Staff Benda Bilili

2010 at "Palmengarten" in Frankfurt am Main

Music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Genres
Rumba Madiaba Mutuashi Soukous Folk music Pop music
Regional music
Algeria Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Central African Rep. Comoros Congo (ROC) Congo (DRC) Côte d'Ivoire Djibouti Madagascar Mali Mauritius Morocco Rwanda Senegal Seychelles Togo Tunisia

Staff Benda Bilili are a group of street musicians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They live around the grounds of the zoo in the country's capital city, Kinshasa, and play music which is rooted in rumba, with elements of old-school rhythm 'n' blues and reggae. The core of the band consists of four senior singers/guitarist, who are all disabled (they had poliomyelitis when they were young) and move around in spectacularly customized tricycles. They are backed by a younger rhythm section consisting of abandoned street children who were taken under the protection of the older members of the band. The soloist is an 18 year-old boy (2009) who plays guitar-like solos on an electrified one-stringed lute he designed and built himself out of a tin can.

Staff Benda Bilili have earned the 2009 Artist Award at Womex (World Music Expo).

Staff Benda Bilili have sought to raise awareness about crimes against humanity in Democratic Republic of the Congo, contributing to the Enough Project and Downtown Records' Raise Hope for Congo compilation.

Background

Staff Benda Bilili was formed by Ricky Lickabu and Coco Ngambali with other people with polio as other bands in Kinshasa would not work with them and was later joined by a teenager, Roger Landu, who fashioned his own instrument from an empty fish can, a piece of wood and a guitar string. The band rehearsed in Kinshasa zoo, because it was a quiet location, and played the streets of Kinshasa until they were heard by Vincent Kenis, a Belgian record producer specialising in Congolese music, who arranged for the band to record their debut album, Tres Tres Fort ("Very Very Strong").

The "voting song"

In 2006, Staff Benda Bilili's song Let's Go and Vote ("Allons Voter"), written and performed by the musicians, was played repeatedly in the run-up to the 2006 historic polls on radio and television stations; it was reported to be responsible for a 70% increase in voter turnout. The credits on the video clip says it was produced by Monuc UN Mission in DR Congo and distributed by the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The musicians were not offered contracts, but were reportedly paid $50 each. Staff Benda Bilili have filed a lawsuit in the Congolese courts seeking $100,000 for Monuc's use of their music.

The videos and the film

Staff Benda Bilili were featured in the documentary film Jupiter's Dance, by Renaud Barret and Florent de la Tullaye (aka Belle Kinoise), who have been documenting the band's progress since 2005. They shot several videos, which have become quite popular on the Internet.

Barret and de la Tullaye have finished a feature-length documentary on the band. Benda Bilili! has been selected by the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors' Fortnight) at the 2010 edition of the Cannes Film Festival, and premiered on May 13, 2010 to critical acclaim on the opening day of the Quinzaine.

Career

Staff Benda Bilili at the Eurockéennes de Belfort 2011

Entitled Très Très Fort, the band's debut album was released on Crammed Discs in March 2009. It was produced over the course of three years by Crammed's Vincent Kenis (known for introducing and producing bands such as Konono Nº1, Kasai Allstars, and for the Congotronics series). Kenis recorded the band mostly in the Kinshasa zoo. The album also contains four of Barret & de la Tullaye's videos.

Staff Benda Bilili's Très Très Fort album will also be released on vinyl by Crammed Discs, only as part of the limited-edition Congotronics Vinyl Box Set which includes most albums on the Congotronics series.

Initial media reactions to Très Très Fort were excellent, especially in the UK, the USA, and France.

In June 2010, Staff Benda Bilili contributed the song "Je t'aime" from Très Très Fort to the Enough Project and Downtown Records' Raise Hope for Congo compilation. Proceeds from the compilation fund efforts to make the protection and empowerment of Congo’s women a priority, as well as inspire individuals around the world to raise their voice for peace in Congo.^{[citation needed]}

Sources

• Smith, Caspar Llewellyn (1 November 2009). "From Kinshasa to your town: the incredible rise of Staff Benda Bilili". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/nov/01/staff-benda-bilili-congo-interview. Retrieved 1 November 2009. 

External links

• Staff Benda Bilili page on the site of the Crammed Discs label.
• Womex Artist Award page
• Appearance on BBC's Newsnight