Papa Wemba was one of the very first musicians to join the influential Soukous band, Zaiko Langa Langa when it was created on December 24, 1969 in Kinshasa (Capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) along with such well known Congolese musicians as Nyoka Longo Jossart, Manuaku Pepe Felly, Evoloko Lay Lay, Teddy Sukamu, Zamuangana Enock, Mavuela Simeon, and others.
In a Congolese musical world dominated at the time by Franco Luambo and his remarkable band TPOK Jazz, Tabu Ley Rochereau's Afrisa, and by then-new musical groups like Les Grands Maquisards, Le Trio Madjesi, and even younger bands like Bella-Bella, Thu Zaina and Empire Bakuba, the young and talented Papa Wemba (then known as Jules Presley Shungu Wembadio), was one of the driving forces that by 1973 made Zaiko Langa Langa one of the most-performing dominant Congolese groups, featuring such popular numbers as "Chouchouna" (Papa Wemba), "Eluzam" and " Mbeya Mbeya" (Evoloko Lay Lay), "BP ya Munu" (Efonge Gina) and "Zania" (Mavuela Somo).
In December 1974, at the pinnacle of their fame (and just a month after the Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa), Shungu Wembadio (Papa Wemba), along with Evoloko Lay Lay, Mavuela Somo and Bozi Boziana (who'd joined Zaiko Langa Langa a year earlier), left Zaiko Langa Langa to establish their own musical ensemble Isifi Lokole, ISIFI being an acronym for "Institut de Savoir Ideologique pour la Formation des Idoles." In July 1975, Shungu Wembadio officially adopted the soon-to-be-well-known worldwide artist name Papa Wemba, the addition of "Papa" (father) an allusion to what were in fact rather awesome family responsiblities as the first son in a family where both father and mother (Wemba's parents) had been deceased since the 1960s.
The "feux d'artifice" (fireworks) that was Isifi Lokole would only last a year, with the single "Amazone" (Papa Wemba) as its biggest commercial "hit" record. In November 1975, Papa Wemba, Mavuela Somo and Bozi Boziana abandoned Evoloko Lay Lay and Isifi Lokole to create the group Yoka Lokole (also known as The Kinshasha All-Stars, or Lokole Isifi, or simply Isifi), along with Mbuta Mashakado, another Zaiko Langa Langa 'transfusion.' Yoka Lokole enjoyed slightly less popular success than the original Isifi Lokole, but for a time still managed to remain at the top the African pop music wave with hit songs like "Matembele Bangui", "Lisuma ya Zazu" (Papa Wemba), "Mavuela Sala Keba", and "Bana Kin" (Mavuela Somo).
Like Isifi Lokole, the electronic-instrument driven Yoka Lokole (or The Kinshasha All-Stars) would not last much longer than a year, given the merger of so many big-name talents in the band's lineup. After a year of modest success, controversies within Yoka Lokole over money and prestige (complicated by Wemba's arrest and brief incarceration in Kinshasa Central prison in December 1976 for the 'crime' of being suspected of having had physical intimacy with an influential army general's daughter) would lead Papa Wemba, then feeling diminished by peers and neglected by the public, to form his own group Viva la Musica in February 1977.
At his home in the Matonge neighborhood of Kinshasa, Papa Wemba structured Viva la Musica around young talented artists like singers Kisangani Esperant, Jadot le Cambodgien, Pepe Bipoli and Petit Aziza, guitarists Rigo Star, Syriana, and Bongo Wende. The group had nearly instantaneous success, with hit songs like "Mere Superieure," "Mabele Mokonzi," "Bokulaka," "Princesse ya Sinza," and others.
During the height of his success in 1977, Papa Wemba's family home, which had become a popular, some even said hallowed/special place for Matonge youths to gather "à la mode" (i.e., to be cool) was named the "Village Molokai," and Wemba assumed the exalted moniker "Chef Coutumier" (Chief) of the Village of Molokai. In those days people referred to Papa Wemba as the "chief from the heartland (village)" to differentiate him from Kinshasa-born musical bigshots Mavuela Somo and Mashakado. However years later Mavuela would say that their difficulties only simply amounted to trivial foolishness over money, ambition and fame between some very-young people (that at the time they all were).
Since 1977, Viva la Musica has seen both the 'defections' of musicians every two or three years and the entrée and emergence of other new talents. King Kester Emeneya (1977-1982), Koffi Olomide (1978-1979), Djuna Djanana (1978-1981), Dindo Yogo (1979-1981), Maray-Maray (1980-1984), Lidjo Kwempa (1982-2001), Reddy Amissi (1982-2001), Stino Mubi (1983-2001) are among the currently well-known Congolese musicians who have served at one time or another with Viva la Musica. An old Kinshasa anecdote says that a college student then-named Antoine Agbepa Koffi was such an impressive songwriter that one day in 1977 Papa Wemba exhorted, "Ooh! l'homme idee" (Oh! the idea-man!) thereby on-the-spot renaming the impressive young singer-songwriter Koffi 'Olomide'--and the name stuck!
After the wave of African emigration to Europe in the 1990s, Wemba maintained one group in Kinshasa (called at times "Nouvelle Ecriture," "Nouvel Ecrita," and now again "Viva la Musica") and another one in Paris ("Nouvelle Generation," "La Cour des Grands," and now "Viva Tendance"). He has also consistently maintained a very high profile in World Music with such great hits as "L'Esclave" (1986), "Le Voyageur, Maria Valencia" (1992), "Foridoles, Dixieme Commandement" (1994), "Emotion" (1995), "Pole Position" (1996), "Fula Ngenge" (1999), "Bakala dia Kuba" (2001), and "Somo Trop" (2003). Many would assign Wemba the status of African-music "living legend," as few others in history could claim (Franco Luambo, Tabu Ley Rochereau, and Miriam Makeba certainly among them).
Papa Wemba is also known as an actor. In 1987, he played the male lead role in the successful Zairean (Congolese) film La Vie est Belle by Belgian director Benoit Lami and Congolese producer-director Ngangura Mweze.
Esclave
Papa Wemba Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ni mwana ya mama hahaha
Nilikama nini na ngai
Mwana ya mama oohh
Mbokali saki ngai na bambasi ya
Papa yaho
Na nyakwa maki na fimbo ya
Papa yaho
Yafrika
Enga yeyee
Aaa yoo
Abba yeyo
Angaa yee
Angaa yee ama
Ba ugu namerika naseinzera ma simyo
Ba ugu nafrika mo nyororo na ...
Mbo teki nai nazanga tipo tipo
Zela molai oh zela ya zanzibar
Nakei ehh nabeiii
Kosalela nangambe bomba
Enga yeyee
Aaa yoo
Abba yeya
Angaa yee
Angaa yee ama
Martin Ruther King
Essi smith
Bob Marley
Arisola zara kaize nkorera paise ya bombo
Nkorera kana bango
Namitu naka baba yoba takamba nameriika ahh
Badeko ba ngai kiribota maka
Sakiba zari kona toyobana kate eehhh
Kasina yebi kozari na guadeloupe martinique na
Luberi quartoni basusu baliko na au antille eeehh
Na Nelson Mandela
Desmond tutu
Soeur Maria Thereza
Nasimbo mayatengama monyoko ri na sura afrika
Liberté
Liberté ya ngai mwana ya afrika
Nako sema ehh iii
Oohh ya ko sema ni
Winnie Mandela
Wataluka liberté
Mwana ya afriikaaa
Eeh na kolera ehh
Na kosenga ehhh
Oya to simba ni
Zilze Mandela
Pota loka liberté
Eeh na kolera ehh iii
Na ko ssengaa ooh iii
Yawe yo kangai mawa eeh ii
O ya kosema ni Winnie Mandela
Boto luka liberté eehhh
Mwana ya afrika aaa
The lyrics of Papa Wemba's song Esclave express the singer's identification with his African roots and a longing for freedom from the shackles of colonialism and slavery. The song opens with a question 'Likambo nini na ngai' which means 'what's wrong with me', followed by a self-affirming statement 'ni mwana ya mama', meaning 'I am my mother's child'. This shows the singer's inner conflict and the search for his identity as a descendant of slaves.
The lyrics go on to mention various African and Black leaders, including Martin Luther King, Bob Marley, and Nelson Mandela, as well as notable women like Essi Smith and Soeur Maria Thereza, who fought for Black rights and freedom. The phrase 'Liberté ya ngai mwana ya afrika' meaning 'My freedom, the child of Africa' is repeated throughout the song to emphasize the desire for emancipation.
The song also includes some lingala phrases such as 'mbokali saki ngai na bambasi ya papa yaho' which means 'my loincloth is made of my father's bamboo stick' and 'zela molai oh zela ya zanzibar' which means 'slowly walk, o walk of Zanzibar.' Overall, the lyrics of Esclave are a powerful message of unity and freedom, encouraging Black people to embrace their roots, resist oppression, and strengthen their resolve to claim their place in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Likambo nini na ngai
What is my problem?
Ni mwana ya mama hahaha
I am just a son of a mother
Nilikama nini na ngai
What did I do wrong?
Mwana ya mama oohh
Just a son of a mother
Mbokali saki ngai na bambasi ya Papa yaho
I have been suffering with chains on my feet under Papa Yaho's supervision
Na nyakwa maki na fimbo ya Papa yaho
I was hit with Papa Yaho's stick many times
Obome linga ba nzambe nyoso Yafrika Enga yeyee
I pray to all gods of Africa
Aaa yoo Abba yeyo Angaa yee Angaa yee ama
Please hear me and help me
Ba ugu namerika naseinzera ma simyo Ba ugu nafrika mo nyororo na ...
People in America are dancing to the music while Africa is still in chaos.
Mbo teki nai nazanga tipo tipo Zela molai oh zela ya zanzibar
I walk slowly like a snail to Zanzibar
Nakei ehh nabeiii Kosalela nangambe bomba
I cry and beg for mercy
Martin Ruther King Essi smith Bob Marley Arisola zara kaize nkorera paise ya bombo
Mentioning legends who fought for freedom
Nkorera kana bango Namitu naka baba yoba takamba nameriika ahh
My ancestors were also taken away as slaves to America
Badeko ba ngai kiribota maka Sakiba zari kona toyobana kate eehhh
My friends were all killed, and I was left alone wandering in the jungle
Kasina yebi kozari na guadeloupe martinique na Luberi quartoni basusu baliko na au antille eeehh
Others are sold as slaves to Guadeloupe, Martinique, or sent to the Antille islands
Na Nelson Mandela Desmond tutu Soeur Maria Thereza
Mentioning more freedom fighters
Nasimbo mayatengama monyoko ri na sura afrika
African beauty should not be suppressed
Liberté Liberté ya ngai mwana ya afrika
Freedom, my freedom, the freedom of an African son
Nako sema ehh iii Oohh ya ko sema ni
I will keep talking, speaking out
Winnie Mandela Wataluka liberté Mwana ya afriikaaa
Winnie Mandela, to get freedom for an African son
Eeh na kolera ehh Na kosenga ehhh Oya to simba ni
I will shout and shake until I'm heard
Zilze Mandela Pota loka liberté Eeh na kolera ehh iii Na ko ssengaa ooh iii
Mentioning Nelson Mandela, talking about freedom, and shaking and shouting until I'm heard
Yawe yo kangai mawa eeh ii O ya kosema ni Winnie Mandela Boto luka liberté eehhh Mwana ya afrika aaa
Calling upon Winnie Mandela to help free an African son
Writer(s): PAPA WEMBA
Contributed by Alaina I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@lisaaude3925
MEILLEURE CHANSON À LA MÉMOIRE DES TOUS NOS ENCEINTRES ET NÔTRE COMBAT CONTINUE CAR JUSQU'AUJOURD'HUI L'INJUSTICE EST TOUJOURS LÀ... ADAMA TRAORÉ 😭
@mariogrechi1840
African music is alive and well...
@michaelmalutshi3613
Une légende qui ne s'est jamais reconnue. Tellement humble!
Tu as bercé ma jeunesse!
@lecjm4552
Quand les gens écouteront ce titre ils sauront que Papa est le meilleur! Lequel morceau j’ai découvert il y a une dizaine d’années
@user-ow1ze2gd6i
Stp jv parlé avec toute franchise, aujourd'hui toutes la jeunesse savent que Fally est la nuit est les temps
Mais jsuis effondré
@user-ow1ze2gd6i
Sans fausse modestie
Ces sont mes analyses
@nathanmesia9223
LE ROI DE LA MUSIQUE CONGOLAISE ET AFRICAINE
FOREVER 🕊️🕊️✊🏾✊🏾😭😭🙏🏾❤️
@coolio1484
Papa Wemba is more than a legend, he is unique !
@stephanieyelima2080
Paix à ton âme papa Wemba❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
@orelienskisuka5845
Les vraies chansons de la révolution