|
 Wemba, born Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in Lubefu in
what was then the Belgian Congo, collapsed and died on stage
while performing at a music festival in Ivory Coast on April 24.
He was 67 years old.
A steady stream of mourners filed past his white and gold casket
in the three days before Wednesday's burial as he lay in state
at Democratic Republic of Congo's parliament building in the
capital Kinshasa.
And a crowd of tens of thousands packed the streets in front of
the Notre Dame du Congo Cathedral where the city's Catholic
archbishop celebrated a funeral mass.
"Papa Wemba has always been my idol. So I've just lost my star,"
said JB Mpiana, the head of the popular Kinshasa musical group
Wenge Musica.
Wemba came of age during the 1960s, a period of
post-independence hope in Congo that was quickly dashed by civil
war and the murder of Patrice Lumumba, the young nation's first
democratically elected leader.
It was also a period when Congo's Cuban-influenced rumba ruled
the airwaves across an African continent in the midst of an
existential transformation.
Wemba would rise to become one of the genre's masters before
turbo-charging it in the 1970s with breakneck drum beats and
frantic guitar riffs as part of the Congolese super group Zaïko
Langa Langa.
He left after five years to found Viva la Musica, the band he
would continue to perform with until his death despite periods
of solo work and collaboration with other artists.
"CONTINUE TO BE ELEGANT"
"Papa Wemba was able to make being a musician something valued.
He taught us how to dress well, to be elegant, to make ourselves
respected in society," said Ruinga Keps, a Congolese musician
known by the stage name Brigade.
[to top of second column] |
Already a household name in his home country, then known as Zaire,
Wemba met Peter Gabriel in the early 1990s as the British singer was
beginning to promote and produce artists from around the globe as
part of the burgeoning world music movement.
He would remain among Africa's most popular artists and continue to
tour internationally until his death.
At home his status as the godfather of Congolese music was perhaps
only rivalled by his status as a fashion icon in a nation where
dress and appearance have long been a point of pride.
Wemba was known as the Pope of Sape, a movement of fashion dandies
deriving its name from the French acronym for the Society of
Ambiance-Makers and Elegant People.
Wemba sang the praises of the sapeurs, whose impeccable appearance
and penchant for designer label garments are a stark contrast to the
gritty, impoverished environment in which they often exist.
"We came to know the sape thanks to Papa Wemba. And believe me, even
with his death, we are going to continue to be elegant," said Vieux
Malala, an 81-year-old sapeur who travelled from neighbouring
Republic of Congo to attend Wemba's funeral.
(This version of the story has been refiled to correct the typos in
the third and eleventh paragraphs.)
(Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
