Sam Mangwana‘s work is a perfect example of music which has universal appeal, but his songs also have a very distinctive touch. ‘The Giant of Congolese Rumba’ is a seasoned traveler who speaks many languages. His family’s upheaval and exile may account for his extraordinary destiny.
Mangwana was born in Kinshasa in 1945. His parents were Angolan immigrants. From a very early age, Sam was affected by his family’s exile, but he knew how to make the most of his misfortune. He therefore developed a real thirst for travel and a genuine interest in other cultures.
«At that time, in Angola» the artist explains, «people were forced to work on the coffee plantations, even children as young as fourteen. My parents resisted colonisation and fled the oppression of the Portuguese administration. »
Mangwana grew up surrounded by music. His father owned a large grocery store in Kinshasa (Belgian Congo), and his mother sang at important events (weddings, funerals, cultural festivals) as part of a social club for Angolan mothers. By listening to Radio Congo Belge, the young boy discovered the music of other countries (Cuba, Spain, Italy and the United States). Sent to boarding school, where he was taught by Salvation Army missionaries, Samuel Mangwana started off by singing in the Kasangulu church choir (Kasangulu is 40 kilometres from Kinshasa). «It’s almost by accident that I met Tabu Ley and Doctor Nico» says the man who has become a model for generations of budding musicians. «When I was just eighteen, they began to teach me the tricks of the trade». Since then, and despite his father’s disapproval, many bands competed to play with the young prodigy.
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