 In the final hours of a March, 2002, stay in Kinshasa, Banning Eyre visited the home of the Congo's most popular singer today, Werra Son. Werra, known as "king of the forest," lives in the hills of Mbinza, surrounded by lush plant life, and looking out over a fantastic view of Kinshasa. This is what success looks like in Congolese music. Banning conducted this interview with Swiss journalist Arnauld Robert.
BANNING EYRE: Tell us a little a little about yourself. WERRA SON: I go by the name of Werra Son, "phenomenon," "King of the Forest." I was born on December 25, 1965. And I've been singing for 15 years. When I was young, I went to secondary school, then to university. I graduated in commercial science. I made an album, my first album, Solo La Bien (??), second solo album, Intervention Rapide, and third solo album, Kibuisa Mpimpa. I've played in the great halls of Europe. In Paris, I've played Bercy and Palais du Sport. In Brussels, I've played Madeleine. I've toured in America. I've played in New York. I've played in Canada, in Montreal and Toronto. And I've played all over Africa. This year, I was chosen as the Best African Male Artist.
BE: Congratulations on that. That was at the Kora awards, right? WERRA: Yes, Kora. I earned two prizes there, Best Central African Artist, and Best Male Artist for all of Africa.
BE: That's fantastic. What year was that first solo album? WERRA: Well, you know, I was together with my brothers. We were separated, and the others went about their own careers. We were Wenge Musica, Wenge Music "Bon Chic, Beau Genre" BCBG. I was together with my colleagues, my brothers. But now we are no longer together. They have left to make their careers elsewhere. And I stayed with a few musicians. I found some other musicians and I started again from zero. I made an album, Intervention Rapide [in 1998]. I toured in Africa. When I traveled to Europe. I made an album Solo La Bien. Two albums later, I've made a new album with the name Kibuisa Mpimpa. It was through this album that I participated in the Kora Awards in South Africa, and was named best African artist.
BE: During this visit, we've been able to experience many generations of Congolese music, from Wendo in the 1950s, to Simaro and the OK Jazz era, and up to today's music, which I've heard called dombolo. Talk about where you fit into this progression. WERRA: Dombolo is not the rhythm. It's the dance. Everyone dances this, so when we release something, everyone takes pleasure. The fans enjoy by dancing. But now, it's no longer dombolo. It's koyimbiko. It's the dance. It's not the music. Dombolo is already over. Now it's koyimbiko. But the rhythm stays the same.
BE: Okay, but talking about the music, what is unique to the generation of artists you belong to?
WERRA: This is our epoch. We have a rhythm that everyone likes. We've given something new in our music. There are generations and generations. There is the second generation, the third generation. We are the fourth generation. With us, there's been a change in the mentality, and the look, the competition for loyalty. There are love songs, educative songs…
BE: Let's talk about an educative song. WERRA: They are there. We sing for the children. You can listen to "Treize Ans." That's a song for the children. There's a song for peace, "Croix Rouge." We are there to educate the masses. We are there to serve our fans.
BE: Talk about the album that won you the Kora award. WERRA: Solo La Bien is the title of the album. It says that people must have dialogue. We need to be in the habit of talking. If there's a problem in the family, to find the problem, there has to be dialogue. People have to sit around a table to look for a problem. No matter what is wrong, if you talk, you can fix it. In this country now, there is an inter-Congolese dialogue. You see? This dialogue must happen. People need to sit around the table and talk to find a solution to end the problems in our country. That was the idea of the album. I call on everyone to make their dialogue calm and peaceful, that there be no conflict and rancor and mashé mashé. People must understand this.
BE: During this visit, we've heard a lot about the competition between you and J.B. Mpiana. A lot of people seem concerned that this competition has gotten out of hand, and become too aggressive. What do you think about that? WERRA: Well, from my side, there is no problem. We are brothers. We have separated musically. Each of us runs his own life. I am here with my musicians. There was a party to launch our president, Joseph [Kabila], and he invited us both. We sang together. There was no problem. So there are people who don't know how to behave, but I think of him as a brother. There is nothing bad between us.
BE: So the problem is not between you and him, but between the fans. WERRA: That's normal. There is a competition of loyalty that exists. It's normal. Like the big teams we have here, like Vita and Imana [the two top football clubs, or soccer teams, in Kinshasa] When he is there, the fanatics don't listen. When there is competition, an any case, there are two different camps. But after the game they meet. They say hello. That's the way it is with us. The fanatics don't like each other. But we see each other frequently. We were together, and we are separated musically, but there's nothing bad between us. If we meet, we say hello. But competition is our job.
BE: But does there ever come a time when you feel you have to calm the fans because they become too aggressive? WERRA: It's very difficult to calm the fanatics. I don't know. It's not us who encourage the fans to be disorderly. It's their own need and desire. I can't really go in and say, "Hey, don't do that." But I do advise them not to do bad things. It's normal. It's normal.
BE: I've asked older people to compare this with the old competition between OK Jazz and African Jazz, and they've told me that this is different. It's much more tough. People are more angry. Maybe this is just a reflection of a different time in the country. What do you think? WERRA: This is our time. It's normal that people love us a lot. Jealousy is normal. Their time has passed now. This is our epoch and we are trying to stay on the page.
BE: Why do you think you won the Kora award. WERRA: The Kora is not a corruption. CNN was there. All the American networks were there. There were more than 150 journalists covering what happened at Kora. When you are there, you don't even know whether you will go out. If you win, they call you. "Come and receive your prize." Afterwards, people call and it's on the internet. The whole world knows. The thing is, before going to South Africa, I played all over Africa, in every country. I played Angola, Gabon, Zambia, Benin, Cameroon. Everywhere I went, the stadiums were full. To win the Kora award, I had to have the votes among the people who like me. This was not through corruption and favoritism. No. It was my fanatics who called me. As I said, I won two trophies. That's the first time an artist left with two trophies.
BE: It's extraordinary! Tell me, how many people in the group now? WERRA: Thirty-five artists: dancers, singers, saxophonists, drummers, guitarists…
BE: I'd love to see that!
WERRA: It's too bad. We have a concert on Saturday at Halle de la Gombe [The French Cultural Center].
BE: What about this title, King of the Forest? WERRA: King of the Forest because I love nature. We have to protect nature. Without the forest, there is no life. Without the forest, there is no life. We have to protect the forest.
ARNAULD ROBERT: If you had to name the musician in the history of Congolese music who essential for you, who would it be? WERRA: What can I say? Our music is a point of reference for all of Africa. Everywhere you go in Africa, in every corner of every country, there is our music playing in the bars, in the neighborhoods. Around here, you won't hear, for example, a record by Youssou N'Dour, but this is a great African artist! But if you go there, you will find records by Congolese artist, not just Werra. Many.
AR: But in the history of Congolese music who is the musician for you, Werra Son, the most important one? WERRA: He's still alive. It's Tabu Ley Rochereau. He's the one who inspired us. He went into the ghetto. He gave us the rhythms. He's a living monument for us. He's an elder. He's a father. He's a model. Tabu Ley Rochereau. And, in fact, Franco.
AR: Do you see yourself in the progression of these musicians? WERRA: We are already. In everything we do, we follow their example. The rhythms. We put a little more because everything evolves. But our references come from these elders. They made it so that we could be here today. From there, we have evolved things, rhythms, other instruments. The maracas, for example. It was Tabu Ley who introduced them into Congolese music. Also the synthesizer. Even the drums. It was thanks to him that we discovered these things.
AROne thing that really hit us seeing artists like Wendo is the fact that they are not really rich. The difference in this time is that artists like you, Kofi, and J.B. live in a manner that is very different from the population. How do you take that? How do you judge that? You live in a different universe than the population. Does that change the spirit of a musician?
WERRA: It's normal. The technology has changed in comparison to earlier epochs. We too have evolved. But if our older artists are living in misery, that's understandable, because our author's rights were not protected here. These elders lived from concerts, relationships. Their rights were not protected. If they had been well protected, they would not be in this condition. But now, we have understood that. Like me, when I went to Paris, I got my author's rights through SACEM. In these three years, I've had my rights, and they are protected around the world.
AR: Do you think a Congolese artist today can make it without some support from Europe? WERRA: Well…. In the end, now, I believe that can work now, because now our music is followed by everyone. We can go and play in big halls that even many European artists have never played. Not just anyone can play in Bercy. There are artists released by big European labels who have never played there. For me to play Bercy, it took three months of publicity. It was even on television. If you want to play in Paris in a big hall, you have to go on Canal Plus, and the big networks of Paris, so that everyone knows you are doing a big concert. I had 22,000 people. People were asking, "Who is this guy, Werra Son?" Because a lot of big European artists who have never filled that room.
AR: Why do you think it is that you almost never see the new generation of Congolese musicians on French television? WERRA: Well, you have to ask them why we are not considered. The day we are considered, I think that Europeans will be very happy. We want to go on television, because we play good music. Two years ago in Belgium, we did a concert for whites. We did an hour and stopped, but people didn't want to leave. They dance more than our brothers. That shows that our music is loved. If we would be on television, then people would know: "Here are these Congolese artists who come to us and go on television." That's what we hope for.
AW: When you play Bercy, isn't it mostly the African community who comes? WERRA: No. When we do a concert in Paris, it's 80% Parisians who come to see me.
AW: You don't feel like you're playing for a bit of a ghetto, made up mostly by the African community. WERRA: Me I don't find it a ghetto. It's just that people are not well informed. Werra Son: Kinshasa, 2002Interview by Banning Eyre Kinshasa, Congo,2002
Funding Partners:
Media Partners:
|
