Members of the famous Congolese band Super Mazembe. Inset: Alley Katele, the composer of ‘Kasongo’.
The ever-green hit, in which a woman begs her estranged husband to return home, is trending in Kenya, but with a social and political twist.
Orch Super Mazembe (also popularly known as Bana Mushosho) in the mid-1970s is once again riding a wave of popularity, as netizens use its song to pass cheeky, if not humorously-packaged messages to Kenya’s top political leadership.
The legendary Alley Katele, who wrote the song, was the chief composer of Super Mazembe. He also did the lead vocals to “Kasongo”.
Before the band members settled in Kenya in the mid-1970s, they were based in Zambia, where they also composed and recorded several songs in the Bemba language.
The Mazembe Band initially worked under revered Zambian musician and producer Nashil Pinchen Kazembe.
The Lingala composition titled “Kasongo” by Super Mazembe Jazz Band has lately become a vehicle for the delivery of comical yet searing political and social messages.
