In the Year of Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo negotiated independence from Belgium to the rhythm of the country’s greatest export: Congolese rumba. The wildly popular and meaningful genre became a soundtrack to global change.
Written by Emily Hardick. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle.
Additional Resources:
Collinet, Georges. “Hidden Meanings in Congo Music.” Afropop Worldwide, December 21, 2011. https://afropop.org/audio-programs/hidden-meanings-in-congo-music.
Gondola, Didier. The History of Congo. Westport, Conn: Greenwood, 2002.
Kazadi, Pierre Cary (Kazadi wa Mukuna). “The Genesis of Urban Music in Zaïre.” African Music 7, no. 2 (1992): 72–84.
Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges. Patrice Lumumba. First edition. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2014.
White, Bob W. Rumba Rules: The Politics of Dance Music in Mobutu’s Zaire. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008.
Iwa Dworkin, Congo Love Song: African American Culture and the Crisis of the Colonial State (University of North Carolina Press, 2017)
