Tabu Ley Rochereau
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Pascal-Emmanuel Sinamoyi Tabu (13 November 1940 – 30 November 2013), better known as Tabu Ley Rochereau, was a Congolese rumba singer and musician. He was the leader of ''Orchestre Afrisa International'', as well as one of Africa's most influential
vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
s and prolific
songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...
s. Along with guitarist Dr Nico Kasanda, Tabu Ley pioneered soukous (African rumba) and internationalised his music by fusing elements of Congolese folk music with
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
n,
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and
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n rumba. He has been described as "the Congolese personality who, along with
Mobutu Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga ( ; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997), often shortened to Mobutu Sese Seko or Mobutu and also known by his initials MSS, was a Congolese politician and military officer ...
, marked Africa's 20th century history", and was also dubbed "the African Elvis" by the ''
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''. After the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko's regime in 1997, Tabu Ley also pursued a political career. His musical career ran parallel to the other great Congolese rhumba bandleader and rival
Franco Luambo Makiadi François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi (6 July 1938 – 12 October 1989) was a Congolese singer, guitarist, songwriter, bandleader, and cultural revolutionary. He was a central figure in 20th-century Music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cong ...
who ran the band TPOK Jazz throughout the 1960s, 1970s and '80s. During his career, Tabu Ley composed up to 3,000 songs and produced 250 albums. In 2023, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' ranked him at number 178 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.


Biography


Early career

Pascal-Emmanuel Sinamoyi Tabu was born in Bagata, in the then
Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...
. His musical career took off in 1956 when he sang with Joseph "Le Grand Kallé" Kabasele, and his band L'African Jazz. After finishing high school he joined the band as a full-time musician. Tabu Ley sang in the pan-African hit '' Indépendance Cha Cha'' which was composed by Grand Kallé for Congolese independence from Belgium in 1960, propelling Tabu Ley to instant fame. He remained with African Jazz until 1963 when he and Dr Nico Kasanda formed their own group, African Fiesta. Two years later, Tabu Ley and Dr. Nico split and Tabu Ley formed African Fiesta National, also known as African Fiesta Flash. The group became one of the most successful bands in African history, recording African classics like '' Afrika Mokili Mobimba'', and surpassing record sales of one million copies by 1970. Papa Wemba and Sam Mangwana were among the many influential musicians that were part of the group. He adopted the stage name "Rochereau" after the French General Pierre Denfert-Rochereau, whose name he liked and whom he had studied in school.


Later career and exile

In 1970, Tabu Ley formed ''Orchestre Afrisa International'', Afrisa being a combination of Africa and Éditions Isa, his record label. Along with Franco Luambo's TPOK Jazz, Afrisa was now one of Africa's greatest bands. They recorded hits such as "Sorozo", "Kaful Mayay", "Aon Aon", and "Mose Konzo". They performed also at the Zaire 74 and therefore are in the documentary film Soul Power. In the mid 1980s Tabu Ley discovered a young talented singer and dancer, M'bilia Bel, who helped popularise his band further. M'bilia Bel became the first female soukous singer to gain acclaim throughout Africa. Tabu Ley and M'bilia Bel later married and had a daughter named Melody Tabu together. In 1988 Tabu Ley introduced another female vocalist known as Faya Tess, and M'bilia Bel left and continued to be successful on her own. After M'bilia Bel's departure, Afrisa's influence along with that of their rivals TPOK Jazz continued to wane as fans gravitated toward the faster version of soukous. After the establishment of
Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga ( ; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997), often shortened to Mobutu Sese Seko or Mobutu and also known by his initials MSS, was a Congolese politician and military officer ...
regime in the Congo, he adopted the name "Tabu Ley" as part of Mobutu's " Zairization" of the country, but later went into exile in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
in 1988. In 1985, the Government of the
DRC 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 ...
banned all foreign music from the National Radio service. After Tabu Ley composed the song "Twende Nairobi" ("Let's go to Nairobi"), sung by M'bilia Bel, in praise of Kenyan president
Daniel arap Moi Daniel Toroitich arap Moi ( ; 2 September 1924 – 4 February 2020) was a Kenyan politician who served as the second president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He is the country's longest-serving president to date. Moi previously served as the thi ...
, the ban was promptly lifted. In the early 1990s he briefly settled in
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where he attended Moorpark College. He began to tailor his music towards an International audience by including more English lyrics and by increasing more international dance styles such as Samba. He found success with the release of albums such as ''Muzina'', ''Exil Ley'', ''Africa worldwide'', '' Babeti soukous'', and '' Man from Kinshasa''. The Mobutu regime banned his 1990 album "Trop, C'est Trop" as subversive. In 1996, Tabu Ley participated in the album ''Gombo Salsa'' by the
salsa music Salsa music is a style of Latin American music, combining elements of Cuban and Puerto Rican influences. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most ...
project
Africando Africando is a musical project formed in 1992 to unite New York City, New York–based salsa music, salsa musicians with Senegalese vocalists. Musicians from other African countries were later included under the name Africando All Stars. Salsa has ...
. The song "Paquita" from that album is a remake of a song that he recorded in the late 1960s with African Fiesta.


Return from exile and death

When Mobutu was deposed in 1997, Tabu Ley returned to
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 ...
and took up a position as a
cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...
in the government of new President Laurent Kabila. Following Kabila's death, Tabu Ley then joined the appointed transitional parliament created by
Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician and former military officer who served as the fourth President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination o ...
, until it was dissolved following the establishment of the inclusive transitional institutions. In November 2005 Tabu Ley was appointed Vice-Governor of Kinshasa, a position devolved to his party, the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) by the 2002 peace agreements. He also served as provincial minister of culture. In 2008, he was said to have fathered up to 102 children, including the French rapper Youssoupha and singer, Mike Tabu a.k.a Dj Master Mike composer , dj & producer composer Pegguy Tabu with different women. Other notable family members include Belgian rapper Shay. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shay_(rapper) Tabu Ley Rochereau died on 30 November 2013, aged 73, at Saint-Luc hospital in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
,
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
where he had been undergoing treatment for a stroke he suffered in 2008. He was buried on 9 December 2013 in the ''Cimetière Acropolic de la N'sele'' in Kinshasa, after receiving an official mourning ceremony at the '' Palais du Peuple''.


Discography

* '' Omona Wapi'' (1985, with Franco) * '' Babeti Soukous'' (1989) * '' Man from Kinshasa'' (1991) ;Contributing artist * '' The Rough Guide to Congo Gold'' (2008, World Music Network) * '' Congo Funk!'' (2024, Analog Africa)


Awards

* Honorary Knight of
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
* Officer of the National Order, the Republic of
Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...


References


Further reading

*
Tabu Ley at kenyapage.netMusicWeb Encyclopaedia of Popular MusicTabu Ley biography and discography
at World Music Central


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rochereau, Tabu Ley 1940 births 2013 deaths People from Kwilu Province 20th-century Democratic Republic of the Congo male singers Democratic Republic of the Congo songwriters Soukous musicians Rally for Congolese Democracy politicians Government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo