EMPIRE BAKUBA

EMPIRE BAKUBA

EMPIRE BAKUBA IS AN INFLUENTIAL SOUKOUS BAND THAT FORMED IN ZAIRE (NOW DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO) IN 1972. THE NAME OF THE BAND REFERS TO THE BAKUBA KINGDOM; IT IS SOMETIMES REPORTED AS EMPIRE BAKUBA DU GRAND KALLE, IN HONOR OF GRAND KALLE, THE "FATHER OF CONGOLESE MUSIC", WHO WAS ALSO BANDLEADER PEPE KALLE'S MENTOR. THE BAND HAS NEVER FORMALLY DISBANDED, ALTHOUGH ITS ACTIVITY HAS BEEN SCARCE SINCE PEPE KALLE'S DEATH (IN 1998).

CORE MEMBERS OF THE GROUP INCLUDE SINGERS PEPE KALLE, "PAPY TEX" MATOLU DODE AND DILU DILUMONA, GUITARISTS "BOEING 737" KINANGA NANZAO AND "DORIS" EBUYA LANGE AND THE DANCER "EMORO" TUMBA AYILA.^[1]

EMPIRE BAKUBA WAS FOUNDED IN 1972 BY PEPE KALLE, PAPY TEX AND DILU DILUMONA, WHO WERE ALL AT THE TIME MEMBERS OF LIPUA LIPUA AND HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN PART OF NEIGHBOURHOOD BAND AFRICAN CHOC.^[1] THEY QUICKLY ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES AS ONE OF THE LEADING YOUTH BANDS OF KINSHASA, BECOMING A CONSTANT PRESENCE IN THE CONGOLESE CHARTS^[2] AND A MAJOR PART OF THE SOUKOUS SCENE IN THE 1970S AND 1980S.

COMPARED TO THAT OF OTHER POPULAR SOUKOUS BANDS OF THE TIME, SUCH AS ZAIKO LANGA LANGA, EMPIRE BAKUBA'S SOUND WAS CHARACTERIZED BY THE STRONG INFLUENCE OF CONGOLESE TRADITIONAL AND TRIBAL MUSIC.^[3] THIS ALSO REFLECTS IN THE KWASSA KWASSA, A DANCE STYLE THAT WAS POPULARIZED BY EMPIRE BAKUBA AND LATER ADOPTED BY SEVERAL OTHER CONGOLESE ACTS, MOST NOTABLY KANDA BONGO MAN AND KOFFI OLOMIDE. EMPIRE BAKUBA'S LIVE PERFORMANCES WERE HIGHLY SCENOGRAPHIC, WITH FRONTMAN PEPE KALLE, WHO WAS SIX FEET TALL AND WEIGHING 300 POUNDS,^[3] ACCOMPANIED BY DWARF DANCER EMORO.

IN 1992 THE BAND HAD TO FACE EMORO'S SUDDEN DEATH. BY THIS TIME, THE APEX OF EMPIRE BAKUBA'S SUCCESS HAD PASSED, YET THE GROUP REMAINED QUITE POPULAR. EMORO WAS REPLACED BY THREE PYGMY DANCERS AND EMPIRE'S LIVE PERFORMANCES BECAME EVEN MORE SIMILAR TO CIRCUS SHOWS.^[3] WHEN PEPE KALLE DIED IN 1998, AND HIS DEATH WAS FOLLOWED BY A SERIOUS CAR ACCIDENT INVOLVING PAPY TEX. FOR A WHILE, EMPIRE BAKUBA WAS CONSIDERED BY THE MEDIA TO HAVE CEASED TO EXIST. BY 1999, NEVERTHELESS, PAPY TEX HAD RECOVERED AND BECOME THE NEW LEADER OF THE BAND, WHICH RELEASED A FEW MORE ALBUMS. PAPY TEX IS STILL WITH EMPIRE BAKUBA, ALTHOUGH THE BAND HAS NOT BEEN VERY ACTIVE IN RECENT YEARS.^[4]