KOKOKO! is a collective born in Kinshasa capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a creative collision of different artists which fused at a block party. It consists of musical instrument inventors from the Ngwaka neighbourhood, electronic producer débruit, Makara Bianko (aka the Lingwala devil) and his dancers bursting forth from the Lingwala neighbourhood.
They’re best known for creating a contemporary aesthetic all their own by re-wiring and up-cycling materials such as metal, cans, engine parts and plastic containers found in Kinshasa’s streets into vital sculptural resonant dance music. Their distorted fast rhythms and spontaneous lo-fi electric sounds provide the chaotic soundtrack for the city’s harsh yet abundantly creative realities.
It’s a brand new scene – radical, dangerous and thriving in a country whose political instability is felt first and most urgently on the streets of Kinshasa, an urban patchwork stretching further than the eye can see in Africa’s 3rd largest capital city. KOKOKO! is the spectacular sonic backdrop, the new, no holds barred aesthetic emanating from the downtown clubs (in between the government-imposed power cuts).
