Congolese Sapeurs and South African Smarteez

Over the past month or so I've been really taken up by two unique fashion sub-cultures in two very different African localities: the Sapeurs of both Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo (and the Congolese diaspora in France and Belgium) and the Smarteez of urban South Africa.

Sapeurs:
The word "Sapeur" comes from the acronym for the movement, SAPE, which stands for Societé des Ambianceurs et Personnes Élégantes (aka Kitendi-the religion/cult of the cloth). The term and acronym are also a play on the french verb "Se Saper," meaning "to dress." It is a culture of high fashion, with Sapeurs sporting suits and formal clothing in a style reminiscent of the 1930s with designer labels such as Armani, Gucci, and Versace.

La SAPE has been around for at least 25 years now and was popularized by the famous Congolese (DRC) musician Papa Wemba.  The fasion cult was created in response to Mobutu's "authenticity movement," which was an attempt to break from European colonial identities and create a more "African" Congo. As part of this "authenticity movement," Mobutu advocated the banal abacost uniform, a Zairian spin on the three-piece suit, as the official attire of the new Zaire (now DRC). Papa Wemba and other Sapeurs developed their style in opposition to this aspect of the "authenticity movement."

Here are a few pictures of Sapeurs:

For more information and pictures:

The Congolese Sape by Héctor Mediavilla
Colors: Paradise is a Fabulous Suit
SAPE by Francesco Giusti

the Smarteez:
I know considerably less about the Smarteez of South Africa. I can tell you that the style originated in Soweto, that it is much more of a youth sub-culture and has little to nothing to do with politics. There tends to be an emphasis on color and a lot of the ensembles are seemingly "random"-an eclectic mix of colors, accessories and styles.




For more information and pictures:

South Africa's "Harajuku" Kids
Mail & Guardian: The designer, the buyer and the irreverent edge
What a lot 'o style they've got: A close analysis of the Smarteez

Pitchfork and West Africa

Pitchfork recently published an article titled "Killin' the Game: New Music From West Africa," which discusses some of the music that has been coming out of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria. It's not the greatest article I've seen, but it's still worth checking out. There are a few technical problems with it: some of the songs don't seem to work, and at least one of the songs is mixed up (the song titled "Chupa Chups" by Ofori Amponsah is really just another copy of Praye's "Angelina"). Also, a couple of the songs are likely played out by now (for example, the song "Zies Dedjas" by Nash and the group P-Square were popular in Cameroon when I was there a year ago, I highly doubt you would hear them being played in bars and clubs today). Minor criticisms aside, it's a solid article and it's good to see some contemporary West African pop getting attention on a popular American music site like Pitchfork. Not to mention there are some pretty good songs on there (I really like "Zies Dedjas," "Yahooze," and the production on the song "Kosoaa" is ridiculously catchy).

Killin' the Game: New Music From West Africa

***Edit: Pretty much immediately after posting this article, I came across another article on Pitchfork. This one, titled "Africa 100: The Indestructible Beat," is simply outstanding. It acts as a sort of introduction to Afropop of all kinds from the 60s and 70s. In addition to giving you a brief history behind much of the music, the author directs readers to some of the best record labels and blogs to seek out if you want to find more music.

Africa 100: The Indestructible Beat

Good luck, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan

Nigeria's president, Umaru Yar'adua (top), has been in Saudi Arabia for over 3 months now, where he is being treated for a heart condition. So Nigeria has effectively been without a president for at least 79 days. Then on Tuesday, the National Assembly finally passed a resolution that put the country's vice president, Goodluck Jonathan (bottom), in charge as acting president. It's about time! Full story here: http://www.afronline.org/?p=3457#more-3457

Not music, but still interesting.

Talk given at the TED conference by the beautiful and brilliant author of Half of a Yellow Sun, The Thing Around Your Neck, and Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Adichie. She discusses what she calls "the danger of a single story."

Karibu Ya Bintou

I just wanted to share this great video I came across today. It's titled "Karibu Ya Bintou" ("Welcome to life in limbo"). The song is off the album "Kinshasa Succursale" by Baloji and features the incredible Konono N°1 on likembe (if you haven't heard of Konono N°1, I highly recommend you check them out-their album Congotronics is amazing). The video was shot in the streets of Kinshasa. Enjoy!

BALOJI feat. KONONO n1 - KARIBU YA BINTOU from BALOJI on Vimeo.

Kamba Benga

So it has certainly been a while since my last post. I have been a bit lazy (and busy), you'll have to forgive me.

Anyway, today's post is on the Kenyan style of music known as benga. More specifically, the benga made by the Akamba of south-central Kenya. But first, a little background on benga is appropriate. Benga is not actually a Kamba creation, it was originally developed by Luo musicians in the area around Lake Victoria in western Kenya sometime during the 60s. Before I go any further, here is a song by one of the pioneers of benga music, Daniel Owino Misiani (aka "the grandfather of benga") and his band, Shirati Jazz. He sings in Dholuo and Kiswahili. The song is called Piny Ose Mer.



It didn't take long for benga to catch on among other groups in Kenya and pretty soon benga was being produced by groups like the Kikuyu, Akamba, etc. I have had the most exposure to Kamba benga, so that will be the type of benga I present here. Most of the songs in this post are originally from the blog Likembe. Likembe is one of my favorite resources for all types of African music, I highly recommend that you check it out.

Peter Mwambi - Matatu

Peter Mwambi - Mueni

Peter Mwambi, Charles Mutiso, & Kyanganga Boys Band - Mwenyenyo

Peter Mwambi, Charles Mutiso, & Kyanganga Boys Band - Beatrice

The Kalambya Boys - Eka Nzasu

The Kalambya Boys - Mwendwa Losi

Finally, to give you an idea of another type of music popular in Kenya around the same time, here is a song by a band called Super Wanyika. They play a Kenyan style of rumba that is directly influenced by the Congolese style known as Soukous (see posts below for more on the relationship between Congo and Kenya). The two lead members of the band are actually Tanzanians and Super Wanyika is an offshoot of an earlier project of theirs called Simba Wanyika, meaning "Lions of the Savannah" in Kiswahilli. Simba Wanyika and its two offshoots, Super Wanyika and Les Wanyika, were some of the most popular bands in Kenya in the late 70s and early 80s. They sang in Kiswahilli, a language understood and used by the vast majority of Kenyans. This made their music more accessible than most Kamba benga, which is usually in Kikamba, a language used only by the Akamba.

Super Wanyika - Nimesha-Kwambia

Coupé-Décalé!!!

I figured that this week I'd do a post on a more contemporary genre of music. Hopefully, some of you have heard of Coupé-Décalé, a type of popular dance music that is associated with Côte D'Ivoire, but that was actually invented in Paris. While I will admit that Coupé-Décalé can get a little repetitive, and some of the production is a bit tacky, it would be foolish of me not to include something about it on this blog.

Coupé-Décalé, which emerged around 2002, has exploded in popularity over the past few years and can be found all over Francophone Africa as well as in France. The term Coupé-Décalé means something along the lines of "cheat and run away" or "cut and run" in Ivoirian slang. It can be very over the top and the culture associated with it seems to me to be very materialistic. For example, you often see videos of musicians flashing designer everything (right down to Versace underwear) and driving expensive cars. Many of the original Coupé-Décalé musicians returned to Abidjan and became known for doing things like handing out cash to people in the clubs where they performed. There was a certain emphasis on the idea that these musicians were cheating Europeans out of their cash by accumulating wealth in Europe and bringing it back to Côte D'Ivoire.

Here is the music video for the song "Sagacité" by Douk Saga, one of the creators of Coupé-Décalé. I think it gives you a good sense of the kind of materialism I was talking about.


Also, here is an example of the kind of dancing associated with Coupé-Décalé:



Finally, here are two songs that I have grown to love:

Kedjevara - Tchoucou Tchoucou

Dj Mix 1er & Eloh DJ - Bobaraba


***Edit: I recently got the opportunity to watch Sembene's "La Noire de..." and Mambety's "Touki-Bouki" over again and as I was doing so, I realized something. I have been very critical of Coupé-Décalé for its inherent materialism, but perhaps I have been a bit unfair and, in a way, hypocritical. As I mentioned above, there is this reoccurring theme within the world of Coupé-Décalé of making it big in Europe and then going back to Côte d'Ivoire and parading new-found wealth around. In the past, I have been tremendously dismissive of this, writing it off as a kind of tasteless show-boating. Yet, in watching these two films over again I realized this same exact theme exists in so much of the West African cinema that I deeply respect and cherish. In this context, I have never thought of the desire to escape to Europe, get rich and then return home to show off and spread that wealth as tasteless. Instead, I have considered that very theme to be an integral part of what makes these films such brilliant social commentaries. So maybe I should be more careful in my analysis and opinions of this aspect of the culture of Coupé-Décalé. On the other hand, the fact that this theme is used by directors such as Ousmane Sembene and Djibril Diop Mambety to drive a point home makes a huge difference.