THE RISE AND RISE OF LINGALA LANGUAGE IN KENYA

Allow  me to shock you. "Lingala" is not a genre of music like many people tend to think. The genre of music most Kenyans mistakenly call ‘Lingala’ is actually known as ‘soukous’. Lingala is a Bantu language spoken in four countries on the African continent. Lingala usage in popular culture in Kenya is rising on an epic scale, propelled, no doubt, by the influence of Congolese music. Radio shows like rhumba bakulutu, rhumba attention, and the like where listeners are constantly bombarded with Lingala phrases they barely understand are all the rage. Guess where you first heard the phrase “tozali kokoba nse kokoba lokola koba akobaka” (we go on, and on like a totoise crawls) Was it not in a rumba music show on Qwetu FM? Internationally acclaimed artistes like Fally Ipupa, Ferre Gola, Werrason, JP Mpiana, Le General Defao, Koffi Olomide etc all predominantly sing in Lingala language. And these are artistes with huge following in Nairobi.  It's therefore of little surprise that Lingala is catching on in the country.

Growing up in Nyanza Province in Kenya, I begun to interact with Lingala at a fairly early age. Most of my dad’s favourite songs were sung in the language and these are the songs I grew up listening to. Franco’s song Mario was of particular interest to me. I used to wonder what words like nalembi, nabaye, lelo, bitumba, koswana meant. And my dad didn’t know much. I remember asking him what 'nalembi' meant one morning and he was so furious I thought he was going to take a rope and hung himself. But lucky for me he didn't. All he did was retort that I should be studying instead of  listening to "things which wouldn’t help me".

I never stopped listening to lingala songs - sorry dad - and my interest in learning the language only grew stronger. The continued "congolisation" of Kenyan music is partly to be blamed.

 In the late 80s and early 90s most of Kenyan music was mediocre, to say the very least. Congolsese music was a much welcomed alternative to the noise doing the rounds in the name of Kenyan music. Despite a late explosion in variety and wealth in Kenyan music in the late 90s and the early 2000s, when the likes of Musa Juma, Okatch Biggy, Kamande wa Kioi and Sukuma Bin Ongaro, Bana Sungusia, George Ramogi ruled Kenyan airwaves, I stuck with my first love, Congolese rhumba, for whatever reason. Words like bolingo (love), makambo (issues), mosusu (another), ngai (me), nayemba (I sing), mwasi (woman), mobali (man), nalingi (I love), mobimba (whole/full/mature) became the first words I learnt.

 But it was just the beginning. When I became familiar with Congolese bands and artistes living in Kenya, like Alicios, Bilenge Musica, Patron Musica e.t.c, my love for Lingala hit another level. I could understand full phrases and sentences and even construct my own. ‘Nayemba na Luambo Makiadi, Franco ayembisaki ngai makambo ezali minene’ was a favourite line of mine. And then I could effortlessly understand and even memorize full stanzas like Johny Bokelo’s Sandoka, ‘Oyo nionso faulte ya motema nzambe apesa ngai. Apesa ngai motema ya kolinga baninga na ngai. Apesa ngi motema ya kolinga bacamarade. Elamba na nga nadefisa bango balate eh. Balata ngo babima bakende na miziki ya Africa. Nzokande babimaka na mobali na nga ohh. Nzokande babimaka na mobali na ngai, haki ya Mungu!”

One of the things that struck me most when I started learning Lingala is how ridiculously easy it is to learn. Well, at least for those who speak Swahili and other Bantu languages. Sentence structures and noun classes (Ngeli ) in Lingala are quite similar to Swahili. In fact some words appear in Lingala in exactly the same way they are in Swahili while others exhibit only slight alterations. For instance nini (what), mama (mother), wapi (where), nani (who), nyama (meat), moto (fire) and mesa (table) are the same in Lingala as they are in Swahili. Other words however show slight differences in spelling amd pronunciation e.g  Sukali/Sukari (Sugar), Mpona/Mbona (Why), Balabala/Barabara (Road), Mayi/Maji (water), Liso/Jicho (Eye).

Lingala is intresting. Well, almost all languages are interesting but Lingala is super fun to speak. The Lingala accent is infectious and once you learn one lingala word, you never want to stop.  It doesn’t boast of a wide vocabulary like English but it is poetic in its nature and rich in symbolism. The number one factor that makes Lingala language so easy to learn is the amount of Congolese music available in Kenya. Add this to the vast amount of learning materials available online and Kenyans’ rather obsessive love for anything exotic [and lingla is] and you get the idea. And Kenyan artistes and musicians aren’t to be left behind. It was the likes of Ochieng Kabaselleh, George Ramogi, Kolela Mazee and Luna Kidi who begun to introduce bits of lingala in their lyrics to charm their fans, and it caught on. The people loved it. Then everyone jumped ship. Even current generation artistes likes of Papa Fololo, Dolla Kabarry, John Junior, Opiyo Kijana, Wuod Fibi, Jimmy Gait, Pitson and Papa Dennis aren't spared the influence. And then in came people you never could’ve  imagine like Ken Wa Maria joining the fray - even including Congolese Atalaku ( or Anamateurs) in their songs. It is called the bandwagon effect. It was widely expected. What wasn’t expected though is the rate at which Kenyans have taken it all in; bait, hook and line.

Igwe Bandasson a Kenyan musician and leader of Patrons Musica talks and sings fluent  Lingala. And he’s not alone. Many Kenyans prefer to learn Lingala Lanuage as opposed to learning say another Kenyan ethnic language like Luo, Kamba or Teso. But, again, why not? Lingala is widely advertised and it pays - it might get you a job in a radio station - and it easy to learn.  A Kenyan club deejay never plays three songs without one being in Lingala language. And Lingala is cool. It might get you a girlfriend. If you want to surprise a Kenyan chick on the streets of Githurai greet her, ‘Mbote na yo?’ (habari yako?) or call  her ‘mwasi kitoko (beautiful woman) or simply say, ‘nakufelaka yo’ (I’m dying for you).Many Congolese people continue to stream into the country. Make a friend (or an enemy) with one, it may come in handy in learning this fascinating language. Tikala malamu bandeko.