Congolese Vocalist Koffi Olomide - "Effrakata" (information, video, comments,& lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a video of the song "Effrakata" by vocalist Koffi Olomide. "Effrakata" is the first track on Olomide's award winning December 2001 album with that name.

Information about Koffi Olomide is included in this post along with lyrics (in Lingala?) and selected comments from that video's discussion thread.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Koffi Olomide for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/07/five-videos-of-music-by-koffi-olomide.html for a 2012 pancocojams post about Koffi Olomide. That post showcases five other videos of Koffi Olomide songs.

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INFORMATION ABOUT KOFI OLOMIDE
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koffi_Olomide [retreived in 2013]
"Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, also known as Koffi Olomide (Friday, July 13, 1956), is a DR Congolese soukous singer, dancer, producer, and composer. He is also known by a multitude of other names and aliases.[1]

He was born in Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His father is Congolese (Gbandi tribe from Equateur region) and his mother was born from a Sierra-Leone father and a Congolese mother (Songye tribe from Kasaï region). According to the ethnic custom of his Sierra-Leone grand father, his mother named him 'Koffi' because he was born on a Friday."...

[retrieved Feb. 12, 2017, same link]
"Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba (born 13 July 1956),[1] known professionally as Koffi Olomide, is a Congolese soukous singer, dancer, producer, and composer. He has had several gold records in his career. He is the founder of the Quartier Latin International orchestra with many notable artists, including Fally Ipupa and Ferré Gola."...

Koffi ….mostly refers to himself as "Mopao…. Koffi's talent could be compared to the once king of African rhumba, Luambo Makiadi, who also saw many artists pass through his expert hands during his days. Today, he is one of Africa's most popular musicians.[3]...

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From http://bigeye.ug/10-things-didnt-know-koffi-olomide/ 10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT KOFFI OLOMIDE! Big Eye / April 21, 2014
By Dan B. Atuhaire

Koffi Olomide will be in Kampala this month for a number of charity activities and a music concert. He will be the headlining artiste at a charity concert organised by Rotary Uganda. Here’s a few facts about the singer.

1) Koffi Olomide is 57 Years Old. He was born Christophe Antoine Agbepa Mumba, to a Congolese father and Sierra Leone mother on 13 July 1956.

2) The name Koffi was given to him in line with the common West African naming tradition (Sierra Leone, Ghana) in relation to the day of the week one is born. Koffi is one of the names given to boys born on Friday.

Popular male names for the other weekdays are: Kojo(Monday), Komla(Tuesday), Kwaku(Wednesday), Yao(Thursday), Kwame(Saturday) and Kwasi(Sunday)

3) Koffi Olomide is a proud holder of a Bachelors’ Degree in Business Economics. He also has a Masters’ Degree in Mathematics from the University of Paris.

4) He started his music career with Papa Wemba’s band, Viva la Musica, initially as a composer and song-writer, and later as a vocalist and lead-singer.

5) The name Olomide was coined during his time at Viva La Musica. Koffi was such an impressive songwriter that one day in 1977 Papa Wemba exclaimed, “Ooh! l’homme idee” (Oh! the idea-man!). A funkier version of the words was adopted – Olomide. Koffi Olomide would later become his official stage name."...

6) Koffi Olomide went solo in 1986, forming his own band that he called Quartier Latin. He does a unique genre, a slower style of soukous that he calls Tcha Tcho."...

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From http://thissongisabout.com/2014/08/12/washington-by-koffi-olomide-is-about-what/
Washington by Koffi Olomide is about what?" August 12, 2014 by https://twitter.com/LingalaSchool
"What is the song Washington by Koffi Olomide about?

This song [titled "Washington"] is from the album Effrakata, the album which allowed Koffi Olomide to win 4 Kora awards in one night...

Trivia: Koffi speaks like an average person would speak in the streets of Kinshasa.
He keeps up with the current terminologies-especially when he is the first celebrity to popularize them."..

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LYRICS- EFFRAKATA
(Koffi Olomidé)

"L'homme est petit (eh!)
Dieu est grand tout le monde le sais"
Effrakata eye

Effrakata eye’
Oya mbuta muntu Filibert

mesana kobenga petite momi
kobenga petite momi
kobenga petite moto
yaka awa yaka na kabela yo nzimbu eh
yaka na kabela yo mbongo mama
Aller quand petite momi viendra, Filibert akosani maladie

Nani atindaki yo, yo olia biloko
yo okomi kudila nga muana eh Yezu

Ya male woo, ya male wo wo eh
ya male mama ma ya male mama
yanga yibila nga yibila nga yibila muana eh

Ye abeta Zenith, Olympia, Bercy tomona ba corriga te

Effrakata eye

Makundile ye tobina libondas wo wo wo
tuzola nge kaku wena...

Le grand Mopao mokonzi be songanzila ehh

kou boloko ka bélé ka chiri n'samu wa ngolo ko, ku mputu mpé ka tukiri ka wa lunga
ko wa ba... Rata dia yika na mbulu-mbulu mbo ka yayana ntia ba n'shimba
kuba yayaya yo


Source: https://sonichits.com/video/Koffi_Olomid%C3%A9/Effrakata; Contributed by Jacob G.
-snip-
"L'homme est petit (eh!)/ Dieu est grand tout le monde le sais" is French. The English translation is "The man is small (eh!)/God is great everybody know it"

What does "Effrakata" and "Effrakata eye" mean? What is this song about? Are these lyrics in Lingala?

English or French translations for these lyrics would be greatly appreciated.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Koffi Olomide – Effrakata



InfernoGroupe Uploaded on Dec 15, 2010

Effrakata - 2002
-snip-
Here are some selected comments from this video's discussion thread. I've assigned numbers for referencing purposes only.
2013
1. ouattara bourama
"super star,formateur des formateurs,l'époque de mopao mokonzi avec la meilleure génération du quartier latin...
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"Super star, trainer of trainers, the time of mopao mokonzi with the best generation of the latin quarter"

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2. PEAU2LUNE
"Merci d'avoir actualisé cette vidéo. Ah MOPAO, toujours imité mais jamais égalé, le talent à l'état pur. Tu es et resteras le plus grand chanteur Africain du siècle car tu allies talent, classe, intelligence et beauté. Je t'aime et t'aimerai toujours tant que le Seigneur me prêtera vie. Je te supplierai d'ailleurs de tout actualiser chaque fois y compris "Petit frère ya Jesus". Po to linganaka vraiment. La plus Koffiphile des gabonaises."
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"Thank you for updating this video. Ah MOPAO, always imitated but never equaled, talent in the pure state. You are and will remain the greatest African singer of the century because you ally talent, class, intelligence and beauty. I love you and will always love you as long as the Lord lends me life. I beseech you to update everything every time including "Little brother ya Jesus". Po to linganaka really. The most Koffiphile of the Gabonese."

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3. Gospicnic
"Gosh, Patience Ibe used to be the hottest Nubian Queen under the African sun"

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2014
4. Bismark Williams
"can someone tell me why this guy dresses so different in his videos?"

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Reply
5. Ezekiel Mokonzi Production
"Coz he a baaouss"
-snip-
"baaouss" = "badass"

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Reply
6. Franck Ulrich
"he has nothing to prove he has conquered the world respect him"

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7. mike ngiama
"How old was Kerosene na brigade in this clip"
-snip-
"Kerosene" is the stage name of a singer in Koffi Olomide's group who is featured in this video.]

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Reply
8. Denzel Menga
"15"

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2015
9. TraceyLK
"When I was young my mum always listened to Koffi Olomide in the house and I hated it. But now I want to thank her for raising me with this amazing music. Thanks Mum, you're the best.

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Reply
10. Lester CheeseBoy
"+≛T≛ loool yh same with my Dad"

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Reply
11. Giovanni, 2016
"the same with my mum"

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Oloya Noel
12. "YOU PROVE THE ORIGINS OF AFRO MUSIC IS BORN FROM ZAIRE/CONGO BIG UP KOFFI OLOMIDE"

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2016
14. Foday Lanfia Kallon
"Am proud to be an African, I luv Congolese music so much, all the way from Sierra leone,"

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15. Tendai Mashayamombe
"Am from Zimbabwe and Koffie often comes here a lot. His music transcends cultural and tribal boundaries weldone quadrakora man"
-snip-
"quadrakora man" = refers to the four Kora awards that Koffi Olomide won for this album. Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kora_Awards for information about Kora awards. Here's an excerpt from that article: "The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. Founded in 1994 by Ernest Adjovi, they are comparable to the American Grammy Awards in intent. The award is named after the kora, a West African plucked chordophone."...

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16. Mimi Virgo
"very nice, love his music, but gosh he is weird"

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Reply
17. joellamm1
"+Miriam Pierre lol"

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Reply
Kristina kihanda, 2016
18. "Mimi Virgo He is not weird,just unique.."

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19. Jabu Maetha
"much love from South Africa , this one remind me of my Congolese brother from another mother Ettienne Kangudia . I miss you bro I have leaned a lot from you brother"

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2016
20. samuel agbemavor
"qui a meme chanter dans la chanson? en tout cas cest pas koffi olomide"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
Who even sang in the song? In any case it is not koffi olomide

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Reply
21. Slim Shady
"C'est pas du chant c'est de l'ambiance, un générique comme ils appellent ça et puis l'Auteur et le Compositeur de cette chanson c'est Koffi lui-même puisque Effrakata c'est son album solo et pas celui du Quartier Latin"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"It's not singing it's atmosphere, a generic as they call it and then the Author and Composer of this song is Koffi himself since Effrakata is his solo album and not that of the Latin Quarter"

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Reply
22. Herve-greg Kabonte
"Cette chanson est une oeuvre de "Kerozene" et "Brigade"; deux animateurs congolais.
Mais vu qu'à l'époque les responsables des groupes signaient seul tous les "génériques", tous les mérites leur revenaient."
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"This song is a work of "Kerozene" and "Brigade"; Two Congolese leaders."

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Reply
23. F Zulu
King Koffi rocks
But considering that at the time the leaders of the groups signed all the "generics" alone, all the merits came back to them.

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princevita
24. "still a banger 2016!!!!"

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King Stechaaa
25, "2017 & this song still bangs🎉"
-snip-
From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=banging
"banging
Excellent, of high quality. Derives from dance music, especially house, in which a tune that rocks the dancefloor is referred to as being "banging".
"That tune is banging!", "That jacket is banging!"

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