Ndombolo is a dance from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, that is also popular in other African countries such as

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

and

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, who consider it as a music genre. This style of fast music, currently dominating dancefloors in central, eastern and western Africa and has since been performed by

Dany Engobo Dany Engobo is a Congolese musician and leader of ''Les Coeurs Brises''. He started his music career in Brazzaville. He worked with a guitar maestro Diblo Dibala in most of his songs. He moved to Paris Paris () is the capital and most po ...

Awilo Longomba Awilo Longomba is a Congolese soukous musician. At first a drummer in Viva la Musica, Stukas, Nouvelle Generation and Loketo, he left drumming for singing and released his first album ''Moto Pamba'' with help from Shimita, Ballou Canta, Dindo ...

, Aurlus Mabele,

Koffi Olomide Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba (13 July 1956), known professionally as Koffi Olomidé, is a Congolese Soukus singer, dancer, producer, and composer. He has had several gold records in his career. He is the founder of the Quartier Latin Internati ...

and groups like Extra Musica and

Wenge Musica ''Millettia laurentii'' is a legume tree from Africa and native to the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The species is listed as "endangered" in the IUCN Red List, principally due to ...

, among others.

Modern ndombolo (2014-present)

After years of decline of ndombolo output, partly caused by the emigration of popular ndombolo artistes to European countries, such as

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, especially after the

Second Congo War The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...

, Congolese artiste

Fally Ipupa Fally Ipupa N'simba (born December 14, 1977), known by his stage name Fally Ipupa, is a Congolese singer-songwriter, dancer, philanthropist, guitarist and producer. From 1999 until 2006, he was a member of Quartier Latin International, the music ...

released ''Original'' which became one of the biggest African songs of 2014, renewing interest in the genre. This was followed by popular releases such as ''selfie'' and ''Tshou Tshou'' ''Tshou'' by

and also the popular ''Ecole'' by Fally Ipupa. New generation ndombolo artistes have emerged from Congo, like

Innoss'B Innocent Balume, known by his stage name Innoss’B, is a Congolese singer-songwriter, rapper, percussionist, and dancer from Goma, Congo DRC. In addition to adapting modern styles like Afrobeats and hip-hop, Innoss'B is a skilled djembe player ...

, Robinio mundibu,

Gaz Mawete Gael Kapia Mawete (born September 30, 1991), known professionally as Gaz Mawete is a Congolese singer-songwriter and dancer originally from Democratic Republic of the Congo he's also known for his song " ''Olingi Nini''" that went viral on YouT ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

based BM. Inoss'B released a remix of his popular song ''Yope'' with popular Tanzanian

bongo flava Bongo Flava (or Bongoflava) is a nickname for Tanzanian music. The genre developed in the 1990s, mainly as a derivative of American hip hop and traditional Tanzanian styles such as taarab and dansi, with additional influences from reggae, ...

artiste

Diamond Platnumz Nasibu Abdul Juma Issack (born 2 October 1989), popularly known by his stage name Diamond Platnumz, is a Tanzanian bongo flava recording artist, dancer, philanthropist and a businessman of Ha heritage. He is the founder and CEO of WCB Wasafi R ...

, which went on to become one of Africa's biggest songs of 2019, surpassing 150 million views on YouTube 18 months after its release. BM's released popular song ''Rosalina,'' featuring Ndombolo artiste

, gave rise to the ''RosalinaChallenge'' trend of videos after an increase in popularity of the song. Ndombolo has also spread to regions outside central Africa, such as in France. French artistes of Congolese origin such as

Dadju Dadju Djuna Nsungula (; born 2 May 1991), better known by the mononym Dadju or at times Prince Dadj, is a French singer. He was signed to the label Wati B and in 2017 signed with Polydor Records of Universal Music Group. He was a member of the m ...

Gims Gandhi Bilel Djuna (; born 6 May 1986), better known by his stage name Maître Gims () and more recently just Gims (, ; sometimes stylized as GIMS), is a Congolese-French rapper, singer and songwriter. He grew up in France and currently lives i ...

Naza The Naza Group of Companies is a Malaysian business conglomerate involved in many types of business ranging from motoring to education. The group began operations in 1975 as a motor trading company. The motoring sector remains the most impo ...

and popular French hip hop group 4Keus have produced successful ndombolo songs, singing in French instead of

Lingala Lingala (Ngala) (Lingala: ''Lingála'') is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree in ...

, the primary language of most Ndombolo songs. Bongo flava artiste

has also released successful crossover ndombolo Swahili songs, such as ''Yope'' with Innoss'B, ''Inama'', a collaboration with Fally Ipupa and ''Waah'', a collaboration with popular Congolese artiste

Censorship attempts

The hip-swinging dance to the fast pace soukous ndombolo has come under criticism on claims that it is obscene. There have been attempts to ban it in

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. After an attempt to ban it from state radio and television in the

in 2000, it grew in popularity. In February 2005, ndombolo music videos in the DR Congo were censored for indecency, and video clips by Koffi Olomide, JB M'Piana, and

Werrason Noël Ngiama Makanda known professionally as Werra Son, is a Congolese musician December 25, 1965 in Moliambo, a small village in western DRC, in Kikwit region, Kwilu District. Werrason is one of the founding members of musical band Weng ...

were banned from the airwaves.Anger at Cameroon dance ban; BBC News
", ''BBC News'', July 25, 2000
, ''Lifestyle News'', February 11, 2005"
", ''Daily Nation (Kenya)'' October 11, 1998

References

{{Genres of African popular music Democratic Republic of the Congo music Dance music genres