Why Papa Wemba was so big a name!

This week will go down in the history of music as tumultuous, first was the death of Prince, and then came Papa Wemba and when we thought the week was about to end Billy Paul took his last breath.

These untimely deaths left the music fans across the world in a sombre mood especially given the manner in which they died, abruptly.

Prince 57 was found dead in his mansion whereas Papa Wemba, died at the age of 66 after collapsing on stage on Sunday morning.

As agreed these were all great artistes in their own right but one particularly caught the attention of the African audiences and beyond and that was Papa Wemba or Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba.

The tributes that have been pouring in have been just as phenomenal as the man himself who in his days preferred to be remembered just as a singer and not as anything else.

“When people talk about Papa Wemba, I don’t want them to say I am an African singer, or a world music singer,” he said. “I would like people to say just ‘singer’ because that’s what I am, a singer. Full stop,” according to the sleeve notes on his 1995 album, ‘Emotion’.

He died doing what he loved most, and that was music!

One thing that was common was the outpouring emotions as the world remembered a man whose music influenced artistes from around the continent.

Tanzania-based veteran Congolese singer King Kiki told the BBC’s Focus on Africa that during the days when he thought his music was waning he reinvented his music around Papa Wemba.

“He was one of the people whose stars shone so brightly. I tried to innovate my music through Papa Wemba’s music. He had so much love for it. He’s helped so many people through his music and lifted them up,” King Kiki told the BBC’s Focus on Africa.

For Femi Kuti it was a shock because he believes that Papa Wemba alongside people like his own father Fela Kuti opened the doors for the latter generation.

“He performed in a period of people like my father, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Manu Dibango - They always did Africa proud anywhere in Europe and America where they performed, and they opened doors for African musicians to tour Europe with great pride and respect,” Femi told the BBC’s Focus on Africa, a radio programme.

He added: Especially when you are playing African music in Europe and America, Papa Wemba’s name will be in the forefront of great names. It’s a name that was always there and will always be there. It’s not a name that will go away any time soon. Grammy Award winner Angelique Kidjo who worked with Papa Wemba on Manu Dibango’s album on a duet titled Ami Oh reflects at the time when they worked together with a nostalgic touch.

“He was a generous soul when it came to helping people, and he didn’t say much, but he observed a lot and when he spoke in that gentle voice everything he said was right on the spot,” Kidjo told BBC’s News Hour.

His dress sense is part of the narrative that touched Kidjo’s heart, she says Papa Wemba believed in defining ourselves as Africans and in the process refuse being stripped of humanity.

“People have always had stereotypes about us, and he was saying dressing well is not just a matter of money, not just something for Westerners, but that we Africans also have elegance. It was all about defining ourselves and refusing to be stripped of our humanity,” said the Wombo Lombo singer.

Of the many that the fallen star worked with was another pillar of Congolese music Koffi Olomide who was at one point a Papa Wemba protégé.

The two worked together in a 1996 album Wake UP which produced great hits such as Wake Up and Moussoukou Soukou and Naomi.

Koffi Olomide benefited from Wemba’s patronage, writing songs for him and playing in his bands and to him Congolese music has been blown apart.

Wemba helped to open up Congolese music to Europe and the rest of the world where he appeared often, gracing many festival stages with his band and dancers.

According to Rita Ray an analyst of African music, Papa Wemba was rebellious, prolific, a style icon, at times notorious and always innovative, who was well known as one of the pioneers of modern Congolese Soukous music.

He became the leader of the Sape - Society of Ambiance-ists and People of Elegance - whose members, the sapeurs, were known for their elegant style of dress.

“The Sapeur cult promoted high standards of personal cleanliness, hygiene and smart dress, to a whole generation of youth across Zaire,” Papa Wemba said.

“When I say well-groomed, well-shaved, well-perfumed, it’s a characteristic that I am insisting on among the young. I don’t care about their education, since education always comes first of all from the family.” To his dismay, the movement that started out as a means of establishing an identity for the youth at home and abroad was taken to extreme lengths and sapeurs begged, borrowed or stole to buy designer clothes they could not afford.

When he formed Viva la Musica he began to source and nurture a steady stream of the most talented musicians including the young Koffi Olamide and Reddy Amisi who would become household names in the world of soukous.

Papa Wemba was hugely ambitious but conflicted; he wanted to break into the World Music genre and sought the stature enjoyed by the likes of Yousou N’dour and Salif Keita.

But at the same time he wanted to preserve the sound he had worked hard to develop, so he maintained a band in the Democratic Republic of Congo to play his trademark brand of Soukous keeping his African fans happy.