Jupiter & Okwess

While rumba is one of the best-known music genres to have swept beyond the borders of the Congo, the fact remains that this African country offers a multitude of sounds, an inexhaustible spring of inspiration from which Jean-Pierre ‘Jupiter’ Bokondji and his musicians draw inspiration. The son of a diplomat, the singer soaked up rock, funk and R&B, both British and American, during his youth spent between Europe and the African continent, finally returning in the 1980s to settle in Kinshasa, the capital of his native Congo. With his group Okwess, the man they call The Rebel General has garnered acclaim internationally with his albums Hôtel Univers (2013) and Kin Sonic (2017), thrilling stages all over the world with dance inducing afro-rock/funk that perfectly blends traditional and modern sounds, all against a backdrop of social commentary. Released in 2021, the band’s most recent album Na Kozonga offers a full palette of grooves to incite listeners to dance.