1960-2020. Sixty years on from their hard-fought independence, the Congolese – much like other citizens of respective African countries – were revisiting their history. Amongst them were the artists, who chose to explore their reflection through music. Let’s take a closer look at what the songs of Jupiter and Baloji’s have to teach us today.

On June 30th, 1960, the entire population of the Congo, and in particular its capital Lépoldville, danced “the independence cha-cha”. But menacing clouds would soon darken the Congolese skies. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba would come to pay the price for his actions. His name remains forged in people’s memories, and in the songs that tell his tragic story.

In our last episode, PAM visited a post-war Congo-Leopoldville (currently DRC), at a time when new sounds and ideas began to form. These would, in time, lead the country to independence, on June 30th, 1960. Naturally, music played a key role.

Running through June 30, PAM invites you to discover a new episode each weekly in our series dedicated to the Independence of present day DRC and the musical power of Rumba.

In the first episode of our series dedicated to the soundtrack of independence from Congo (DRC), PAM reflects on the influence of Afro-Cuban music that the first great Congolese orchestras began to imitate, before they broke free to create their own sound: “Congolese rumba”.