africa

Staff Benda Bilili are a group of Congolese street musicians. They live around the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa, and play music which is rooted in rumba, with elements of old-school rhythm'n'blues and reggae. The core of the band consists of four senior singers/guitarist, who all disabled (they suffered from poliomyelitis when they were young) and move around in spectacularly customized tricycles.

Lobo (born Roland Kent Lavoie, July 31, 1943), is an American singer-songwriter who was successful in the early 1970s, scoring several Top 10 hits, including "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo," "I'd Love You to Want Me" and "Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend." Lobo's songs have been characterized by their sweet melodies, sumptuous instrumentation and soulful lyrics. This has made him well known outside the Western world, including Africa, India and Southeast Asia.

There are now at least two artists in this page. 1) François Luambo Makiadi (6 July 1938 - 12 October 1989) was a major figure in twentieth century Congolese music, and african music in general. He widely referred to as Franco Luambo or, simply, Franco. Known for his mastery of rumba and its later incarnation of soukous, he was nicknamed the "Sorcerer of the Guitar" for his seemingly effortlessly fluid playing. As a founder of the seminal group OK JAZZ, he is counted as one of the originators of the modern Congolese sound.