Konono Nº1

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Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Konono Nº1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire). They combine three electric likembé (a traditional lamellaphone similar to the mbira) with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard. The group’s amplification equipment is equally rudimentary, including a microphone carved out of wood fitted with a magnet from an automobile alternator.

The group was formed by Mawangu Mingiedi, a likembé player and truck driver now in his 70s. Dates for the group’s formation vary: Crammed Discs, who released Konono Nº1’s Congotronics album in 2005, places the group’s formation around 1980. However, in November 1978, an ensemble called Orchestre Tout Puissant Likembe Konono Nº1 (All-Powerful Likembe Konono Nº1 Orchestra) recorded one track, “Mungua-Muanga”, for the compilation album Zaire: Musiques Urbaines a Kinshasa.

Their typically Congolese repetitive beats, together with their DIY approach resulting in an (initially unintentional) distorted sound called congotronics, has brought the group some renown in North America and Europe. They have toured both continents, documented by the 2007 album Live at Couleur Cafe.

Konono Nº1 collaborated with Björk on her 2007 album, Volta and the Dutch rock band The Ex has covered one of their songs.

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Popular tags: african, world, afrobeat, africa, congo  See more

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Top Albums

• Congotronics
  Konono Nº1

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Top Tracks

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1		Paradiso			35
2		Lufuala Ndonga			30
3		Kule Kule			23
4		Ungudi Wele Wele			19
5		Wumbanzanga			16
5		Masikulu			16
5		Mama Liza			16
8		Kule Kule Reprise			15
9		Mama Na Bana			13
10		Fula Fula			11
10		Nakobala Lisusu Te			11
12		Makembe			10
13		Thin Legs			9
14		Guiyome			7
14		Konono Wa Wa Wa			7

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