Search - Koffi Olomide :: V12

Koffi's best Tcha-Tcho(sweet and soft rumba) video to date.

Pierre.Mvuyekure@uni.edu | CEDAR FALLS, IOWA | 09/07/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Koffi Olomide is undisputably one of the best and leading musicians from Congo/Zaire, with ballads and a voice like the American Luther Vandros's. The video V12 11 CUTS attest to this. From "Andrada" through "Miss Toutsi" to the last clip, I was overwelmed by the choreography, the movements of the hips (Loketo in Lingala), the syncopated Congolese rumba mixed with Cuban rumba and salsa. He introduces new dance steps as well, including Sankele. Of course, I wasn't sitting down; I was swaying my hips (letf, right,back and front) and really getting down, trying to learn new moves from Koffi Olomide and his Quarier Latin band and dancers. Truly, this is a must-have video collection. Look for ALTIMATUM and LOI video collections as well. I's all Tcha-Tcho--this is how Koffi describes his music, as in "Tcha-Tcho eza mayi" [Tcha-Tcho is water--smooth rythms of life] in the opening song on V12 11 CUTS."

Koffi Virgins ALERT:

Brian Bolles | Boulder, Colorado, USA | 04/10/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It was 97 degrees out in the streets of Mombasa, Kenya, that day in March of '98. 115 if you count the humidity index factor. Sweat was rolling off my brow, like monsoon rain of a tin roof. I stepped inside the music store--a haven from the heat. As I began looking around, I asked the woman working the counter who was a good African music artist that she recommended. "Koffi Olomide," she replied. "He is da best. Do you know him?" "No," I responded. "He is vedy popular all over Africa. He is vedy good. He just made a new CD. I'll show you." To both of our disappointment, the "new" CD was already sold out. So she referred me to his next most recent CD, "V12." I listened to a couple songs she sampled for me on the store's sound system. After just a few syncopated notes, I was convinced she was right and bought the CD. I walked into the store a Koffi "virgin." I walked back out and forgot about the heat-- I was hooked from that point on. Being a foreigner, I still don't understand what's being said in the words, but Koffi's music works its magic in my mind. It carries me back to a mix of gold savanna, silhouetted acacias, animal prides, brilliant patterns, swaying bodies, working hands, dancing feet, and broad, hopeful smiles. What a celebration of rhythm, chorus, beat and soul-- traditional african harmonies blended with a modern pulse. I feel privelaged to join the multicountry praise for this artist -- even if this wasn't his best work at the time. I'm now back in the States searching Amazon.com for the rest of his collection!"

Just the Best

Pierre.Mvuyekure@uni.edu | 10/04/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Koffi has become most powerful, I don't know when he will stop, he just keep going and going. His music has awaken each year."