- Kokoko!, with electronic producer Debruit once again at the helm of this youthful journey, have charged still further ahead. Fongola has reached the anarchic destination their EP Liboso of last year had promised. To get there, it was recorded in Brussels and Kinshasa, in cobbled together studios built of ping pong tables and mattresses. The raspy vocals of Kokoko! – ‘the Lingwala devil’ – Makara Bianco lead this band, all ingenious creators of DYI, experimental musical instruments made in the Ngwaka neighbourhood of the DRC capital.
With the likes of Congolese artists Baloji, the Kasai All Stars and Konono No 1 having paved the way, Kokoko! have, in turn, become renowned for their aural lo-fi vibe and frenetically distorted rhythms, resulting in their very own magical but urban aesthetic. Azo Toke and L.O.V.E are the only cuts included on Fongola from their EP release of last year. You may also have heard Malembe (meaning slowly, as in beat me up slowly) and Buka Dansa (dance till it breaks), two cuts already dished out in advance from the album.
The band's work allows them to speak out and express the frustrations of today in what, given the Congo's mineral wealth, should be one of the richest countries in the world. These adventures further delve into the chaotic soundtrack of Kinshasa, Africa’s third most populous city. It's a teeming metropolis, brutalised by the economic irony which grips the nation. With the world's greed for the Congo's giant Coltane & Kobalt deposits -essential in producing the mobile phones we're all addicted to- the Congolese people cannot escape the simple, tragic facts of their country’s potential wealth and continued suffering.
Likolo starts out this adventure with a notable lack of guitars and drum kits, an absence that has become the signature of these idiosyncratic, electronic-heavy grooves, much loved on the streets of Kinshasa. Tongos’a is a nod to the perennial and languid strains of Makossa. It is the cut Indentite, however, more than any other, which is fomenting change on this release: pumping up the volume at block parties and demanding the people be heard and understood.
Fongola (which actually means The Key) breaks open the door a little further into the wild psychedelic world of Kokoko! That world is the antithesis of tradition and the band are clearing a pathway. As the title of their EP Liboso suggested it's “forward, straight ahead”. If the Congo can't work out how to free itself, at least the music can set the right example. There's only one way and that's onwards, for Kokoko!
- Rick Heritage.