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World On Your Street: The Global Music Challenge
Kanyinda Koko Mukala
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Describe the atmosphere and live music at a local pub, restaurant, festival, church or temple, club night.... inspire other people to check it out!


Musician: Kanyinda Koko Mukala

Location: Bristol

Instruments: congas, voice

Music: Congolese / Rumba

HOW I CAME TO THIS MUSICÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýWHERE I PLAYÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýA FAVOURITE SONG Click here for Hande Domac's storyClick here for Mosi Conde's storyClick here for Rachel McLeod's story


Listen to Koko and fellow-refugees perform with Eliza Carthy at


This story includes material from Celebrating Sanctuary: Conversations with
Refugee Artists

(London Arts, 2002)

ListenÌýÌýListen (4'04) to 'Kabakani' performed by Kanyinda Koko Mukalawith his band, Soukous Koumbele, from the album, Sentimental, (Sterns, 2002)..

ListenÌýÌýListen (1'50) to Kanyinda Koko Mukala talk about his music.


A favourite song:

'Kabakani' is a love song in praise of a beautiful woman called Kabakani. The singer admires Kabakani's dark skin which he says is the beauty of our century, the beauty of our ancestors. So he asks her to go out with him. It's a rumba which is the most popular music of the Congo. It started in the 1950's when our first guitarist, Wendo So, took a guitar from the Belgian guitarists and evolved the rumba. The traditional beat of my tribe is also related to the rumba which ended up in Cuba and came back to us. We sing our music in Lingala which comes from my tribe, Bangala but it was the language used by the military originally. When I'm performing this song I feel very happy because when you play a love song you've got to be happy to make it work!

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