Jimmy Omonga is a singer and songwriter from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. With his debut album "Destin" (2008), he became within a few months one of Congo's new popular singers, known for his characteristic and unique voice; clear and ringing in its upper reaches, with soulful low notes.

Biography

Omongo was born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

. He began to perform when he was 14. A notable feature in Congo culture is it has blended its ethnic musical sources with

Cuban Cuban or Cubans may refer to: Related to Cuba * of or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban Americ ...

rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...

and merengue to give birth to

soukous Soukous (from French '' secousse'', "shock, jolt, jerk") is a genre of dance music originating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and the Republic of the Congo (formerly French Congo). It derived from Congolese rumba in ...

. Some of the music Omonga is a direct derivative, but blended with other African styles he picked up while touring in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and South Africa. On his arrival in South Africa in 1998, Omonga joined the Brothers Band (the later Afro Fiesta) as singer and percussionist with his longtime friends Mermans Mosengo on bass, Papy (Felix Garemua) Lilawu joining as lead guitarist, Junior Kisangwa, drum, percussion & backing vocal and Christian Eboko on rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing vocal. The band soon became a draw card at various venues around

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, including Mama Afrika, Chapman's Peak Hotel, Kennedy's Cigar Lounge, Africa Junction, Marco's African Restaurant . Omonga sings mostly about love. He sings in many languages (French, English, Italian and

Lingala Lingala (or Ngala, Lingala: ) is a Bantu languages, Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser de ...

). The new millennium brought changes as Jimmy did his first European gigs as a singer-songwriter, no longer as Jibriel but Jimmy Omonga. Omonga's big break in

African popular music African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop, Afro pop or African pop) can be defined as any African music, regardless of genre, that uses Western pop musical instruments, such as the guitar, piano, trumpet, etc.Olabode, O. (2023, J ...

came when two of his songs were released at a

Womex WOMEX (short for Worldwide Music Expo) is an international world music support and development project based in Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany ...

sampler-CD in 2007. Before his debut album "Destin" was released in 2008 (UK distribution

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is a record label that specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group, which is itself owned by Universal M ...

) Omonga won the Music of the World Award in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. The Award Ceremony was transmitted by UPC to the Amsterdam A1 channel and the Amsterdam TV Foundation Salto for providing a live-stream of the show, so the event was seen live in over 200 countries on New Years Day 2008. A record of over 57.000 votes were cast online by music fans from across the globe. MokumTV's Music of the World Awards unveiled Jimmy Omonga as the best of that year in Worldmusic. In 2007, Omonga traveled to South Africa, where he, together with Junior Kisangwa, recorded his debut album ''Destin''.

Awards and recognition

* 2008 – Music of the World Award (Victoires de la musique mondial) as "Best Newcomer" * 2008 – Nominated for the

Edison Award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...

* 2009 – First Congolese singer to tour Mexico (13–19 April)

Discography

* 2007 – Hippo Records

Sampler * 2008 – Destin

External links

Official site

Kumani fansite in Dutch

Afro-Fiesta, former Brothers Band of Jimmy Omonga
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omonga, Jimmy 1976 births Living people Musicians from Kinshasa 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo male singers Democratic Republic of the Congo songwriters Democratic Republic of the Congo guitarists French-language singers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo