Soukous

Soukous (from French secouer, "to shake") is a popular genre of African music from the Congo Basin. It is the main popular music of Republic Of Congo and Democratic Republic Of Congo. In other parts of Africa, it can be referred to as Lingala or Congo music. It is also popular all over Africa, French Caribbean, France, and Colombia. Soukous comes from the French word secouer, which means to shake and is derived from Congolese rumba in the 1960s. Although often used by journalists as a synonym for Congolese rumba, both the music and dance currently associated with soukous differ from more traditional rumba, especially in its higher tempo, longer dance sequences. Notable performers of the genre include Tabu Ley Rochereau, Papa Wemba and Diblo Dibala.
== Links To Peel ==
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Peel was attracted to the music of soukous in the 80's through the work of Stern's and other World Music labels including those from France, where soukous was gaining popularity. Tabu Ley Rochereau, one of the pioneers of the genre was one of the few soukous artists played by Peel in the early 80's. Kanda Bongo Man, a Paris-based artist, who was influenced by Tabu Ley Rochereau followed suit and pioneered fast, short tracks such as the kwassa kwassa after the dance move popularised by him and other artists. His music appealed to Peel and he invited the musician to do two sessions for his show, one in 1993 and the other 2002. 
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Another soukous artist that also followed the trend of kwassa kwassa was Diblo Dibala, who Peel described as the greatest guitarist in the world. So impressed with Dibala that Peel and Andy Kershaw raced to Stern's African record shop after hearing that the artist would be there to get an autograph. Dibala repaid the compliment by giving name checks to both of them on the track 'Matchatcha Wetu.' 
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Artists such as Tabu Ley Rochereau, Kanda Bongo Man and Diblo Dibala all originated from Zaire (now called Democratic Republic Of Congo) and dominated soukous music with other musicians, but Peel did not only play soukous music from the Congo, he also played many from outside the country including one by America-based Maloko, who did a cover of Wilson Pickett's In The Midnight Hour, which Peel described as one of the greatest covers he'd heard. The track was later included in his Peelenium 1989. 
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Other types of Soukous music played by Peel included Zouk style, which was characteristically fast paced and popularised by Caribbean French Antilles artist Kassav, whose self titled album was later found in Peel's Record Collection: K.
In 1997, Peel included a soukous album from Wawali Bonané called "Wawali Bonané Et Generation Soukouss Enzenzé Vol. 1" in his Top 20 Albums of all time for the Guardian newspaper.
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Peel described in 1999 soukous artist Pépé Kallé’s ‘Roger Milla' track in The Ingerland Factor Playlist as one of the best football records ever along with The Fall's Kicker Conspiracy.
Despite Peel's enthusiasm, no soukous records ever featured in the end of year Festive Fifty, nominated by his listeners, although other types of African music from Zambia and Zimbabwe did. Nonetheless, Peel did include soukous records in his Peelenium choices and invited soukous artists to do sessions for his show.
After Peel's death, numerous records by soukous artist Kanda Bongo Man were found in Peel's Record Collection (see Record Collection: K). A related video was released by the John Peel Archive site: K Is For Kanda Bongo Man.
== Sessions ==
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The following soukous artists recorded sessions for the John Peel show.
* Diblo Dibala: (3 sessions, 1992-1995)
* Kanda Bongo Man: (2 sessions, 1993-2002)
* Remmy Ongala: (1 session, 1993)
* Papa Wemba: (2 sessions, 1992-1995)
* Simba Wanyika: (1 session, 1990)
== Peelenium ==
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The following soukous artists appeared on the Peelenium.
*Maloko: In The Midnight Hour (Peelenium 1989)
*Diblo Dibala: Joie De Vivre (Peelenium 1991)
*Shaba Kahamba: Bitumba (Peelenium 1993)
== External Links ==
* Wikipedia
Category:Genres