Led by charismatic singer and percussionist Gladys Samba, the female group Les Mamans du Congo was born in 2018 in Brazzaville. In a project where dance merges with ancestral Kongo lullabies, the five mothers sing in Lari language the history of their people and the daily life of Congolese women by setting it to music on complex rhythms played with forks, plates, pestles and recovery equipment. At the initiative of the French Institute of Congo, the Coopérative de Mai and the Jarring Effects label, the women’s collective meets the French producer RROBIN, a specialist in hip-hop and house beats. He was already interested in new African urban voices on his debut album Deluge where South African rapper Spoek Mathambo was among the guests. After a few EPs focused on futuristic electronic music, here he is in October 2019 in Brazzaville alongside Céline Frezza (co director of the Jarring Effects label, sound engineer and coordinator of the famous Nola Is Calling project) for a new musical adventure taking place in the Republic of Congo, initiated by Marie Audigier, director of the French Institute of Congo. As soon as they arrive, they meet Maman Glad’ (Gladys Samba) in her cultural center, Kudia, located in the popular Bacongo district, a meeting place for artists, musicians and dancers. They will immediately imagine a common project. To link the dreamlike universe of Les Mamans du Congo with the electronic textures of RROBIN, Armel Malonga, bassist of the legendary Congolese singer ZAO, is in charge of the artistic direction of the project. This new musical combo record the album in ten days, which will be mixed and mastered at the legendary Jarring Effects studio in Lyon, the Rumble Inn. On this album where the mesmerizing choirs revisit the tradition of the ancient Kongo kingdom, the electronic percussions and the grime sounds of RROBIN’s machines come to carry the committed words of their leadeuse Mama Gladys, who alternates sweet voice to rock and powerful rap to raise awareness.
