Reviews (page 5 of 7)
3 stars
Not bad, just not really my forte.
papa afrika
It wasn’t bad!
African pop music from the early 90s.
Nice but quite samey. Probably won't listen again.
It's always a pleasant surprise when you discover something relatively fresh where you expected something bland. A consistently entertaining album from French-speaking Africa. Perhaps a bit too mid-tempo across the entire runtime.
Groovy
This is pretty catchy stuff, lot of easygoing vibes, I don't understand enough French to know what's being said but I can't imagine it's that super-serious "African man you don't know your identity!" crap like Femi Kuti. I guess it's just good time music? I can picture people getting drunk and partying/dancing to this in the Congo. 3/5
3
Not for me. Not into this music. Sorry not sorry.
Not the worst thing I've ever heard, but I'll never listen to this again on purpose.
Nichts zu sagen, harmlose Musik. -1 Stern, weil Vergewaltiger
This album is way too repetitive and boring. The songs don’t really go anywhere and they go on for way too long. That is not a problem if you can settle into the groove, but I thought the music just wasn’t that good; it sounds so dated. I didn’t really like his vocals either.
This was interesting!
I really enjoyed, but I am undecided if this should be listed
334/1089 two songs in and i feel like this sound is quite dated so there might not be songs that i “love” or need to revisit here but getting albums like this that represent other cultures and sounds is exactly why this project excites me this album is really setting out the influences that created Waka Waka which is a song i’ve always loved i think it was a cute album but idk i think it’s age was too apparent 45/100
There was an animated Disney movie soundtrack quality to this album.
Quite forgettable
Hey a non-Western artist on this list! More of this please! That being said, while I definitely enjoyed branching out and think that this project is objectively quite pleasant, I'm not the biggest fan of percussion-driven music in general and found it to be tedious.
I see value in this kind of music but im really not fond of this genre.
All the songs kinda just sounded the same. I’m sure it was good, but just kinda boring.
Fun vibes and make you want to dance, but very repetitive and get a little old.
Not having heard him before, I chose to go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole to learn more. It was there that I learned that this man is truly heinous, with his article capping off with an 18 month prison sentence. Which coincidentally is the average length of one of his songs. 2/5: hints of something there, maybe I’ll learn more about Congolese music from someone that isn’t an absolute scumbag
no thanks, don't need this
Not my thing, at least it's happy and made me wanna dance
Well performed, but honestly kind of a snooze
Don't like ndombolo that much (his voice is sick tho)
Es como una onda tropical pero en un idioma q no conozco. No lo escuche todo perdón 💜
Occasionally settles into a groove I enjoy but too much of this is pop music that sounds backed up by an 80s Casio keyboard. Got about 2/3 of the way through and then switched to the dead milkmen.
Light, cheerful and with a commercial sheen that doesn't really appeal to me
Gode sommervibes. Albummet minder mig, ikke overraskende, om Stromae, der også synger på fransk og har draget inspiration fra afrikanske rytmer i sin musik og. kunne godt ønske at både albummet og de individuelle sange var lidt kortere. Det og hvis jeg var bedre til fransk ville nok hæve scoren.
turned it off 2 minutes into this like i kinda wanna sleep cause this is BOOOOOOORING. 2/5
Non merci, rendez-moi cette heure.
This was pretty good I’d give it a 2.75
Always happy to get a world music artist on this generator but maybe I need to be more discerning as this album did nothing for me. Every song on here seems a couple of minutes too long and although there were sections where I thought the song might spring into life it usually just drifted on and left me wondering how much longer it was going on for
2.5 que bajo a 2
Great musicality, upbeat, fun, "lion-kingy", cool. Though I don't understand any of the lyrics, the songs are still solid and impressive. Wouldn't listen again.
“…but you LOVE Ladysmith Black Mambazo!…”
Melody was generally pretty pleasant but it was just difficult to get into given the language barrier
Happy. Great for a summer party. I just don’t host those too often.
I wanted to like it more
Haut de gamme pour le Congo je n'émets aucun doute
The music doesn't do anything for me, but Koffi Olomide's Wikipedia page is a fascinating read.
Inoffensive but didn't really catch my ear. Songs went on for a long time
Might sound nice as a background soundtrack in a cafe/restaurant on holiday but other than conjuring imagery of warmer climes, this didn’t really hit a spot.
It was okay I guess
2.5 - ok
un peu banger mais pour un des seuls albums francophones de la liste ça tombe sur un violeur apparemment. mais sinon très bon album pour l'attraction africa cruise à nigloland
It’s a fun vibe at the beginning, but it all sounds the same after a while to my untrained ears
alors c'est pas mon style, j'ai pas détesté mais juste c'est pas le genre de musique que j'écoute. je ne peux pas en dire plus étant donné que je suis très inculte en matière de musique africaine.
Curioso al menos, no entiendo si llega a ser un disco brasilero o de origen africano pero tiene un aire tropical y alegre que es agradable, no me desperto ninguna chispa de genialidad en mi pero para el que le guste el genero sera una buena obra
fun and diverse at first but after the first 75min it all sounded the same to me. What started as decent background working music turned a bit annoying. I am sure it has relevance and brings in various instruments and styles that I am too layperson to appreciate.
Pues no es odioso pero digamos que la rumba congolesa no es lo mío. Y es de esos discos que hacen dudar un poco de la validez de esta lista. Me estás diciendo que de los 10 o 15 discos de estos 1001 que están en un idioma diferente al inglés, este es uno de los mejores de la historia? Ni en pedo.
Pretty samey and boring
This feels like it is a mainstream, simplified, accessible but watered-down version of this style of music. I don't know much about this style, but it feels adapted for my accessibility and I'd rather have something closer to the truth. For most of it, it made me move and was quite fun. Again... 'musical artist proves to be unpleasant character'#42 on this list. Quel surprise.
No thanks
Ikke min kopp med noen ting egentlig
Technically, this music is fine. Some might even describe it as good. But it might just be the least deserving entry on this list out of all 900 I've reviewed so far. For 1992, Olomide offers absolutely nothing new to the music world. Before this point, we had huge innovative pushes from the rock and jazz worlds, the rise and fall of punk, disco, and New Wave, the beginning of the grunge movement... But this? This is just uncreative. The average track length is also a little too long for comfort. Only one track, out of nine, clocks in at under 6 minutes. With no intra-track progression to speak of, this could only ever be background music – and exceptionally "safe" background music at that. But I can't hate it. The opener, Papa bunheur, acts as a perfect summer vacation soundtrack, even if it plays it extremely safe in terms of complexity. Two chords (I and V), various flutes and light percussive instruments, a happy guitar part (played by a bored guitarist), and group-singing/-shouting. It almost reads like the soundtrack of a corporate cruise ship getaway. Désespoir is positively riveting in comparison, even though it has a slower tempo and overall less energy. The breakdown in the middle is heavily reminiscent of Simon's I Know What I Know (Graceland, 1986), and it boosts the track's status high above the rest. It's worth noting that nearly every track uses those same two chords, and goddammit, it gets old *so* quickly. All the progress made from experimentation with new sounds in the 20th century, culminating in this snoozefest? (Guys, back me up here.) After a hefty amount of scrolling, the only two 5-star reviews I found included comments about how "boring" it was or that Olomide is wearing white pants on the cover. I remain unconvinced. 2/5 Key tracks: Désespoir
Pass
58# Am... what? Personally I don't really like it, it's funny and in a specific African party i could dance to it. I can understand it being here. It's important to have characteristic music from all over the world and I find it interesting (I've already listened to this kind of music before so it is that new to me). In this kind of music the voice has to shine and the vocalist needs to give their heart, cause the rhythms are kind of always the same thing over and over. Won't say the vocalist does a good job nor a bad job, but I think the first track pretty much sums up the whole album. Really long, it speeds up at the end, vocalist goes kinda bonkers. End. I'll be that guy and say this could've been another African album. This is too calculated
Context matters, so this album was listened to on a 1:00 AM drive north up the 400 after watching the film Hail Mary in IMAX. There was this terrible spring thunderstorm and I drove through constant lightning with intermittent torrential downpours, this album was an interesting copilot for the journey. Each song starts off like it's going to be the worst song ever, Disneyesque music begins each track and I'm annoyed that I have to listen to this whole thing.... but then something funny happens, all of a sudden it's six minutes later and I'm in a total vibe, the songs build into this chill space where your toes start tapping against your will. Then the song ends and the shit beginning of the next song starts. I don't think I've heard Congolese music before and not sure if I'll seek out any more, but... I don't know, just that I guess....2
Fine. Good sound. Background patio drinking music. Just not my vibe.
Musiken som drar igång under scenen i en Disney-film där hjältarna kommer till något nytt ställe och allt verkar mycket mer frid och fröjd än det egentligen är. Går inte på den lätta.
Lite enformigt.
Afrika-slop
This album was bright and fun and that carried it for the first half or so before I got very tired of it. It's definitely not a bad album, but it's certainly one I'll never listen to again.
A fun listen that at times has hilariously stuck in the 80's/90's production.
Zwei
Wanted to like this, but just weren't my jam.
What the hell was that? Had to look it up because I had no idea. Some dude from the Congo singing in French? He could sing at least, even if I couldn’t understand a word.
Dance music in a language I don’t know, it’s alright.
I really appreciate this style of music and enjoyed this for a couple of songs. Then it just got a little repetitive for my taste. Not really my thing but ok.
African style music, very special. Happy tunes.
witzig, mal Musik aus Afrika zu hören
Very happy album, I felt like I was on a beach somewhere…..
Of the 44 albums I've listened to so far, this is the most different one of the bunch without a question. I obviously didn't understand a single word the entire 58 minutes, but the music itself was such a big contrast in sound compared to other stuff I listen to normally. This is not an album I would listen to again, but it was fun listening to something from a different culture that I would've never heard otherwise. 2.5/5
too smooth for me
This seems like something that should feel more compelling than it is, and probably just suffers from being smoothed over in a very 1992 way.
Fine if not a little generic. Dudes a slimeball though. Way to fuck up the good will of your culture to the rest of the world.
I appreciate the music, but the songs could have been catchier.
Too long of an album for this kind of music
Not sure why you would recommend a foreign album if it’s in another language. At least with reggae they’re still kind of speaking English this is African. It sounds like Caribbean music. Every song sounds the same to me are very similar should I say. I mean I guess it’s cool if you’re at a bar and it’s in the background, but I’m not playing this at my house.
01/03/2026 I'm all for embracing different cultures and musical styles... but this was pants. Spotify listeners: 396.4k
Pretty nice listen, but definitely has some glaring 90s production. Wouldn't go back to this one.
Not my style of music but pretty good musicality
I like the change of pace for having some world music on here. I don't really know if this delivers though.
Ok, nothing special though. Sounds like holiday music for sunnier climates.
I respect it, but it just reminds me of music you’d hear in the background of a bar in the tropics when you’re on vacation and too often does it overstay its welcome.
it's feb in the midwest, it's cold, i'm sick, this album is not the vibe.
Don’t know enough about African music but I find it hard to believe this is among the best they have to offer. Feels like self-parody and the songs are mostly indistinguishable
Hmm... On the one hand, music is universal, and from that perspective this was passable, I guess. On the other hand, if a track predominantly features lyrics, then those lyrics are part of the experience, and it's been too long since I've used my French to know what's being sung here to fully appreciate this. Didn't hate it, but didn't get much from it, either.
Fransk latin varme på en kold dansk snevejrs dag.
Jeg forstår ikke sproget. Jeg forstår ikke kulturen. Jeg forstår ikke musikken. Det kunne lige så godt være lavet i en anden galakse. Jeg er ikke egnet til at vurdere det. Men det gør ikke mig nysgerrig på mere.
Unremarkable. Honestly, irritating. I mainly was bored and wanted it to end. The same exact rhythm/chant occupied the tail end of several tracks and I groaned every time. Maybe this just isn't for me, but I really could have died without listening to this.
Das war damals neu und lustig - heute wirkt diese Musik recht abgeschmackt
Felt that the songs were too long and some songs blended in to each other
2 sterne
Don't see what is particularly exceptional it's fine background music 2.5*
Instrumentals sound like free Casio demo songs and don’t really evolve at all over time. Vocals were fine and had some cool moments but after looking at the guy’s wiki it kinda ruined it lol
Teleports me to Disneyland. But its production isn’t that great. Solid but not great. Enjoyable but don’t need to listen to it again.
Just alright
It was fine but it didn't have too much goin on
I'm listening to royalty free albums you can't pronounce by abusive artists you've never heard of 2
Sounds like german "Schlager" african style...phew...
O álbum possui boas músicas muito tem gravadas, só que acaba sofrendo com o alagamento de algumas canções e do próprio Álbum. QoA Adonis New.
😂😂😂😂 can’t get over the title of track 1.
nice warm rumba with African sound. unfortunately not my style
i dont know how to evaluate this album, so im giving it a 2
Poor choice for this list
i will never listen to this again, but thats a personal taste thing than a judgement quality. this is a judgment quality tho, 2/5
Courtney: could be nice in a mixed playlist but it was a lot of really similar music all at once. It made me lose interest. Craig: “one big long Lion King”
Hardly essential. Starts out pleasant enough and quickly plummets from there. Guy sounds like a real pos too.
Music to do housework to.
I don’t know how to rate this objectively because it’s not my music taste and i didn’t listen to the full album. I think i cannot give it a 1 because it’s not bad, but going off of what i like i can’t give it more than a 2
Have you ever gone to a Thai or Indian place for dinner and they're planning some of the shittiest lounge-style music you've ever heard, but it's in their native language? That's what I felt like when I turned this on. But I didn't have a big plate of Congolese food to console myself with. Sad.
Not really my favorite
I enjoy some “world music,” but this one just felt like elevator music to me.
ai, essa capa feia não foi apelativa pra mim. só escutei duas músicas, que foram ok. em outro momento talvez eu escute de verdade.
Like many other albums
There’s talent but I can’t with the cheesy 90s overproduction
Had little interest or love for this today. Pretty meh on the whole adventure. For that, this gets a (probably unfair) 2 / 5.
It's not bad but I just don't think Congolese Rumba is my jam. Some guitar in the background is cool but was patiently waiting for this one to be over. Also nothing to do with the ranking, but just a quick check on this guys wikipedia makes it seem like this dude is a MASSIVE asshole. Tbh I'd lash out too if I was named after a drink.
This is a new album to me, I'd never heard of it (or, indeed Koffi Olomide) before. It's OK, pleasant but not great.
I am not a fan of long songs, and have very anglo-centric tastes (outside some Polish and Korean music), but this isn't too bad. Kinda relaxing tropical feels. The problem is that it goes on seemingly forever and melds into a very samey collection of music.
Ok dette, men gleda meg stadig til det var slutt mens jeg hørte på.
God stemning, men ikke noe jeg kommer sette på igjen tror jeg. 2/5
Går an å høyre på, men set det nok aldri på igjen
This was different than what I usually listen to - so was an interesting change of pace. Some of it reminds me of sounds I've heard on Paul Simon's Graceland - though maybe that's just representative of lots of African styles of music. I looked up to see if Paul Simon was inspired by this artist (Koffi Olomide) and couldn't find any connection. I know this album (1992) came out after Graceland (1986) but I thought there might be some connection between the artists prior to this one - but no. Also, it seems that Vampire Weekend has probably listened to/been inspired by this (or this type of music) - and I did see at least 1 reference to that fact when I did some searching. Both "Papa bonheur" and "Koweit, rive gauche" sounded cool to me and "Porte-monnaie" was fun. I did end up liking these 3 songs on Spotify - meaning I won't mind hearing them again in my rotation of songs on my playlists. It's a bit hard to get into, partly because I often gravitate towards lyrics - but I enjoyed some of it for sure. I did find myself distracted at times with some of the cheesy 80s synths sounds. And, given that I am not familiar with this, I don't really have anything to compare it to so I am not sure how this stacks up against other albums from the Congo or this genre in general. Liked songs on Spotify: 3/9 Rating: 2/5
This was alright. My rating has nothing to do with this not being in English. The music itself just didn’t hold my attention. I wish I could give this a 2.5, but I’m rounding down due to how unlikely I am to listen to this again.
Yeah, I’m sure this is good if it’s on the list but it did nothing for me
Fun
I tried but this just ain't for me. The aggressively lame album art doesn't help at all either. I'm not claiming to know anything about Kwassa Kwassa/African music but I gotta assume there are better representatives than this. Seems to lack the energy I was expecting, almost sounds like someone making what they think it should sound like? I could be way off base but I didn't care for this. 2 stars
cute but definitely not my thing
Pretty generic, overuse of crappy-sounding synths.
Completely forgettable. Not jarring, just tepid.
This definitely outstays its welcome. After a few songs the pattern is well established but doesn't stretch to any interesting which the length of the songs would suggest. Pleasant enough in small doses.
Well... I cannot seperate the artist from his actions. Read about that after I had listened to most of the album already. Otherwise I would have thought about listening to it at all. He won't receive much from my stream but do I want to stream music of such a plesasnt person? Not really. The music itself: Hard to rate for me, might have ended up with 3/5 but do not want to give it a second listen.
Have to say African music isnt my favorite genre. with it's snappy music, i can see why it's popular. If you google Koffi Olomide, apparently, he is a huge deal and is the largest selling African artist of all time with more awards and statues than one can think of.
The album was pretty much a 'you heard one song, you heard them all". It was cool to listen to though. Not something im familiar with.
Decent, even though old mate appears to be a PoS. Mid 2s.
Started off interesting but faded after the first two songs Standout songs: Papa Bonheur Desespoir
Afropop. The soundtrack used by a cruise ships entertainment crew to keep their guests alive and kicking
Music for a sunny beach club somewhere exotic (sipping a cocktail). I found it hard to engage with on a grey winter day in UK.
TIL that the DRC has the largest population of french speakers in the world, more so than France. Anyway, that's probably the only thing I'll take from this album. It's fine and can be good as background music at a bar, but it's not something I'll seek out.
Nicht wirklich meins.
I guess it’s not for me. It’s already almost an hour long and felt longer. It’s clearly the result of skill and artistry but it didn’t do it for me. Maybe I’m not versed well enough in this genre to parse what makes this special; a lot of this sounded the same to me. Also seems a little dated for a 1992 release.
I do not have much fondness for the synths of the early 90s.
Каждая песня затянута до бесконечности. Был бы этот альбом в два раза короче, мой рейтинг был бы в два раза лучше. Лучшая песня - Papa bonheur.
This feels like music playing in the background of a Super Mario game. It was pretty pleasant. Felt very 80s island music movie sound. Through no fault of the music, it sounded cliched.
Jeg tror dette kunne vært mye kulere om det ikke var produsert så livløst. Høres like 90s ut som coveret.
If this was a list of the worst album art, this one would be near the top for sure.
Like a calm blend of calypso and salsa mash-up with a sprinkle of French and a dash of castillian thrown in to spice it up a bit. Koffi is a good international add to the 1001 Must Hear List as I would not have heard this otherwise. Always liked the steel drums. Glad for the listen. (2.1*s) Did I hear an electric uke?
Þetta er voðalega mikið disney eitthvað. Greip mig ekkert alveg en er samt ágætlega mikið stuð.
Poussee!!!
All these songs seemed a little similar for me. Maybe if I understood the lyrics I would have dug this more. The guitar tone was pretty neat though. Favorite song was Desespoir.
It feels like I'm in one of those weird "world novelty" stores in the mall from the 90s. Like I can buy a rain stick and a "Sounds of the Amazon" CD. Not a fan. Like... is it over yet?
Honestly found this quite hard to get through. Maybe in part because I couldn’t understand the lyrics but also because most song didn’t really change much and push up against the 7 minute mark. Still, can hear how this style of music influenced artists like Paul Simon and Vampire Weekend.
not that good, kinda boring and repetitive
Fun vibes. Made me feel like I'm on a beach but not my vibe
It felt exciting at the beginning but more or less faded to the background
Man am I on a string of mediocre albums. This adds to that pile. That this is in French doesn’t bother me. It’s just that it sounds like music I could hear in any cruise ship in the world. Boring and repetitive.
Tough to rate cultural music like this, but its fun and has a good vibe so it's at least a 2.
I don't have much to say about the quality of this guy's music, nor will I comment on his many controversies (it is pretty bad though). What I will talk about how god-awful this album cover is. The horrible composition of it, the random-ass fonts, the stupid fucking photo of Koffi. This is easily one of the worst album covers on this entire list. It's not even charming in a campy 90s way. Truly egregious stuff.
This was not a bad album, but it wasn't that exciting to listen to, although there were moments that would make you do a shakey shakey. Overall, it's alright, but only as a background listen.
Some of the World Music albums I've listened to have been real eye openers and fun. This one is okay. Some nice melodies and sounds. Nothing special though.
Aggressively 90's, but not necessarily in a negative way. Did feel like it overstayed its welcome after the first few tracks.
Fine but it didn't grab me. There are albums from the late 80s and early 90s whose production sounds timeless, but this isn't one of them.
It's interesting, I am always open to new genres, and this is definitely different from what I usually listen to. However, after a couple songs, I got quickly tired of it. I would not listen to it again. 2/5.
jeg er ret sikker på at nogle af de her sange var på min træners playlist da jeg gik til zumba i fitnessworld i 2015
Lyder lige clean nok men ellers ret catchy!
Happy music, but I agree, it sounds very clean, almost clinical.
var gøy å høre på - bra produksjon. men midt på treet
It's all a bit one note. I enjoyed it for about 5 or 10 minutes, but unless you're in a tropical resort it's just not going to hit right. Everything is well played and sounds as I assume it should, but it doesn't excite or move me.
Didn’t do a lot for me
Started off well then the carnival atmosphere got too much way too much.
King of Ndombolo my ass!
In a nutshell: do the rumba- Congolese style. From the (scarce) information I've gathered, Olomide is a godfather African pop music and has a catalogue that rivals King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Okay... The production sounds impressive. Rhythmically good. A little corny sometimes. The track length and the template format is what's holding me back from enjoying this album. Pity that Olomide has a history of being a jerk. Overall: 4/10
Tried listening, wasn’t for me
I appreciate that much of this is upbeat and sparkly and happy. It starts to get quite repetitive by 3-4 tracks in though. The tracks are incredibly long, and it gets a bit wearing. 2.5 rounded down.
Some music is perfect for a clear, calm morning. The sun is rising, almost no one else is in the office, you get a new recommendation and the music sounds like nothing so much as the introduction song in a Disney movie about a jungle village. The protagonist walks down the street, people sing and dance and say hello around him, all is good. That’s my first impression of ¨Papa Bonheur,¨ a Disney movie intro song. There’s something nice about this overwhelming cheerfulness, but one does get a bit wary of it after about 13 minutes of it. Far be it for me to pretend I know anything about Congolese music, but in my heart of hearts I was hoping for Afrobeat and I got bachata. Of course, anything in the 80s sounds like it’s from the 80s and suffers accordingly. Best songs: ¨Papa Bohnheur,¨ ¨Qui Cherche Trouve¨
I didn't think this was too bad. But after listening to radiohead, just about any other artist is a welcome relief. When I listened, I pictured me and my wife on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean having a Pina Colada. Can't say it's my favorite kind of music, but I've learned to appreciate because of Mindy and terrible stuff like radiohead. This dude has a shitload of music and albums so I decided to read a bit about him and it turns out he's your typical Republican leader. POS, rapist and loves the children. Sorry for the rant. I blame radiohead for my anger. Music = 3 POS person = negative 1 2
2 The best thing I can say about this album is that it made me think of being on a cruise ship. If I were in that scenario and had a piña colada in hand, I might like this a little more. As is, I found it overly long and repetitive. Like, very repetitive - am I crazy, or did this guy do the whole “who say??” thing on like every other song here? I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn’t saying something more vulgar, but I guess he is actually saying “Poussez”. Per Google, that’s French for “push”, so it seems to be innocuous, but man, is it really jarring hearing it constantly as an English speaker. There’s always a bit of a barrier for me with albums from non-English speakers, and this gave me nothing to grab onto musically. I guess I’m happy to have been exposed to a new genre at least (kwassa kwassa in this case), but I’d be lying if I said it sounds unlike anything I’ve heard before. It certainly isn’t terrible, but it’s certainly not great either - it’s basically glorified background music. For as upbeat as it is, it’s kind of wild how much of a total snoozefest it turns into very quickly. Also, turns out Koffi is a sexual predator as well, so F this dude.
Eh. Sounds like I’m on cruise ship.
Fun in small doses, but it wears repetitive over the length of an album.
Is generic island music universal?
I know there is better "World" music than this. The entire album feels like the music was toned down for Western audiences. It's fine musically, just completely bland and boring.
I didn't have the same visceral reaction to this as a lot of people here; the production is definitely awful in a few places, and each song is way too long, but I can't say I mind the overall vibe *too* much. 2.5/5
This album wasn't for me, and I'm not sure who it is for musically. Maybe the language barrier has me impeded, but the music stylings were a sign of their times and kind of just sounded like I was standing in line at a Häagen-Dazs at the mall.
Just not my cup of tea lol it wasn't terrible but not one of my favorites
Correct vibes, mais très simple. Dans le genre il y a mieux. -1 car il a agressé des enfants.
Très long et répétitif, c'est pas de la mauvaise musique en soi mais on se tanne rapidement.
It's always worthwhile to get something you know nothing about, and this couldn't be more foreign to me. At least I understood some of the French? This was enjoyable for a song, but stretched across nine 6- and 7-minute songs, it sounds like one hour-long track. At least I won't have to worry about separating the art from the artist.
Groovy, and I like the mix of languages, but my ear struggles to pick the songs apart from each other.
Meh.
Fun and groovy for about 10 minutes, but I was kind of over it after that
meh
Gets old fairly quick, very repetitive and safe. Wish I could say more.
Was okay… 4/10
It’s fun and different, but not something I would particularly gravitate to. I thought some of the songs dragged on a bit too long.
This album is a cheesy, awkward mess that might be somewhat okay playing very softly in the background somewhere. Again, WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST!?
So this is basically an hour-long Gatorade 'Be Like Mike' commercial. Supposedly this was his sell-out Westernized album, but damned if I could tell the difference. It is pleasant enough, but really did nothing for me. And learning about the guy behind it, I don't feel the need to delve any further. Another weird, bad pick for the 1001.
Mahalo
pu-say
Not all of this music is terrible but this guy is 100% terrible.
It's tough to put this one into a box because while the music itself is really nice and great, the fact that the lyrics are not in English makes it very hard to connect to anything on a deeper level. Like, okay, I don't know what the fuck I'm actually listening to. I just got more annoyed as the album went on
no
The songs were ok on their own, but they started to all sound the same after a while, though maybe if I could understand the lyrics I would have found them more engaging. The album did not need to be an hour
This isn't bad and is kind of fun but it's pretty easy to ignore unless you're really enjoying it. It almost feels like this is an institution and the performer knows everyone is meant to be digging it. Good voice but I didn't find a ton which surprised me.
A well produced album. Some toe tapping music, but gets a little repetitive. The last track I found repelling.
Good vibes. 80s instrumentation. Just not that exciting.
Boring. Cool that's it's African, I guess?
Ik hou gewoon heel erg niet van frans. En deze stem enzo pakt me niet echt. Ook niet barslecht maar toch,.
Has fun moments. Great melodies, easy to listen to, but not something I'd turn my full attention to. Some perfect background music here for a tropical restaurant though
Not really my jam unless I’m sitting poolside in the tropics. But I can certainly appreciate why people like it and why it’s a big deal.
The definition of a filler album.
If we could give half stars, this record would earn the middling, average 2.5 it deserves. I like the feel of western and equatorial African melodies, though I tend to lean more towards smooth classic Ethiopian jazz and more aggressive afrobeat stuff like Fela Kuti. The stuff on this record all sounds upbeat and happy, though I have no idea what the lyrics are. Not typically my go-to, but I always find this stuff pretty inoffensively listenable, if only in a "browsing candles and scarves in some white hippie store or cruise ship soundtrack" kinda way. That said, there are better examples of this style that I prefer. The weird breaking glass samples on "Desespoir" following the 80s cheese-synth intro was unexpected and pretty rad, the only other place I've heard that was on "Der Kuss" by Neubauten. "Dit Jeannot" is a standout track and a pretty good closer. My listening partner just hears "pussy" in the French "poussez" lyrics, and I ain't mad at it.
This was a nice album to listen to. The music was upbeat and peaceful sounding, I'm not sure if the lyrical content reflects the mood I got from the music.
Impressive musicianship, but not really my bag tunes-wise.
Gar keine Lust das anzuhören obwohl es eh nett klingt (Musik aus DRC)
Songs are too long (respectfully) Not bad but not good either
A bit too cheesy for me.
2+ Stars (6/15)
not bad but every song overstay its welcome. why is almost every song like 6 minutes long??? amazing cover art tho
Tiring. The songs are long and sound more or less the same
Didnt understand it
I gave it a good go but it’s just not my type of thing whatsoever. Some of the songs reminded me of the Lilo & Stitch soundtrack but maybe that’s a result of having kids and listening to a lot of Disney music. Top Track - Désespoir for the sole reason that I found the opening really cheesy and it made me laugh.
After a German artist, Koffi is only the second non-English-speaking artist we had. Congolese rumba fits surprisingly well under this grey sky, but I would have preferred a more organic sound. The tracks are long, and listening to the whole album in one go gets tiring, though I’m not very familiar with the style and I am pretty sure I could get used to it. I especially enjoy the more nuanced songs like “Conte de fées.”
its too cold for this
It’s fun but feels like a 90s Sandals Resort album
Very nice to have some representation from non-western music on this list. I wasn't the biggest fan of this one though. It's a very cheery and upbeat album for sure, but the late 80's / 90's production it's drenched in hampers my enjoyment of it a lot. I'm also not the biggest fan of Soukous in general, the music doesn't really have hooks and just goes on and on and on. It's nice to have the tempo increase in the songs after a few minutes, where they reach their peak enjoyment for me. Still happy to have heard this album and I feel it does deserve its placement here.
Another cool detour here! While I did enjoy this one, it didn't grab me in the same way that the album from Youssou N'Dour did. There was less that stood out to me, and overall the music sort of faded into the background more. Maybe it was the dated 90s keyboard sounds and instrumentation, maybe it was because his voice wasn't as unique, or maybe for some other reason. I don't recall much focus on any individual instrument, so maybe the lack of 'solos' or other features is what it was missing for me. The album certainly isn't bad, but it just didn't bring the same excitement and energy while listening as the Youssou N'Dour album did. I found it interesting that there was at least one vocal/musical part that would repeat every couple of songs, without the context to understood what was being sung, I wonder if it might be some element to create cohesion in the album, whether from a lyrical/meaning standpoint, or just simply a repeated musical motif. Happy to have listened but not much reason to come back to this, as I'm sure there is plenty of other African music that tickles my fancy more than this one.
I like it but I have no idea what they are singing about. Music was fun and album was enjoyable.
12 times the same song. Not a bad song though.
The Good: High Level! The Bad: Something something left… The Ugly: Not understanding the level that we are high in… Who’d have thought that one needs to listen to an album by a Congolese artist before one dies? I was always under the impression that Senegal was where it’s at… Also, to all those snowflakes who rate this album low because they scan through a Wikipedia page to read something about a rape and instantly cancelling the artist… keep reading the damn page, to see that he was never convicted of rape, but he did receive a conviction for assault… Anyways, I’ve listened to the album, guess I can die now?
This album, although catchy, got very repetitive very quickly. The songs are about 7 minutes long across the board, and they inevitably all sound the same at around the 2 or 3 minute mark. It’s good music to move to, but not so great to just sit and listen to. Olomide has a nice voice, and I do think this album was kind of fun. It just wasn’t really for me. I would’ve like to know a bit more about the lyrics for context, but translating the songs was quite difficult to do.
Esse disco é tão fora do meu habitual e referências de música que acho até difícil avaliar. Tem umas guitarras legais as vezes e a percussão tbm, mas além disso não sei muito o que dizer.
I'm guessing this album isn't included in the post-2012 edition of the book.
Why album generator? Why???
Not only is it mid but this guy is a contender for one of the ugliest album covers on Spotify, shit's hilariously awful
Eh, interesting album for sure. Won't listen again.
The songs just drag on a bit too long. Once they hit the 4 to 5 minute mark, I'm ready to move on. It'd be fine if it were only one or two songs that were really long, but all of them are well over 5 minutes (okay, one song is just at 5 minutes). The music doesn't evoke much excitement despite the upbeat tempo, and it all sounds samey. Definitely not my jam.
Sure
I’m sure if I saw this live it would be infectiously fun. Listening to it on its own it all just fades into itself. 2.5/5
One of those albums that listening to in the sunshine, drink in hand, dancing away in a crowd might be fun. In the cold light of day it's bright, breezy but boring.
It was ok, nice to have some non western music. Shame he is a piece of shit though. Trying to separate the art from the artist isn’t always wasy
2.5
I did not think this was horrid. In fact I think I could be something I could listen to if the production wasn't so chintzy. This did not only sound cheap for 1992, it would have sounded cheap in 1985. The freakin keys and drum sounds give me 80s consumer grade Yamaha feel, you know the kind you bought at Target. Just a step above Casio. If it had a more rich robust sound, I might be fine with it. But it just sounds like NPR royalty free music as is. (4.5/10) ★★
The songs overstay their welcome, and it is way too 90s sounding. 2 stars
2.5
When getting albums like this, I feel really un-cultured and some may call me narrow minded. I just don’t like this kind of music. I get that there are some nice danceable rhytms, and the music makes me smile from time to time. However, the songs are far too long and I lose interest about halfway through them
Bit too happy and bouncy for me.
Liked that it was something different. Liked that it's a different language but didn't really hold my attention.
Ok, I’m rating this on the music alone, as I rarely read the Wikipedia page for every album. Wow, I picked a whopper of an album to change up my habits. The guy seems like a piece of shit. Having said that, the music is “okay”, as it reminds me what you would hear if you were boarding a Carnival Cruise trip. In that environment it’s pleasant enough (especially with a drink or two), but I’ll never go back to it in any other environment.
I know congolese music is supposed to be pepetitive and all, but it's just not fun enough to warrant it's lenght
Well... It wasn't that bad, but in terms of african/congolese music, there's plenty of better options that could have been on this list.
Why?
01) Papa Bonheur - 7,0 02) Désespoir - 7,0 03) Koweït, rive gauche - 6,5 04) Qui cherche trouve - 5,5 05) Elixir - 5,5 06) Porte Monnaie - 6,0 07) Conte de fées - 5,5 08) Obrigado - 5,0 09) Dit Jeannot - 5,5 TOTAL: 5,94 (59/100) Current ranking: 389/490
decent but wouldn’t listen again, it was just okay, songs dragged
4/10 - the songs sounded almost the same and were not that good in my opinion.
World music being lively, upbeat, infectious and dance-able. While musicianship isn't bad it soon ticks all the boxes of resort background music.
A bit monotonous. Tired of listening to this album after awhile.
I wasn't feeling this one. It was fine, but a necessary listen? I'm not sure.
I've really enjoyed all of the African music this list has put in front of me. This... not so much. Soukous sounds a lot like Soca to my ears and I'm just not fond of it. Koffi has an undeniably strong voice, but I just can't get into the jerky rhythms and pop production overall.
it's kinda fun without sounding like it has any hard hitting impact, sounds like 80s samba music, album did not grow on me and just wanted it to be done about half way through
Made me want to dance but I simultaneously lost my mind because I swear the same song played 4 or 5 times throughout the album
For fans of cheesy 90's production (complete with tacky midi sounds), African rhythms and the French language. Robert, mate, you might have messed up with these African album picks, clearly there must be better stuff out there.
Not my style
Gear: Abyss DIANA MR Artwork: 🫵🟪🟩 Production: 😐🙂👌 Music: 🎸🪘🕺💃🇫🇷🌍 Rating: 🕺(💃)/5
2.5 It was fine! Very white of me but I imagined Paul Simon singing over a lot of the tracks lol
Very long, fun, but I didn't understand it at all, so I don't want to listen to it again.
I’ve never heard of Koffi Olomide before, but I tend to enjoy modern music from Africa, so I have some pretty high hopes for this album. Despite going into this album with some high hopes and an open mind, I wasn’t really impressed by it. My biggest complaint is that this album was pretty boring, and none of the songs really went anywhere interesting. Some songs had some synthesizer arrangements that I enjoyed, but those sounds wound up being pretty sparse in the songs where they popped up. This album wasn’t bad, but it was just bland. I don’t understand this is on this list when an artist like William Onyeabor isn’t represented at all.
Not usually what I would listen to but, it was not awful.
It's ok
Didn't know what to make of this. Ok, apart from cheesy electric piano.
Some okay background noise, but every song going around 7 minutes each makes sure that they all overstay their welcome.
It's conventional World Beat. There's nothing particularly original here -- you've heard one song, you've heard them all.
It’s not that this was bad but it’s just not something I’d ever actually select. Out of my q zone
it's different, but that's not enough to make it good. It seems like background music at a beach bar.
Surprised at how dated this sounds. Usually 'world' music tends to keep a certain timelessness, with only the sound recording quality really varying from era to era, but here the choice of sounds makes the record sound very of its time. The songs also go on for too long. However, I could see myself revisit this and enjoying it more then.
Mostly boring and whatever. Also dude is a creeeeeeep 3/10
Not for me. Also too long. 2 stars
Musicianship is good but the songs kind of bleed together after a while and the music isn't totally my jam. Also, he's an alleged scumbag.
Fine. Nothing wrong with it and fun rhythms but not really anything interesting happening whatsoever
This would be ok if I was sitting at a beach 🏖️ bar drinking a tropical drink but otherwise I didn't really feel it
Not my speed
It was ok I suppose, I didn't hate it. I like the bit of variety this gives compared to the rest of the albums on this list It's very samey, which is bad for an hour long album as it just gets tedious to listen to fast Didn't really invoke anything in me but I can see why people would enjoy this
Background music
sei nem o que comentar honestamente mas n achei bom não
I find it interesting that a lot of people that have listened to and reviewed this album for this project are acting all holier than thou about the awful things this guy has done and giving the album poor reviews, while at the same time handing out great reviews to equally shitty artists just because they know who they are or are more famous (Michael Jackson, Kanye, etc.). I'm not saying this guy gets a pass, and I'm not saying the other shitty people with albums on this list should either. I'm just saying that if we're going to condemn this guy's work because of the person he is, let's also condemn the work of artists like Jackson and Kanye for the same reasons. I stated in my review of "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" that I wanted to review the art, not the artist, to separate the two from each other. Some people find that impossible to do, and I don't blame them for it. But the point of this project is to listen to and review albums, so that's what I’m going to do. So, with that in mind, let's review this album. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maybe it's just that I don't understand the style of music enough to understand why this is so repetitive. Melodies, guitar tones, arpeggios, and even specific phrases appear and reappear throughout this album enough that I'm left assuming that it must be a feature, not a bug. That the culture around this music is such that you just cannot have this style of music without certain elements. Like how a lot of rock music uses heavy distortion on guitars, metal uses double bass drums, reggaeton uses that same reggaeton beat in most of its songs, and how Radiohead wouldn't be Radiohead if you could actually understand Thom Yorke (still not over that...). So I'm willing to assume that I just don't know enough about the genre here, and that the repetitiveness is intentional and celebrated by those who have intimate knowledge of it. But it didn't work for me, honestly. I loved what I heard in the first couple tracks, but the more certain themes or motifs kept returning, the more I realized just how one-note the whole thing seemed. Bummer, because a lot of it is a fun, happy time with music you could easily dance to either in your seat or on a dance floor. On the whole, this had potential but just didn't get any more interesting or better after the first couple of tracks. Two stars. Standout Tracks: Papa bonheur, Désespoir, Qui cherche trouve, Porte-monnaie
Did not understand a word. Ok overall, but most of it sounded the same. 2.5/5
Quick history lesson about afro-cuban music: In the early 20th century, afro-cuban recordings proved to be very popular throughout America. EMI was doing quite well selling these records, until the Great Depression hit in the '30s. It was decided that in order to boost sales, EM would launch their G.V. series which would see pressings of their most popular afro-cuban records being distributed worldwide. EMI agents from several countries around the world, including the Belgian Congo, would help sell records to distributors to help make up for lost profits in America. One commercial radio station owner in the Belgian Congo, Hourdebise, would heavily feature G.V. records on his broadcast, which helped to boost the popularity and influence of afro-cuban music within the sub-Saharan country. With the music showing some resemblances to traditional central african music, many residents of the Belgian Congo took to the Latin American rhythms and began incorporating it into their own songs. Thus, we get Congolese Rumba. This would eventually evolve into Soukous, which is a genre that would see heavy guitar work that was intricate, bright, and set to the rhythms of afro-cuban music. Enter Koffi Olomide, originally a ghostwriter for artists making Soukous music and eventually breaking out in his own career. His workrate combined with his various collaborations had propelled him to become one of the most popular African musicians of the 20th century. Haut de gamme / Koweït, rive gauche is just one of many albums from his impressive catalogue, though this one sees the genre of Soukous being weighed down by cheesy '90s production. What should hold more weight and warmth ends up coming across as shallow and boring. I'm sure the songs would find more success outside of the album context, but I did not find this to be an experience I would revisit.
World -> 2
Interesting but not fir me
Opening track - Sounds like it could be the opening music of the Congolese version of Encanto At 5.45 I checked to see if it was still track 1 as my Papa is 80 and I’d like to see him again at least once but Koffi seems to have other ideas Track 2 - Generic late 80s love song intro morphs into a modern church music vibe (one of the newer ones which leave you disappointed you’re not singing an assembly banger) don’t mind it. Found myself adding my own lyrics. Repeatedly singing Jump and Wave worked a treat. Track 3 - google translate says it means Kuwait left bank. Sorry Koffi but I’ve not the time nor the inclination to find out more Lasted 4 mins before skipping which is a lot less than Koffi lasts as he sounds like an absolute destroyer of poon Track 4 - Whoever seeks finds 4 tracks in and as Bono said I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. 4mins 50seconds and Jump and Wave has made a comeback Track 5 - 1min 45 I’d love to know what Koffi is laughing at. Seeing as the opening words are “my love” I bet it’s something filth. Track 6 - Wallet. I hope the extra Spotify revenue helps to fill Koffi’s wallet. Jump and Wave is back Track 7 - Fairy tale imagining the bass player in the studio getting fed up with Koffi’s swordsman antics. FFS Koffi can we just get though this Track 8 - Thanks I’m sure quite a few people will be saying thanks at this point if you enjoyed the other tracks. It’s a very Cantina bar band “Play the same song” kind of album Track 9 - 1.42 checked to make sure this wasn’t track 1 again and Spotify is on repeat. No it isn’t it’s still track 9 Cheers Koffi you’ve passed an hour
Sounds like the main song to every 90’s Disney film. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Gets the hips shaking - wish there was a video of a mate of mine dancing to it in a slightly questionable way. It’s not really my cup of tea, especially not on a cold November morning, but I could see this working at a summer get together, or sitting off on a balcony on holiday while nursing a can and waiting for the missus to get her fucking shit together she’s been in there for like 2 hours now and I’m starving but you can’t say owt or it’ll turn into a right kick off and spoil the evening and potentially spill over into the next day and you end up swimming on your bill all day all passively aggressively. Found this a bit of a slog and the beats sound like Casio keyboard presets. 2/5
Was going to give 3 stars, and blame language barrier and dated production for it not being higher. But, knocking an additional star because Koffi sounds like a garbage fire of a person, if Wikipedia is accurate.
It's wild to recognize super dated sounds and effects in genres that are still utterly different from what I grew up with and am familiar with. & while I'm thrilled to get exposed to soukous and a Congolese artist I'd never heard of before, this ultimately sounded too dated to really enjoy - my general impression was one of cheesiness without understanding a word of the lyrics. I might give his other music a try, but he also sounds like a hot mess of a person, like the Shia Labeouf of Congolese musicians, beating up people & abusing women left & right.
Not for me, but great to discover this music too!