"The Bantous of the capital", the benchmark orchestra of Brazzaville and the independence of the Congo

Audio 02:54

The Bantus of the Capital were the most famous Congolese group of the 1960s. DR

By: Sébastien Jédor Follow

On August 15, 1960, exactly 60 years ago, Congo-Brazzaville achieved independence, and as on each anniversary date of these independence, RFI brings you back to the musical atmosphere of the time. Today, with the group Les Bantous de la Capitale.

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The history of the music of Congo-Brazzaville is inseparable from what is happening on the other side of the Congo river in Kinshasa, formerly Leopoldville.

If the Bantu of the capital were indeed born in 1959 in Brazzaville, the members of the orchestra had met a few years earlier in the capital of the former Belgian Congo.

The year 1960 sees the Bantus crisscross all of West and Central Africa at the rate of independence: Benin, Chad, Central Africa and of course Congo-Brazzaville where the group performs on August 15.

On this title, "Mokili", the Bantu sing the hopes of the new Republic: "  Know it, young and old, the Congo was a country of 3 francs - There is a clear difference between the time of the elders and the our. " . The rise of the Bantu of the capital begins just after independence.

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  • Music
  • Anniversary of African Independence

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