kwa nchi kuelewa, zenye maumivu makali mno kwa mashabiki wake kuishi na, na pengo kubwa mno kujazwa. Yote yalitokea Asubuhi ya Ijumaa, Oktoba 12, 1989, na kuitikisa Kinshasa. Ingawa tetesi za hali yake mbaya ya afya zilisambaa kama upepo mkali Kinshasa kwa miezi miwili, hakuna mtu aliyeamini kweli atakufa au alijiandaa kwa hilo. Kwa zaidi ya miongo mitatu, Luambo Luanzo Makiadi alikuwa amekuwa mtu wa kipekee nchini, aliyeheshimiwa kiasi kwamba alionekana kutokufa. Bendi yake, OK Jazz, ilikuwa imekuwa chapa kubwa zaidi nchini kutokana na hadhi yake ya kipekee. Yule mvulana mdogo kutoka Sona Bata, ambaye alipiga chombo chake cha......

THE DAY KINSHASA WEPT, FOR THE DEATH OF FRANCO

October 12, 2025 - 02:44 AM News of his death was devastating. Too sudden for the country to comprehend, too painful for his fans to live with, and a void too big to fill. It all came on a Friday morning, October 12, 1989, and it shook Kinshasa. Although gossip about his ill health had circulated like a stubborn whirlwind around Kinshasa for two months, nobody really thought he’d die or was prepared for that. For over three decades, Luambo Luanzo Makiadi had become a mystical figure in the country, so revered that he seemed immortal. His band, OK Jazz, had become the country’s biggest brand due to its iconic status. The once little boy from Sona Bata, who strummed his self-made three-string instrument to......

FRANCO'S GOLDEN HITS

October 11, 2025 - 04:14 AM Franco's 36th Anniversary: 20 Golden Hits Curated by Planet Ilunga As the aphorism reminds us, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating," and when it comes to assessing the genius of Franco Luambo Makiadi, nothing illustrates his depth and talent more effectively than listening to his music. To properly celebrate his legacy, Planet Ilunga has selected 20 O.K. Jazz songs recorded between 1957 and 1977, taken from the five compilation LPs that Planet Ilunga has dedicated to O.K. Jazz.Most of the selected tracks are Franco’s own compositions, which portray him not just as Congo’s biggest artist but as a profound portraitist of Congolese society. Since 2013, Planet Ilunga has......

WHAT IS RUMBA?

October 02, 2025 - 04:39 PM Generally, music is made to be enjoyed—that is, listened to and danced to. Nonetheless, the urge to understand it better has often led to the classification of music into genres and other clusters. That’s why the issue of genre oftentimes escapes even the musicians themselves, and on some other occasions, discussants can't agree on which genre a song belongs to. Even the parameters that define these genres are also contested at times. These very parameters may also vary from genre to genre. For example, reggae as a genre is identified by the dominance of the rhythm guitar and the manner in which it is strummed, the predominant theme of resistance, and the near-religious......

SAMBA MAPANGALA: FROM CONGO TO THE WORLD

September 25, 2025 - 08:48 PM "Samba is easily the greatest of all Congolese musicians ever to set base in Nairobi," opines Jacob Owiyo, a football coach and music fan from Nairobi. He goes ahead to expound on the factors that make him come to that conclusion, beginning with Samba’s natural singing voice. Apart from being a vocalist, Jacob, who first met Samba in Mombasa in 1977, says Samba mostly composed songs themed on subjects that resonated with society, making his songs everyone’s favourite. That’s not all. He explains that Samba did several of his songs in Kiswahili, and this endeared him to Kenyans more than other musicians who mostly sang in Lingala, because the language created a barrier.......

DJO DJO IKOMO DIES IN KINSHASA SHORTLY AFTER REUNITING WITH HIS KENYAN DAUGHTER

September 22, 2025 - 03:25 AM The rumba flag is flying at half-mast once again, following the demise of Congolese musician Djo Djo Ikomo in Kinshasa after a long battle with illness. News of his passing was first made public by Mfumu Kimbangu of KBC Radio in Nairobi. Djo Djo Ikomo, also known as Ikomo Ingange, was a phenomenal composer and singer from the early 1970s, an era defined by some pundits as the genre’s most productive. Born in Mbandaka in 1952, Djo Djo debuted with Orchestre Tabou Nationale in 1970 before joining Orchestre Vévé. There, he became part of the band’s formidable singing line-up alongside Pascal Mangwana, Ramazani Nkalu-luaka, Tusevo Nejos, and the late Pepito, shortly......

BON SAMARITAN LINGALA LYRICS WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION

September 19, 2025 - 03:00 PM Artist: Papa Noel Music: Bon Samaritain (Good Samaritan) 1) Ba lobelaka moto likambo mbala mokoAyeba likambo azali ko sala ehBa lobelaka moto likambo mbala mokoAyeba likambo azali ko sala ehBa pekisaka moto likambo na tina ehSoki aboyi, botika ye ameka nzotoBa pekisaka moto likambo na tina ehSoki aboyi botika ye ameka nzoto eh1) You can only advise somebody onceSo that he can be aware of what he is doingYou can only advise somebody onceSo that he can be aware of what he is doingYou can only advise somebody if you have a causeIf he doesn’t care, let him face consequencesYou can only advise somebody if you have a causeIf he doesn’t care, let him face consequences2) Ba lobelaka......

SUZANNA OWIYO’S JOURNEY TO THE TOP

September 17, 2025 - 03:35 AM "Kisumu 100," a song by Suzanna Owiyo, was all the organizers of the Kisumu centenary celebrations needed. The song summed up the story of the city in a brief but conclusive narration. The fusion of traditional Luo beats, which are dominant in the region, with touches of modernity, capped it off well. This song tells the history of a city that began as an arena for barter trade, or "Sumo," where communities exchanged the goods they produced for those from their neighbors. It wasn’t until the railway arrived that the traditional sounds which defined the area began to disappear, gradually giving way to modern influences. "Ndege aidho tera Winam yeeh Aidho gari tera Wigot Mtoka aidho......

M'BILIA BEL INJURED IN ROAD ACCIDENT

September 10, 2025 - 02:32 AM Congolese songbird Mbilia Bel, born Marie Claire Mboyo, was involved in a road accident early in the morning of September 9, 2025, on her way to N’djili International Airport, alongside her promoter, Jules Nsana. Both sustained injuries and were rushed to a hospital in Kinshasa for treatment. Their conditions were later described as stable, with Mbilia suffering injuries to her head and legs. A family member was quoted as saying, “Mbilia was unharmed, but hospitalized for precautionary medical observation.” Nsana also sustained injuries and is being treated at an undisclosed hospital in Kinshasa. The Agence Congolaise de Presse (ACP), the country’s official news......

IS BENGA ON ITS WAY TO EXTINCTION?

September 08, 2025 - 05:36 PM Just as Christianity was born in the Middle East, adopted by Europeans who nurtured it, and finally domesticated in Africa, benga was born in Nyanza, popularized across the whole country, and later domesticated by the Kamba. If one were to sample the best benga songs recorded in the last decade, there would be very little, if anything, from the genre's ancestral home in Nyanza. It's Kamba musicians who've, over time, remained faithful to this music, which has also been identified as the most predominant beat in Kenya, especially after the decline of twist. Is benga on its way to extinction? This is a reality that should worry music enthusiasts and stakeholders. Nyanza was the......