Samba Mapangala

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Samba Mapangala is a Congolese singer and bandleader who spent most of his five-decade career in Kenya, where he created and led the popular Virunga band for more than 35 years. Born in Matadi, Democratic Republic of Congo, he moved to Kinshasa as a young man and joined several bands in the 1970s, including Super Tukina, which recorded his first hit "Satonge," and Super Bella Bella. He then moved to Uganda in 1975 to form Les Kinois, and they moved to Nairobi in 1977. In 1981 he formed Orchestra Virunga, named after the Virunga volcano in Congo, and the group released It's Disco Time with Samba Mapangala in 1982. The band gained broader fame in the early 1990s with albums like Virunga Volcano and Feet on Fire. He continues to record and is now based in the United States. In fall 2009 he began performing with the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International. He is considered part of the golden era of Kenyan Lingala music, alongside Les Mangelepa, Baba Gaston and Super Mazembe. His 2004 Tanzania Music Awards-nominated album Ujumbe was in the Best African Album category.