Les Mamans du Congo x Rrobin

The dynamic collaboration of Les Mamans du Congo X Rrobin brings a wellspring of joy out of the fractured region of the Congo.

WOMEX describes the connection of these artists as “a meeting between the Bantu lullabies of the Congo, electronic music and hip-hop. A hybrid project that gives pride of place to dance and highlights the daily lives of Congolese women in a bold and above all contemporary way.”

Les Mamans du Congo are a Congolese women’s collective led by singer Gladys Samba, known as Mama Glad, performing alongside Rrobin–a French electronic music producer and beatmaker. 

“The big purpose of the project is not just making music, the main purpose is to save matriarchal heritage and culture in the Congo. I realized all this culture, the songs, that the younger generation was about to lose it, because of modern culture. And mixing the ancestral tradition with electronic music allows the younger generation to re-appropriate it and this is having a big impact,” says Mama Glad speaking to Afropop Worldwide.

The songs, sung in the Lari language, are a mixture of traditional lullabies and contemporary liberation anthems that blister with complex rhythms–played with found instruments by the Mamans including forks, plates, baskets, and recycled materials, underpinned by Rrobin’s high-octane beats.

– EM