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After their first album, which received a standing ovation from the press and public in 2020, followed by a new EP, Kikento, released in the spring of 2023, Les Mamans du Congo & Rrobin are making a comeback with their new album Ya Mizolé!

With the first single Mpemba ("reason" in Lari), Les Mamans du Congo & Rrobin set the tone and color for their new album Ya Mizolé. This first single oscillates between captivating vocals and drill, and becomes the first trap track sung in Lari language. With this track, Gladys Samba, the group's leader, once again defends Congolese heritage and the values inherited from the Kongo Kingdom. The refrain "you'll prove me right one day" reminds us that we have to remember where we come from to know where we're going. The whole is propelled into a captivating Afro-futurist universe thanks to the variety of electronized, percussive rhythms orchestrated by Rrobin.

We'll be unveiling a second track on September 29. You'll have to wait until October 13, 2023 to get your hands on the new album on digital, CD and vinyl (pre-order available).

Les Mamans du Congo came into being in 2018 in Brazzaville as part of a project fusing dance with ancestral Kongo lullabies sung in Lari by the five mamans. The history of their people and the daily lives of Congolese women are brought together in music for the first time, with rhythms played with forks, plates, baskets, drumsticks and other recycled materials. Under the aegis of the Institut français du Congo and its director Marie Audigier, La Coopérative de Mai and Jarring Effects label, the women's collective led by the charismatic leader met with French hip-hop and electronic music producer Rrobin to continue their musical experimentation with Congolese heritage. The beatmaker, accustomed to artistic encounters, will join them in Brazzaville in 2019 alongside Céline Frezza (co-director of Jarring Effects label). An album was born and the lullabies have travelled the world. Their music has become a veritable musical laboratory, with Rrobin bringing his grime, drill, boom bap and digital riffs and layers to bear on the various rhythms found in the Congo. Electronizing percussion, rapping about Brazzaville's daily life and social events, preserving different values and heritages and passing them on to new generations, Les Mamans du Congo & Rrobin perpetuate memories and bring a new dimension to African music.

Chanter pour émanciper la femme africaine. Une rencontre unique entre les berceuses bantu du Congo, les musiques électroniques et le hip-hop.

1. jarringeffects.net