Roga Roga

Ibambi Okombi Rogatien was born on August 31, 1974 in Fort Rousset (now called Owando), Congo. Introduced to music through a Catholic choir and then the Cogiex Stars group, he decided in 1993 to form an orchestra: Extra-Musica. Made up of Espé Bass, Kila Mbongo, Guy-Guy Fall, Durell Loemba, Quentin Moyasko, Oxy-Oxygène, Ramatoulaye Ngolali, Régis Touba and Pinochet Thierry, this first group gave the man who was to become known as Roga-Roga his first taste of music, a blend of Congolese rumba and ndombolo. After performing nationwide, including television appearances (on Variétés Samedi Soir), Extra-Musica unveiled their first album, Les Nouveaux Missiles (2015). Selling several tens of thousands of copies, the album carries the group to the title of African Revelation of the Year at the 1996 Ngwomo Africa Awards. With a high level of productivity, the albums Confirmation, Ouragan, État-Major and Shalaï being released between 1996 and 1999, Extra-Musica easily carved out a place for themselves on the Congolese music scene. Disrupted by disagreements in 1998, the group led by Roga-Roga held firm despite releasing new material at longer intervals. Other awards followed, including Best Group at the 1997 Africa Music Awards and Best African Group at the 2000 Kora Music Awards. After three Extra-Musica albums between 2001 and 2008, Roga-Roga went solo with Sorcellerie (Kindoki) in 2010. Recognized by the authorities the same year with the rank of chevalier de l'ordre du Mérite congolais, Roga-Roga's cultural influence in the country is growing. In addition to Contentieux (2014) and Oyo Ekoya Eya (2016), it's with Extra-Musica that the musician is back in the news in 2018 with their ninth album 242. Through national and international tours, Roga-Roga has gradually become a key figure in Congolese music.