Interview December 3, 2024
Les Mamans du Congo: Saving the Past for the Future

One of the most interesting acts we saw perform at WOMEX this year was Les Mamans du Congo. The group marries the natural, the found and the electronic to create their unique sound. French producer Rrobin provides the electronic elements, while Gladys Samba and four other women sing, dance, and play percussion from recycled household goods, but also natural sounds, like sifting sand, or blowing through reeds into bowls of water. On hand, as well, was Gladys' husband, renowned Congolese jazz bassist Mel Malonga, who has worked with artists including Rido Bayonne, Ali Farka Touré, Lokua Kanza, Meiway and Damon Albarn, and serves as artistic director of the project.


Samba has said the impetus for this project was born first out of the desire to call attention to the imbalance of women's place in Congolese society, who are generally relegated to domestic duties and second-class status though, she explains, this was not always the case. Also, Samba decided to focus on traditional children's songs that are filled with life lessons that were quickly disappearing into history because young people weren't showing interest in preserving them. By bringing in hip, electronic beats, she hoped these songs would find a fresh and new life among the next generation. And, according to Samba, this mission has been a success.

Samba's own journey was fraught with life lessons as she fought her way to adulthood. As a young girl who lost both parents, she worked in the cassava fields of her village, but then went on to earn a secretarial degree and worked in Brazzaville. But when war broke out in 1997, she returned to her village. Throughout all this, music and art remained her passions – even though her brothers looked down on her. To them, to sing on a stage was akin to prostitution. She has said that often she would come home from concerts and the door was locked, so she had to sleep outdoors. That all changed when she started to earn a living doing it.

Samba is today an empowered symbol of what women in Congo can achieve. While starting this project, she was also teaching visual arts at a school, running a nonprofit that helps women start their own business, and managing her own restaurant.

We were able to sit down with Samba briefly after their sound check, along with Rrobin who served as interpreter, to discuss a bit of her journey. The following has been edited for both length and clarity.

Ron Deutsch: I've heard you speak about how one of the intentions of this project is to amplify and empower women's voices in the Congo. You are a very strong, vocal and outspoken woman. Why do you think it is that this has been easier for you to be this way, and yet ir remains hard for others at home?

Gladys Samba: It was easier for me because I lost my mother very early and life forced me to fight alone. And so I encountered a lot of problems in my life where I had to look for the solutions myself. But when you lose a mother very early – I was six years old and growing up with siblings – it's not the same affection you receive. So suddenly, it already gives you the desire to grow up quickly, the desire not to count on someone else, and to trace your own path. It was very difficult, very difficult. You cannot rely on somebody; you can't rely on anybody. You are called upon to fight, that's it. Really, that's what made me strong.

Yes, my father was there, but not all the time. He worked from morning to night. And then there are the other little ones.And so I was alone taking care of them. Now I already had older brothers in high school, and I was in school too, but there are taboo things in our culture. For example, an older brother cannot wash his little sister. On the other hand, a big sister can wash her little brother. I had older sisters, but they died during the events of the wars in the country. And so I stayed with my five older brothers and a little sister and little brothers. I was forced to learn to wash myself and the little ones.

I was lucky with my father, though, because he directed the women's choir at church. He was the one who played the role of mother and who taught me to sing lullabies. And he often spoke to me about our roots, where we come from as Congolese. So he was talking to me about that, saying to me, “Listen, you mustn't forget your tradition. You mustn't forget where you come from, because you are a Mampinga. You are a warrior of Mampinga.” That's the luck I had. My father, he didn't give up on teaching me my culture, my language, and the music of our country. All that, the role, it's my father who did it. But then I lost my father as well. I was almost 16 years old then. And I had to be the mother now. So, he didn't really see me grow up. But I know he's proud of me where he is. He sees what I've done.

My understanding is that these songs carry stories that are, like, metaphors of larger issues, bigger things. They're not just children's songs, but they carry some message that one should have throughout one's life. Can give me an example of this kind of song?

For example, there is a song “Perle Precieuse” (“Precious Pearl”). In it, a child has lost his pearl and asks his parents and big brother, “Where is the lost pearl?” The answer they tell the child is that it's behind the house. But behind the house is the school, though the school is not mentioned in the song, but it's understood. And the child comes to understand that the pearl is, in fact, knowledge. And if you look for knowledge, you have go to the mbongi, which is not the day school, but is the meeting place for people of all generations. Because many children lost their parents and so it is in the mbongi they are educated and learn how to grow up, how to know everything that happens in society. They go in the morning and in the night – before and after school. So many people, when we sing the song there, take it literally, that it is about a real pearl. You go to find the pearl, but that's not it, that is the first level. But in the second level, we see it refers to all the education that is behind the house.


This is not just a musical project; it has a higher purpose. Can you talk about that a bit? And do you see the music making an impact in Brazzaville, even in just the city, or beyond. Are you recognized at home for what you are trying to do with this project?

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. Everyone knows me in my country.

This project is already a way to raise awareness among people about what is happening in Africa and about what is happening in the daily lives of African women. Also our music is about sharing, friendship, living together with people from the West, the South, the North, everyone. We are all the same. So the main message is diversity, and diversity colors the world, whether it is black, red, green, yellow, blue – well, blue does not exist – but everyone. Because we all have blood, and nature wanted it to be like that. And we can play, eat, work, and love together. It is a message of unity.

Any thoughts of running for president?

(Laughs) Many people would like to see a woman president, but it's not for me.

Thank you for your time and have a good showcase tonight.

Merci.

Image by Jacob Crawfurd
Image by Jacob Crawfurd

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