Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides information about Congolese singer Awilo Longomba and showcases two videos of the his mega hit song "Karolina".
Two videos of that song are showcased in this post along with selected comments from those videos' discussion threads.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Awilo Longomba for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
Hat tip to vlogger Clifford Owusu for featuring this song on his 2014 vlog "The African Song That Gets Everyone On The Dance Floor, Part 2". That vlog along with Part ! and Part 3 are showcased in the pancocojams post entitled "
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-song-that-gets-africans-on-dance.html.
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INFORMATION ABOUT AWILO LONGOMBA
From https://panafricanallstars.com/awilo-longomba-biography/
"Awilo Longomba was born in Kinshasa (formally, Léopoldville). His father was from the Mongo region of the Ecuador and his mother was also from the Ecuador region of Ngombe and Congo Brazzaville. His father, Vicky Longomba, was the famous lead singer and founder of “Tout puissant OK Jazz” during the golden age of Congolese rumba, had a big influence on our artist... e joined the orchestra “Viva La Musica” led by the great Papa Wemba as a drummer, and Awilo had his real first taste of live performance on his first international tour in Europe and to Japan in 1985 and 1986.
As the fever he caught during his tour grew stronger, he decided to pursue his artistic carrier and moved to France. His reputation as one of the best drummers in France spread very quickly. This allowed him to collaborate on numerous records and toured worldwide with several African artists such as Tshala Muana, Oliver Ngoma, Kanda Bongo Man just to name a few.
But Awilo’s ambition didn’t stop there. In 1992 he decided to leave “Viva La Musica” and formed his own group “La Nouvelle Génération” of which he became the leader. This new band became very popular in Europe and produced several albums.
In 1995, the career of Awilo, the singer, took off and he left “La Nouvelle Génération”. He released his first solo album “Moto Pamba” in which, he was the composer, the lead singer and of course the drummer. The Techno-Soukous star was born. His success couldn’t be ignored! He finally put the drums down and decided to concentrate on his singing and started touring in East Africa and in Europe. This first CD land him the “Best Central Africa Artist Awards” at the KORA AWARDS 1996 and 1997 (All Africa Music Awards, held in Sun City, South Africa)...
Awilo has once again demonstrated his talent by producing his latest CD “Mondongo”*. It is an electrifying blend of kompas, rumba, R&B and soukouss… with the collaboration of other great African artists such as Lokua Kanza, “Mondongo” is a guaranteed success!."...
-snip-
*"Mondongo" was released in 2004. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awilo_Longomba.
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Awilo Longomba - Carolina (lyrics)
Tobleraj, Published on Jul 9, 2011
Awilo Longomba Carolina Lyrics
I dont own any rights to this song
-snip-
The lyrics for this song are given as subtitles on the screen of this sound file. At least two commenters criticized this transcriber for his or her spelling of Lingala words. Those comments are found in this compilation below.
Comment #10 below has an English synopsis of this song.
-snip-
Here are selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers assigned for referencing purposes only):
1. Question MK-Question, 2012
"I don't know what you are doing here. Are you atempting to write Lingala as French or what ? the word is "Mwana"or Muana. thoses the only most like to be african NOT Moina.. never never never ......it makes no sense"
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2. Thierry HOSEA KISANGANI, 2014
"are you sure you speak lingala? because what you are writting is not lingala!"
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3. sean oshinuga, 2013
"my jam!!"
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4. satya shukla, 2014
"I am Indian obviously don't know the language but could understand the feelings a bit. It is truly said that music got no boundaries. It is one my favorite African songs (although the list is very long :)). A beautiful party song about beautiful Carolina. Love Africa, its people and its beautiful diverse culture :)
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5. Golden Girl, 2015
"Not an African party without this song blastin XD"
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REPLY
6. Kemi Davies, 2015
"Golden Girl Damn right"
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7. Nyagoa James, 2015
"almost every african women has herd this song or has it in there car"
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8. Bruno McDowell, 2015
"Can anyone translate these two lines into English, Please???? I have no idea wht they mean and would be happy if someone could translate it
Karolina muassi kitoko héé éé
Karolina muassi bonzenga héé mama"
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REPLY
9. D. Mvemba, 2015
"+Bruno McDowell Karolina a beautiful woman héé ééKarolina a hot Woman héé mama"
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REPLY
10. Michaelle Fille de Jesus, 2015
"+Bruno McDowell he says that carolina is pretty everywhere, a front, behind, at the top, at the bottom everywhere she look pretty and you cant leave her alone because of that. she is pretty, she is sugary., sweat. he talking about a girl name Carolina that he finds pretty. i only understand the french version not the african version"
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REPLY
11. Lina Lina, 2017
"Bruno McDowell mwasi - woman
kitoko- beautiful
jolli- french beautiful
this makes a full statement of ( karolina a beautiful woman)"
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12. Bulldog Braddock
"This is one of the songs that bring every African together in a party."
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13. Sade S Dumas, 2016
"Clifford Owusu brought me here."
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REPLY
14. Nana Esi Agyeman, 2016
"sadeswaggsitout
Me too friend"
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REPLY
15. Kirby Evans, 2017
"sadeswaggsitout same"
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REPLY
16. vanessa, 2018
"Crifford nana owosu look what you have caused, he didnt bring me here at all but his community is getting big, i myself am a part of it"
-snip-
Clifford Owusu is a YouTube video blogger. One of this vlogs showcased Awilo Longomba's song "Karolina". (Read my hat tip above).
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17. Okafor Kelvin, 2017
"Awilo you are the man ,African we the Best ,if not forBad Government."
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18. Marie Dupre, 2017
"I'm Haitian and Iisten to soukous and I love it"
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19.patience Chimanda, 2018
"This song became more popular than the national anthem in my country, Zim. It was s masterpiece n it still rocks!"
-snip-
“Zim”= “Zimbabwe”
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20. Esther Mensah, 2018
"Please can someone tell me the language he sang in apart from the French?"
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REPLY
21. Stanley Dougé, 2018
"I only understand the French part lol I'm Haïtian but the African part is Lingala language from Congo DRC"
-snip-
Earlier in this discussion thread two commenters wrote that this song is in French and “Congolese”. There is no language called “Congolese”. "Lingala" is one language spoken in the Congo. Hence it is a “Congolese language”.
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Example #2: Awilo Longomba - Mondongo DVD - 1 - Karolina
Melynga, Published on Jan 22, 2014
-snip-
Here are selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers assigned for referencing purposes only):
1. Konde Francisco, 2013
"AWILO LONGOMBA IS THE KING OF CONGOLESE DANCE MUSIC, "PLEASE" DO NOT RETIRE!!!"
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2. Ian Njoroge, 2015
"don't understand a word but song has energy... play it loud... Classic tune"
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REPLY
3. Olakunle Dele, 2015
"+Ian Njoroge even me , but i understand few of the lines like "elle est jolie" and "elle est sucre"....means she is sweet and she is sugar respectively ...i think so ...My french skill is so lopsided these days"
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REPLY
4. tight henley, 2015
"+Ian Njoroge he's saying he was at a club and a beautiful woman, Carolina, showed up and she was so gorgeous he had a seizure and a heart attack. Then he is talking about how attractive he finds her and that he wants to marry her."
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5. Roderick Campbell, 2015
"i love you awilo longomba str8 out of jamaica"
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6. nilotics, 2015
"that white dude had some moves jheeze!"
-snip-
Read a comment below where this man is referred to as "Arab". In another comment [not included in this compilation] the same man is referred to as "light skinned".
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7. Johannes Haiyambo, 2016
"Oh yeah...you cant go wrong with with these songs....Namibia"
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REPLY
8. Nderingo Koviao, 2016
"soo true .... it make my weekend in Okakarara"
-snip-
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okakarara
"Okakarara is a town in Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia, located 50 kilometres (31 mi) southeast of Waterberg National Park.[2]"...
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9. Isata Kamara, 2016
"THIS TUNEEE"
-snip-
The word "tune" (with various elongating spellings) is a Caribbean vernacular reference for a favorite song/record.
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10. Sipho Masuku, 2017
"I thank God for a Universal language. I get to pump this in South Africa. This song really never gets old."
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11. Isatu Kabia, 2017
"honestly, I don't understand a single word, but this is one of my fav African song. love the beat and the vibe. HOt"
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REPLY
12. Jessica M., 2018
"Isatu Kabia he is singing the beauty of the woman that she is so beautiful that everyone fall in love . Something like that ..."
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13. Stacy Mbeere, 2016
"I danced to this Tunisia rugby guys , if you were at harlequins and impala yesterday."
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14. ItHasToBE Wurie, 2017
"lol...Mr Awilo please tell the people....we want to know....where did you get that Arab man from?....he's in a lot of your videos"
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15. Desire Oduma, 2017
"this song is poping in Nigeria good job"
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REPLY
16. Hassan 4Life, 2017
"+Desire Oduma this is not Nigerian music is Congolese Music"
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17. Desire Oduma, 2017
"i know it is not a Nigerian music i said it is poping in Nigeria"
-SNIP-
"In African American Vernacular English something that is "popping" means that it is going strong (it is very popular).
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REPLY
18. Hassan 4Life, 2017
"you're right"
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19. Casita Laidlow, 2017
"I am Still looking at this video in 2017 and i'm from the Caribbean (St Vincent and the Grenadines). I love it soo much and i love embracing my rich African Heritage. Awilo Longomba nuff love to you from me and my Island..canouan- St Vincent and the Grenadines."
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REPLY
20. Africansoundboy
"Bless up Sista, Africa we love you."
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21. Ashantii Cole, 2017
"these beats make the whole club in Los Angeles go crazy"
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22. HotDog Mary, 2017
"Can someone tell me what the song is talking about please? The theme of it. I can't speak Lingala only swahile(barely)"
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REPLY
23. Ernest Tenkang, 2018
"HotDog Mary he's just saying Carolina is beautiful from head to toe and from front to back."
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24. darlington mutuchi, 2017
"Awilo Awilo man you are THE man, your songs rocked parties like mad."
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25. Benjleen Lesley, 2017
"still listening!!love from Azania/south africa"
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26. Abdisamad Osman, 2017
"Awilo we love you bro! From Somalia 🇸🇴"
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27. That GUY Me, 2017
"Osheeeee Osheeee that always part sent the party crazier"
**
28. Kola Wole, 2017
"Can never get enough of this track.was stuck at the Togolese border once in 2013...Spent the whole 6hours drinking Ékú beer and listening to this track on auto repeat."
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29. Chasseu Clarisse, 2017
"Awilo loves Cameroon. All the references to our soccer players and Bamenda. Love from Cameroon boo 🇨🇲🇨🇲🇨🇲🇨🇲"
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30. Tamara Otieno, 2017
"My childhood in Kenya 🇰🇪 254 ❤️karolina mama"
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31. Felicia Apeah, 2017
"Zaire!"
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32. Nicole U, 2017
"First thing I ever saw that was scandalous on tv my little ass was dumbfounded"
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33. Your It's PCB, 2017
"Pa Zimbabwe song yakanetsa iyii. Where are my Zimbabweans at???"
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REPLY
34. Kimwina Mambwene, 2018
"This song is Congolese not Zimbabwen
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REPLY
35. tanaka xo, 2018
"duhh l think we can all differentiate between shona and lingala. the song was very popular in zimbabwe in the 90s (the same for most african countries) thats all we're saying"
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REPLY
36. tanaka xo, 2018
"takaitamba every wedding, holiday ne kwamereki all the time"
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37. Flori Ane, 2018
"Proud of my country’s music and culture❤️🇨🇩"
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38. Sonia, 2018
"Who said white men can’t dance"
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39. Jordan Mwape
"Almost every wedding I attended at the time had this song played countless times. Don't argue, you were not there. Lol"
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40. Mahasina Awad, 2018
"Played at every African event 😭💯"
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41. Michael onyejekwe, 2018
"This song is played at every African function or party. CLASSIC 😂"
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42. Feemon Dorley, 2018
"if this song is not playing at a party is it even a party"
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43. Reynald Vertilus, 2018
"Je suis haitien mais j'aime beaucoup la musique Africaine c ma passion. J'ai ecoute 7 musique la 15 fois par jour . J'aime awilo, Eddy kenzo, king saha, diblo, platinum, et tant d'autres encore. la musique Africaine c 1 phenomenal a Travers le monde entier."
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"I am Haitian but I really like African music c my passion. I listened to 7 music 15 times a day. I like awilo, Eddy kenzo, king saha, diblo, platinum, and so much more. African music is phenomenal throughout the world."
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44. Dana Shaw, 2018
"Look ladies! This beauty queen was dark.Pay attention and take notes. colorism! NOT"
-snip-
I believe that this comment alludes to the commenter's opinion that most African contemporary music videos feature light skinned women as the love interest.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/colorism defines "colorism" as "Prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group."
[example given of this term in a sentence] ‘colorism within the black community has been a serious emotional and psychological battle’"
-end of quote-
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-redbone-yellowbone-and-browning.html for a 2013 pancocojams post about "colorism" entitled What "Redbone", "Yellowbone", and "Browning" Mean
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