Congolese musician Fally Ipupa performing at Wembley Arena last nightFally Ipupa is a superstar of African music. The 45-year-old is a master of Congolese rumba, a mesmerising form of traditional dance music based around melodic and repetitive guitar motifs with a large dollop of Cuban swagger. A friend who lived in Kinshasa until recently describes Ipupa as the Congolese equivalent of Ed Sheeran – a wildly popular and prolific household name. Six members of Ipupa’s 12-piece band were guitarists, and three of them acoustic, giving this dextrous music a satisfying depth. Tracks like Lady D saw the music move into soukous territory – a faster rumba variant popularised by fellow countryman Kanda Bongo Man.

Source: Forbes December 09, 2023 15:06 UTC