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Baloji
“Independence Cha Cha”
Playing at: Joe’s Pub (425 Lafayette St., East Village)
Get: Tickets ($15)| Directions

In 1960, the Congolese musician Joseph Kabasele Tshamala, better known as Grand Kalle, composed a song called “Independance Cha Cha.” It was laced with the slinky guitars of Central African rumba, the Cuban-derived sound that would become Africa’s biggest pop genre for decades. Most importantly, the song quickly became the anthem of the newborn independence movements sprouting up around the African continent. That’s the kind of source material that Congolese-Belgian rapper and singer Baloji draws upon. For his 2010 album Kinshasa Sucursale (never widely released and available as an import from Europe), Baloji re-recorded the Kalle classic with members of rumba star Papa Wembo’s backing band, and rapped over it in French. No drum machines, no synthesizers—just vintage African dance music. Elsewhere on the album, Baloji collaborates with other great Congolese artists past and present, including the scrapyard electro-roots stars Konono No. 1. Tonight at Joe’s Pub, he performs with the Embassy Ensemble, the killer horn-driven backing band behind Blitz the Ambassador. Expect blaring trumpets and choreographed dance moves.

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LE JOUR D'APRES / SIKU YA BAADAYE (INDEPENDANCE CHA-CHA) from BALOJI on Vimeo.