Sam Mangwana

Sam Mangwana is one of the Congo's greatest musicians. A stylistic maverick who's flirted with salsa, highlife, Afrobeat and soukous, Mangwana has been part of some of the Congo's most legendary bands. He started playing with Tabu Ley Rochereau when he was just 17 years old, was a founding member of Les Quatres Etoiles and collaborated with soukous great Franco through the 1980s. He's sung in a wealth of languages, including Lingala, French, Portuguese, Kiswahili and English -- to name a few -- and is now based in Paris.