Emotion

Papa Wemba

Released 13 March 1995

  1. Yolele
  2. Mandola
  3. Show Me The Way
  4. Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)
  5. Rail On
  6. Shofele
  7. Image
  8. Sala Keba (Be Careful)
  9. Awa Y'okeyi
  10. Epelo
  11. Ah Ouais (Oh Yes)

Liner notes

In the autumn of ‘94 Paris-based Zairois, Papa Wemba, was deep in the recording of this album, Emotion, at Real World Studios. “Making this record gave me the shivers,” declared Papa. “When I arrived in Paris to live and work, and aim my music at the international market, I remember Martin Messonier saying, ‘If your first album fails, if your second album fails… you’d better make sure the third one is a success!’ It’s not that I’m afraid to sing I’ve been singing for 25 years but on this LP I’ve taken a totally different musical direction, so I’m a little afraid of the public’s reaction. This is an emotional time, that’s why I must call this album Emotion.”

Papa Wemba is clearly on a mission. He is building on the legacy of his innovative 1988 album Papa Wemba, which was recorded in collaboration with producer Martin Messonier, and the aptly titled Le Voyageur album, which was released in Europe on Real World in ‘92.  For Papa the real agenda lies in the dream of worldwide notoriety.  To reach that international audience, artists like Papa Wemba must be willing to risk alienating the purists.

Photo credit: Douglas Kirkland

“My original group is there for my Zairean fans who come to hear typical African sounds,“ says Papa, “but when I decided to be a singer with an international name, I formed another group to appeal to a different public. I have never mixed the two since both of them represent different aspects of my musical personality. I believe they should remain separate because I am a singer who can follow more than one path. This is the third album in my adventure and it’s very special to me.”

On Emotion, Papa has renewed a working relationship with the acclaimed singer/songwriter Pascal Lokua Kanza. Papa explains: “Pascal’s very talented. He was originally asked to work on the backing vocals and arrangements in general, however, he has become more of an advisor and guide for my singing parts. He has been a great help to me because he is also a singer and we share the same mother tongue.” Papa has also hired keyboard player Jean-Philippe Rykiel, who played on Salif Keita’s Soro LP and more recently, Youssou N’Dour’s Wommat. Rykiel had contacted Papa after hearing Le Voyageur and was a natural choice to collaborate on this album: “I thought of him immediately… he’s a genius.” Papa performs here without his usual backing vocalists Reddy Amisi and Stino – the harmonies are dealt with by two scintillating female vocalists. He has also recorded a cover of ‘Sad Song’ by Otis Redding, his favorite American singer, as a duet with soul diva Juliet Roberts.

The most fascinating decision is the appointment of producer Stephen Hague. Renowned for his work with Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and New Order, he has never worked with an African artists before and it was clear as we spoke that Papa was joyous at the results. On this LP, Papa Wemba’s voice is heard as it has never been heard before; “I think Stephen understood from the beginning what I hoped to achieve with this album. He felt that the vocals were the most important part of each song and arranged the backing tracks in ways that would work best for my singing styles. Stephen, Pascal and I worked very hard on the vocals and took the time we needed to get the very best performances”.

Papa Wemba’s voice resonates deep inside, undoubtedly owing much to his mother “a pleureuse”, or professional mourner, who would cry and sing at funerals. Papa believes he inherited his mother’s way of singing, and that he would have become a griot or a jali had he stayed in the countryside, but instead he headed for the city and a life in the modern world. Nevertheless, Papa is a man linked to ancestors and to tradition and he will continue to sing in his first language, Lingala, rather than in French or English because it enables him to fully express the intensity of the lyrics and his emotions. He grins and admits, however, that on this LP he drops a few verses in English, “just to wink at the international market I’m aiming at.”

Papa’s musical roots were set down in 1969 when he and a posse of his contemporaries formed the group Zaiko Langa Langa. Like the youth in the rest of the world they were anxious for change and Zairean music experienced a total revolution. “We had been influenced by a lot of things Afro-Cuban music, rock, rhythm and blues from the States, plus our own traditional rhythms. After 1960, when Zaire became independent, things changed. The period of President Mobuto’s L’Authenticité helped us a lot musically because we went back to traditional music. On the radio there was no longer any foreign music. You couldn’t listen to foreign music unless you bought a record or heard it in a night club.

The official video for the album's opening track, 'Yolele', directed by Michael Coulson
Our heads were full, full, full of ideas. Our new direction evolved. We rejected wind instruments. We decided not to have just one lead singer. We wanted a group of singers— 2, 3, 4, 5 or even 6 singers, all singing at the same time with different animations and harmonies. Also, Zairean students studying in Belgium introduced electric instruments and the drum kit into the music. We were criticised by our elders because we didn’t follow the rules, we upset them ‘cause we did our own thing. It was rebellious, like pop music here, it was rebellion. Papa Wemba

In 1977 he formed his own band Viva La Musica, so-named after a Johnny Pacheco charanga track. In the words of Papa it was the dawn of another revolution. “I introduced a traditional instrument, the lokolé, into the music. Lokolé is a hollow tree trunk which you hit with two sticks, an instrument used like a cordless phone to communicate between the villages. I brought a new language into the music, a new way to express ourselves.”

Ironically one of the most significant decisions Papa Wemba made when initiating this group was not to do with the music but with style: “I decided to focus on the clothes to be very well dressed.” It was Papa Wemba who introduced the phenomenon of La Société des Ambienceurs et des Personnes d’Elegance (La Sape) and the youth of Zaire at home and abroad followed. “It gave us an identity.”

'Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)' features the vocals of soul diva Juliet Roberts

“Today, when the press speaks about Papa Wemba, it’s always La Sape. I don’t want to disassociate myself from that because it’s a look, a style, that I’ve created myself. I have an image, I still like to dress well, to be chic. But that doesn’t mean I am a ‘victim de la mode’. No, no, no, I am not a slave of fashion, I am first and foremost a singer, not a sapeur.”

It also gave them an opening. It’s precisely Papa’s love of high quality, designer clothes from the likes of Takeo Kikuchi or Yohji Yamamoto to Gianni Versace that endeared him to the fashion conscious media worldwide and introduced him and his music to a new audience. Today, the quest is to elevate him beyond being tagged a “fashion play”, to further extend his audience and ensure his musical longevity.

“When people talk about Papa Wemba, I don’t want them to say I am an African singer, or a world music singer. I would like people to say just ‘singer’. Because that’s what I am. A singer. Full stop.”

Original album sleeve notes by Paul Bradshaw

Listen

Reviews

  • ...The brightest, most accessible album of his formidable career. Wemba’'s pure, melodic vocals positively shine. The Observer (UK)
  • a selection of mouthwatering episodes... total emotional impact Vox (USA)
  • Papa Wemba is not the first African artist to attempt to internationalize his sound... but he’'s the rare artist who pulls it off. Rolling Stone (USA)
  • in terms of marrying precise, pop flash to an exuberant African (or, indeed, Latin) beat, this gets as close as almost anyone to the state of the art. Q Magazine

Credits

Papa Wemba vocals

The Musicians: Andy Duncan percussion & drums; Anne Papiri backing vocals; Christian Polloni keyboards & backing vocals; Jean-Philippe Rykiel keyboards; Julia Sarr backing vocals; The Kick Horns horns; Lokua Kanza guitars  & backing vocals; Maika Munan guitars, keyboards & backing vocals; Maurice Poto guitars, keyboards & backing vocals; Noël Ekwabi bass; Xavier Jouvelet percussion; Stephen Hague accordion; ‘Sad Song’: Juliet Roberts guest vocal; ‘Show Me The Way’: Lokua Kanza percussion & bass, Paco Sery drums, Udoh Essieh percussion.

Produced by Stephen Hague. Additional production and arrangements Lokua Kanza. Programming Stephen Hague. Engineered by Ben Findlay and Sam Hardaker at Real World & Rak, Alex Firla at Guillaume Tell, Stan Loubiere at Rak. Assistant engineers Maebh Flynn at Real World, Henry Binns and Graeme Stewart at Rak. Recorded at Real World Studios, Box, England and Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris. Mixed at Rak Studios, London, by Stephen Hague; ‘Sad Song’ mixed by Stephen Hague and Mike ‘Spike’ Drake.

A Real World DesignPhotography by Steve Pyke. Sleeve Notes by Paul Bradshaw.

Special Thanks to Stephen Hague, Lokua Kanza, Neal K. Cummings, Hiroshi Tsunoda, Mike Large, Amanda Jones, Tatiana Spencer, Junko Kameshima, Otis Redding, Shungu Ana and all the staff at Real World.

Further Listening

  • Molokai

    Papa Wemba

    Released 31 May 1998

    Named in honour of his band, Molokai is a live studio performance from one of Africa's greatest stars. The album collects classic hits and newer songs from the late 90s by Papa Wemba and is produced by John Leckie.
  • Mariama

    Pape & Cheikh

    Released 20 October 2002

    Mariama is a powerful and extraordinarily coherent slice of Africa - traditional and modern. Full of driving, funky rhythm and poignant, yearning melody, it combines a deep feeling for the enduring themes of African culture with an understanding of all the elements necessary to create a truly universal modern song.

Further reading

Emotion: Track by Track

As Emotion turns 25, we look at the song lyrics of the classic album.

Remembering Papa Wemba

Real World Records was devastated to hear of the untimely death of Papa Wemba.