At the initiative of the French Institute of Congo, the Coopérative de Mai and the Jarring Effects label the project Les Mamans du Congo was born in 2018 in Brazzaville. Led by charismatic singer and percussionist Gladys Samba, the five mothers sing in Lari language the history of their people and the daily life of Congolese women by setting it to music on complex rhythms played with forks, plates, pestles and recovery equipment.
The women's collective meets the French producer RROBIN, a specialist in hip-hop and house beats. He was already interested in new African urban voices on his debut album Deluge where South African rapper Spoek Mathambo was among the guests.
On these explosive electronic hip-hop productions, punctuated by ancestral lullabies and the percussive flow of Maman Gladys, the group evokes many themes dear to the Congolese population. From the difficulties of people abandoning their villages and their loved ones to find work in Brazzaville (Bordel de Rap) to the emancipation of women in the face of family constraints and patriarchal society (Boum), Les Mamans du Congo & RROBIN are struggling by skillfully mixing metaphors and sound textures to offer an unpublished marriage between the world of rap and the Kongo cultural heritage.
To keep the "Les Mamans du Congo & Rrobin" project alive, an EP of 6 remixes is being prepared. Artists such as João Selva, Romane Santarelli or Fakear will revisit key titles from the album.
Stay tuned !
