Congolese Rumba: From The Congo to Cuba And Back To The Congo (videos & information)

Bigckson, Aug 27, 2019  #fally #koffi
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This video has French narration and French captions.

The summary to this video that is given in French followed by an English translation is presented below along with its Google translate results (from French to English). 

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series on Congolese rumba music and dance.

This pancocojams post presents two YouTube videos about the history of the Congolese rumba music and dance.

This post also includes some information about Congolese rumba from a reprint of an online article, from the transcription of one of these showcase videos, and from the comments from the discussion thread of one of these showcase videos. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/04/youtube-videos-of-congolese-rumba-music.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post showcases five videos of Congolese rumba music and dance.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are associated with these YouTube videos that are embedded in this post and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/04/cuban-rumba-guaguanco-music-and-dance.html for a related pancocojams post entitled "Cuban Rumba Guaguanco Music And Dance (information & Videos)".

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THE SUMMARY STATEMENT OF THE VIDEO THAT IS EMBEDDED AT THE TOP OF THIS POST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw0n3BMib1I&t=515s

La source de la rumba congolaise

Bigckson, Aug 27, 2019  #fally #koffi
"La ” Nkoumba ” appelée plus tard à Cuba Rumba est une danse de nombril qui prend sa source en l’Afrique Centrale, plus précisément dans le Royaume Kongo et en République Centrafricaine chez ” Mbati “, un groupe ethnique du sud ouest du pays. En ” Mbati “, tout comme en ” Moukongo “, ” Nkoumba ” désigne le nombril. Chez les “Bakongo” groupe ethnique situé au sud du Congo Démocratique de l’Angola et chez les ” Mbati ” de Centrafrique, la danse de nombril est une expression folklorique charnelle permettant à un couple de danseurs de se produire nombril contre nombril.

Lorsque les esclaves noirs Africains débarquent à Cuba il y a 5 siècles avec la danse ” Nkoumba “, le colonisateur Espagnol supprime l’Africanité de cette expression culturelle, populaire et la baptise Rumba pour l’approprier. Du point de vue linguistique, Cuba conserve à ce jour plusieurs mots d’origine Africaine, et ce en dépit de nombreuses transformations constatées dans l’héritage culturel des anciens esclaves. La Rumba conserve à ce jour quelques mots bantou et yoruba dont on entend dans certaines chansons Cubaines. Lorsque la Rumba est revenue en Afrique entre les années 40 et 50, après avoir été longtemps un moyen d’expression artistique et de revendication des noirs qui dénoncent l’injustice dont ils sont victimes à Cuba, elle a été réappropriée par les Africains. Avec l’évolution du temps, les musiciens Africains intègrent leur folklore dans ce riche patrimoine culturel et l’enrichissent d’autres courants musicaux.#koffi #fally"
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Google translate from French to English
"The “Nkoumba” later called in Cuba Rumba is a navel dance which has its source in Central Africa, more precisely in the Kongo Kingdom and in the Central African Republic among “Mbati”, an ethnic group in the southwest of the country. In “Mbati”, just like in “Moukongo”, “Nkoumba” designates the navel. Among the “Bakongo” ethnic group located in the south of the Democratic Congo of Angola and among the “Mbati” of Central Africa, the navel dance is a carnal folkloric expression allowing a couple of dancers to perform navel to navel.

When black African slaves arrived in Cuba 5 centuries ago with the “Nkoumba” dance, the Spanish colonizer removed the Africanness from this popular cultural expression and named it Rumba to make it his own. From a linguistic point of view, Cuba retains to this day several words of African origin, despite numerous transformations noted in the cultural heritage of former slaves. Rumba retains to this day some Bantu and Yoruba words which we hear in certain Cuban songs. When Rumba returned to Africa between the 1940s and 1950s, after having long been a means of artistic expression and protest by blacks who denounced the injustice of which they were victims in Cuba, it was re-appropriated by Africans. With the evolution of time, African musicians integrate their folklore into this rich cultural heritage and enrich it with other musical trends.#koffi #fally"

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A REPRINT OF AN ARTICLE ABOUT CONGOLESE RUMBA
From https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/nkumba-rumba-rich-intangible-cultural-heritage-congos "From Nkumba to Rumba: the Rich Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Congos
"The often-untold story of Congolese rumba displays how resilient Africans have shown to been through adversity.

25 March 2022

Last update:20 April 2023

Rumba or “nkumba” (navel in kikongo) in its original form, describes the joining and rubbing of the navels, a dance which marked the celebrations for the populations of the Kingdom of Kongo (which extended over what we know today as Angola, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Modern Congolese Rumba, however, is much more than a simple dance or musical style. It embodies the creativity, spirit, philosophies, and culture of the Congolese. It is the legacy of slaves, forced to leave their country for the Americas with nothing but their essence to connect them to the continent. It is the product of a back-and-forth between the two Congos and Cuba, and later a cry for the liberation movements.

It is to the sound of Le Grand Kallé’s “Independence cha cha” that most Congolese celebrated their independence. The song, which was largely broadcasted in the 1960s recounts the events that preceded the independence process. Viewed as one of the first Pan-African hits and Congolese rumbas, this song embodies the power and importance of Congolese Rumba throughout history. Congolese rumba has also helped bridge the gap between the two Congos, strengthening their cultural identities while paving the way for the creation of other musical styles.

More recently, Congolese rumba, with its undeniable contribution to music worldwide but also to Pan-African values and African memory, has been recognized by UNESCO as World Intangible Cultural Heritage. This nomination promises to be a big step forward in bringing Congolese rumba to light, fostering employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in the music industry as well as the transmission of cultural values in the region.”

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Rumba Music History - African Music History and Culture

Rhythm In Africa, Mar 22, 2021

Welcome to the first African Rumba music lesson... Enjoy
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The narration in this video and the caption feature for this video are in English. 

Here's an almost complete* "as is" version of the auto-generated transcription for this video, given without timestamps and with punctuations that I added and corrected spelling as well as a few words that are given in brackets that clarify the narrator's statements. Although I prefer the referent "enslaved people" to the referent "slave", I didn't change that word in this transcription. I also retained the word "uh" and other such words in this "as is" form of that transcription.  

*I didn't include the blogger's request that people subscribe to his channel, although I did subscribe and recommend that people interested in this subject also do so.

Additions and corrections are welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMRZ5DAkWgo

"Intro

Hello everyone. Welcome to Rhythm in Africa and the first African rumba episode.

Let's roll.

So rumba is associated with dancing because of the culture where there's almost no distinction between the performers and the consumers or the fans of the music. So this means whenever the music is performed, everyone is performing. And everyone is dancing because they believe that every single person has musical talent. So everyone would be able to dance because this collective participation in
music involved babies that would be at their mother's backs while they're dancing or even in their mother's wombs.

Okay,  so let's go back to the Afro-Cuban culture beginning now. So during the trans-Atlantic slave trade that lasted over 200 years. Uh a wide range of ethnic groups were brought into Cuba and [it] is this random groupings of Africans uh African slaves uh that led to a culture which was called the Afro-Cuban culture. And is this culture that created what we call rumba music.

The origin of Rumba

So what made Cuba unique was its laws that allowed slaves to work for their masters until they could buy their freedom. So this means [that] almost no one was born into slavery which means Cuba had to keep on importing slaves from Africa up to 1885, a year before the abolishment of the slave trade. So there were many slaves who had just been recently shipped from Africa to Cuba. 

And, instead of getting more into the slave communities of Cuba,  they were more inclined to go back to Africa to their friends and families. And it's this particular group of Africans who brought rumba from Cuba back to Africa. So rumba is [has] a very strong African essence since it was developed by former African slaves.

So when it got to Africa, it caught on very quickly and rapidly spread across Africa to become the most uh played music in sub-Saharan Africa.

Banning Rumba

Interestingly. in the 2000s there were attempts by the Angolan, Kenyan, and Congolese governments to abolish rumba because of its lyrics and dances which were viewed to be culturally incorrect or immoral. So laws were enacted to ban any radio and tv stations from playing rumba, but this had an opposite effect because you know how people are - the more something is banned, the more interesting it becomes.  And then rumba spread even more across Africa. 

So a key feature of rumba is the use of plain speech usually done in a deep voice like "Loi" popularized by Koffi Olomide and also plain speech done in a loud announcement type of way.

So African rumba dancing can be done solo or with a partner just like Cuban rumba. But [it] is mostly choreographed involving large groups of people because of the culture remember. And these people are usually wearing matching clothing.

So some rumba greats include Franco, Pepe, Wenge Musica, Fally Ipupa,  and a lot more. And not forgetting of course Koffi Olomide, who's been a huge influence in shaping and Africanizing rumba and also up bringing a lot of rumba and I mean rumba artists into the rumba scene. And and I wonder why Koffi Olomide seems like he always has things in his pocket. Uh if someone knows please put it in the comments.

Okay, so let's go to the music now

[Music]

Outro

So in the next rumba episode we'll look at the theory behind African rumba music and how the 
instruments are played and what instruments are used and all that."...
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Here are all of the comments that have been published as of this date [April 26, 2024] on this video's discussion thread. Numbers have been added for referencing purposes only:

1.@BrothaEnock, 2021
"There’s a difference between rumba, soukous, & ndombolo"

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Reply
2. @RhythmInAfrica, 2021
"That's true. Will make another Rumba episode and add that. Thanks."

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3. @jayobrienKM, 2022
"Did you realize that you named literally all Congolese artist and you didn’t simply highlight that African Rumba is from Congo 🇨🇩 Credit should be given where it’s due"

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Reply
4. @RhythmInAfrica, 2022
"True, I didn't realize that."

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5. @YotamPiano, 2023
"VERY interesting. I have known for some time about the Cuban Rumba and its African origin but had NO idea it was brought back to Africa by former slaves! Going to watch the next episode now :)"

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6. @RBB8S, 2023
"Beginning in the 1940s, Afro-Cuban [son] groups such as Septeto Habanero and Trio Matamoros gained widespread popularity in the Congo region as a result of airplay over Radio Congo Belge, a powerful radio station based in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa DRC). A proliferation of music clubs, recording studios, and concert appearances of Cuban bands in Léopoldville spurred on the Cuban music trend during the late 1940s and 1950s."

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This concludes Part I of this two part pancocojams series.

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