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 The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

(Congo-Brazzaville). He was once a member of the Congo Music band

TPOK Jazz OK Jazz, later renamed TPOK Jazz (short for ''Tout Puissant Orchestre Kinois de Jazz''), was a Congolese rumba band from the Democratic Republic of the Congo established in 1956 and fronted by Franco. The group disbanded in 1993, but reformed i ...

which dominated the Congolese music scene from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Music career with OKJazz

Youlou Mabiala was born in Linzolo, a suburb of

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

, 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

, in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

(Leopoldville), as a vocalist and composer. After initial stage jitters, he settled in under the tutelage of

Vicky Longomba Victor Longomba Besange Lokuli, commonly known as Vicky Longomba, (13 December 1932 – 12 March 1988 in Kinshasa) was a singer and a founding member of Tout puissant OK Jazz, a Congolese rumba group. He later formed his own group, Lovy du Zaire. ...

. Youlou Mabiala is credited with composing the following songs for the band, among others: * ''Celine'' * ''Kamikaze'' * ''Asumani'' * ''Ledi'' * ''Massi'' * ''Lekwey'' (credited to both Franco & Youlou) 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 The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...

in Europe and North America. In 1977, Youlou left OKJazz for good.

Music career post OKJazz

After he left TPOK Jazz in May 1977, Youlou formed

Trois Frères ''Trois'' is a 2000 erotic thriller film directed by Rob Hardy and produced by William Packer. It stars Gary Dourdan, Kenya Moore and Gretchen Palmer. The film was given a limited theatrical release and was one of the years highest grossing Afr ...

with Loko Massengo,

Mose Fan Fan Mose Se Sengo ("Fan Fan") (16 October 1945 – 3 May 2019) was a guitarist, composer and band-leader from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was one of the pioneers of Congolese Soukous. Background Mose Se Sengo, was born in present-day K ...

, Michel Boyibanda and others. They performed mainly in

. In the 1980s, he sang with the band Kamikaze Loningisa, releasing the song ''Djeliba'', among others. On 15 August 2004, while taking part in the National Independence celebrations at the Présidence de la République hotel in

Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire (; kg, Njinji, french: Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Before t ...

, Youlou Mabiala suffered a

cerebral vascular accident Stroke (also known as a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or brain attack) is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to ...

(stroke). After initial stabilization in a hospital in

, he was airlifted to a facility in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

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 ...

. Following discharge from hospital, he remained in France for rehabilitation.

Personal details

Prince Youlou Mabiala is married to one of the daughters of the late

François Luambo Makiadi François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi (6 July 1938 – 12 October 1989) was a Congolese musician. He was a major figure in 20th-century Congolese music, and African music in general, principally as the leader for over 30 years of TPOK Jazz, the most po ...

References

External links

Overview of Legacy of Franco and TPOK JazzInterview with Simaro Lutumba in 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mabiala, Youlou Living people Republic of the Congo musicians 1947 births Soukous musicians TPOK Jazz members

Music career with OKJazz

Music career post OKJazz

Personal details

See also

References

External links