Youlou Mabiala

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Youlou Mabiala
Birth nameYoulou Mabiala
Also known asGilbert Youlou Mabiala
Born (1947-03-06) 6 March 1947 (age 71)
Genres Soukous
Occupation(s)Composer, vocalist
Years active1960-2008
Associated acts TPOK Jazz
Somo Somo
Trois Frères
Lovy du Zaïre
Kamikaze Loningisa,

Gilbert Youlou Mabiala (born 3 March 1947), popularly known as Prince Youlou, is a Congo music recording artist, composer and vocalist, in the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). He was once a member of the Congo Music band TPOK Jazz which dominated the Congolese music scene from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Music of the Republic of the Congo

The Republic of the Congo is an African nation with close musical ties to its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Democratic Republic of the Congo's homegrown pop music, soukous, is popular across the border, and musicians from both countries have fluidly travelled throughout the region playing similarly styled music, including Nino Malapet and Jean Serge Essous. Brazzaville had a major music scene until unrest in the late 1990s, and produced popular bands like Bantous de la Capitale that played an integral role in the development of soukous and other styles of Congolese popular music. The Hip-Hop group "Bisso na Bisso" also hails from Congo-Brazzaville.

Republic of the Congo republic in Central Africa

The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa. It is bordered by five countries: Gabon to its west; Cameroon to its northwest and the Central African Republic to its northeast; the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the southeast and the Angolan exclave of Cabinda to its south; and the Atlantic Ocean to its southwest.

TPOK Jazz

OK Jazz, later renamed TPOK Jazz, was a soukous band from the Democratic Republic of the Congo established in 1956 and fronted by Franco. The group disbanded in 1993, but reformed in 1996.

Contents

Music career with OKJazz

Youlou Mabiala was born in Linzolo, a suburb of Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo. He began his music career in Brazzaville with local groups. In 1963, he joined the musical band TPOK Jazz, in Kinshasa (Leopoldville), as a vocalist and composer. After initial stage jitters, he settled in under the tutelage of Vicky Longomba.

Linzolo in Pool Department, Republic of the Congo

Linzolo is a small town and suburb of Brazzaville in the Pool Department of the Republic of Congo.

Brazzaville Place in Republic of the Congo

Brazzaville is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Constituting the financial and administrative centre of the country, it is located on the north side of the Congo River, opposite Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The population of the capital is estimated to exceed 1.8 million residents, comprising more than a third of the national populace, 40% of whom are employed in non-agricultural professions. During World War II, Brazzaville was also the capital of Free France between 1940 and 1942.

Kinshasa Capital in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kinshasa is the capital and the largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is situated alongside the Congo River.

Youlou Mabiala is credited with composing the following songs for the band, among others:

In 1972, Youlou was one of the musicians who defected from OKJazz to form the band known as Lovy du Zaïre, led by Vicky Longomba. Youlou then went on to form Somo-somo, with Jean Kwamy Munsi, Diatho Lukoki, Master Mwana Congo and Nona Simon.

He returned to OKJazz in 1975 and released the hit Kamikaze which was popular in Africa and among the African diaspora in Europe and North America. In 1977, Youlou left OKJazz for good.

The African diaspora consists of the worldwide collection of communities descended from Africa's peoples, predominantly in the Americas. Historically, ethnographers, historians, politicians and writers have used the term particularly to refer to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were enslaved and shipped to the Americas via the Atlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries, with their largest populations in Brazil, the United States and Haiti. Some scholars identify "four circulatory phases" of this migration out of Africa. Prior to the Atlantic slave trade, Arab traders took even more slaves from Sub-Saharan Africa, selling them to markets in North Africa and the Mideast.

Music career post OKJazz

After he left TPOK Jazz in May 1977, Youlou formed Trois Frères with Loko Massengo, Mose Fan Fan, Michel Boyibanda and others. They performed mainly in Brazzaville. In the 1980s, he sang with the band Kamikaze Loningisa, releasing the song Djeliba, among others. [2]

Michel Boyibanda is a soukous recording artist, composer, and vocalist in the [Republic of the Congo]]. He was once a member of the soukous band TPOK Jazz, led by François Luambo Makiadi, which dominated the Congolese music scene from the 1950s through the 1980s.

On 15 August 2004, while taking part in the National Independence celebrations at the Présidence de la République hotel in Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo, Youlou Mabiala suffered a cerebral vascular accident (stroke). [3] After initial stabilization in a hospital in Brazzaville, he was airlifted to a facility in Paris, France. Following discharge from hospital, he remained in France for rehabilitation. [4]

Personal details

Prince Youlou Mabiala is married to one of the daughters of the late François Luambo Makiadi. [5]

See also

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References

  1. Siddikh, Aboubacar (30 June 2008). "Asumani (Youlou Mabiala) - T.P. O.K. Jazz Télé Zaire 1975". Youtube.com. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  2. Tyler, Calamitous (17 November 2010). "Youlou Mabiala avec L'Orchestre Kamikaze Loningisa - Djeliba". Youtube.com. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  3. Ngaira, Amos (11 October 2010). "Franco's Legend Lives On As Fans Mark 21st Anniversary". Daily nation via In2eastafrica.net. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  4. Ngaira, Amos (31 August 2013). "Return of The Prince of Congolese Music". Daily Nation Mobile. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  5. Ngaira, Amos (30 May 2012). "The Rise And Fall of TPOK Jazz". Africa Review. Retrieved 13 April 2014.