Do you remember Baloji, the hard-to-label Congolese musician fascinated by witchcraft? His brilliant Tout ceci ne vous rendra pas le Congo that I mentioned around here a while back, is still one of my favorite songs. Well, it turns out he's back: his second album is coming out next week - on January 27th. It's titled Kinshasa Succursale and watching the first video from it (or short film, as Baloji calls it), I'm already really looking forward to it.
The album includes some titles with popular Congolese bands Konono N°1 , Kasaï All Star, Zaico Langa Langa, as well as several local artists gathered during one week of recordings in Kinshasa. This 2010 the DRC is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its independence from Belgium, so Kinshasa's boulevard 30 juin (the date of independence) is naturally featured prominently on the video of this first single. Other popular sights of Congo's capital make an appearance (a bit like Youssoupha's The butterfly effect), so only for that it's worth watching.
The title of the song is Karibu Ya Bintou ("Welcome to Life in Limbo"), and in it Konono N°1 play the likembé (finger piano) which offers an interesting contrast with Baloji's hip-hop beats.
