Kikento, “feminine power” in the Lari language marks the long-awaited return of the Mothers of Congo. Available on March 3, this EP once once more brings together the Brazzaville group and the French beatmaker Rrobin.
Driven by the charisma of singer Gladys Samba and the electronic productions of Frenchman Rrobin, Les Mamans du Congo are back with a new EP. In line with the eponymous opus which revealed them in 2020, Kikento is a manifesto for the emancipation of Congolese women. On the lines of a bass married to the dreamlike notes of percussion, at the crossroads of the worlds between rhythms of the province of Kongo Central, rap and afrobeats, Les Mamans sing of liberation, independence, modernity and traditions. While waiting for the release of the project on March 3 and a tour, two excerpts are already available.
“Ntima”, the heart in lari, might easily have appeared on the group’s first album. The softness of Gladys Samba’s voice, sublimated by the choirs, is soothing, worthy of one of those lari lullabies transmitted from mother to daughter. However, the subject matter is one of deep sadness. ” At the very beginning of our relationship, I told you that I had trouble coping with my sterility. Despite this, I lovingly raised the children of your first marriage. That’s what I’m paying for today! laments the artist of Makélékélé to a fictitious husband. His heart is “full of blood”, heavy. Sterility remains a taboo and frowned upon subject in Congolese society, and women often suffer the consequences in their homes. The chorus is then a cry from the heart, whose question-answer structure takes up that of nursery rhymes or children’s games of hide-and-seek.
The second single, “Sala Sala”, is much more dynamic. On a production that oscillates between house and frenetic funk at 130 BPM, the Moms enjoin effort and work. “Let’s not blame kundu (witchcraft) but stop laziness by emphasizing work. All trades are concerned by this call, the slightest effort is decried. It’s awareness: that the one who lets himself go does not accuse others of being mean because they do not take care of him. Sala mbo wa dia (to eat, you have to work)”. With this new EP KikentoLes Mamans du Congo offer an alternative vision of the future of the country and the continent, in which women have the power and the will to change their destiny.
Listen to “Sala Sala” in our “Songs of the Week” playlist.
