From Kinshasa

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From Kinshasa
Mbongwana-star-from-kinshasa-450sq 0.jpg
Studio album by
Mbongwana Star
ReleasedMay 19, 2015 (2015-05-19)
Length47:30
LabelWorld Circuit
Producer
  • Doctor L
  • Michel Winter (exec.)

From Kinshasa is the debut studio album by Congolese band Mbongwana Star, released on May 19, 2015 on World Circuit.

Background[]

The album's title was originally planned to be From Kinshasa to the Moon: "But World Circuit, with their English not being very strong, didn’t really catch that part! But a lot of the press are taking it on now, so I phoned [World Circuit] to say that they really shouldn’t have changed the title as it conveys the idea that your preconceptions about music from certain places might not be quite right. It’s from a city where you wouldn’t imagine that you’d find all these artists. The guy on the cover is a performance artist and there are tons of people in the city making incredible punky art. Kinshasa’s very good for that, there’s a big artistic subculture and people are instinctive in the way they work."[1]

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic88/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash8/10[3]
Drowned in Sound10/10[4]
The Guardian5/5 stars[5]
The Irish Times4/5 stars[6]
Mojo4/5 stars[7]
musicOMH4.5/5 stars[8]
NME9/10[9]
Record Collector4/5 stars[10]
Spin9/10[11]
Uncut8/10[12]

From Kinshasa received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. It holds a weighted mean of 88 out of 100 from Metacritic, based on 13 critics,[2] while on another aggregate site AnyDecentMusic?, it holds an 8.6 out of ten, also a weighted average.[13]

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian gave a five-star review of From Kinshasa, describing the album as "like arriving in a bustling, unfamiliar city, a very long way from home: a gripping mix of excitement, apprehension and sensory overload."[5] In his ten-out-of-ten review for Drowned in Sound, Tristan Bath called it "a really classic record for the ages", honoring it as a turning point for music released by African artists.[4] Spin scored the album a nine out of ten, saying that it contributes new aspects in urban music.[11]

From Kinshasa was one of NPR Music's and Rolling Stone's favorite albums of the first half of 2015.[14][15]

Track list[]

No.TitleLength
1."From Kinshasa to the moon"2:24
2."Shégué"5:17
3."Nganshé"6:13
4."Masobélé"3:51
5."Coco Blues"5:39
6."Malukayi"6:00
7."Suzanna"4:32
8."Kimpala Pala"4:28
9."Kala"4:04
10."1 million c'est quoi?"5:02

References[]

  1. ^ Hulyer, Jake (8 June 2015). "From Kinshasa to the Moon: Mbongwana Star's Doctor L talks Afrobeat and appropriation". Fact. The Vinyl Factory. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Reviews for From Kinshasa by Mbongwana Star". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  3. ^ Annan, Nick (16 June 2015). "Mbongwana Star - From Kinshasa". Clash. Music Republic Ltd. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  4. ^ a b Bath, Tristan (3 June 2015). "Album Review: Mbongwana Star - From Kinshasa". Drowned in Sound. Silentway. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  5. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (14 May 2015). "Mbongwana Star: From Kinshasa review – thrillingly wrong-footing Congolese music". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  6. ^ Wood, Nigel (22 May 2015). "Mbongwana Star: From Kinshasa | Album Review". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  7. ^ Hutcheon, David (26 May 2015). "Mbongwana Star – From Kinshasa". Mojo. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  8. ^ Paton, Daniel (28 May 2015). "Mbongwana Star – From Kinshasa". musicOMH. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  9. ^ "Five Great Albums That May Have Passed You By This Week". NME. Inspire. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  10. ^ Bowler, Paul. "Mbongwana Star – From Kinshasa". Record Collector. Diamond Publishing. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  11. ^ a b Gubbels, Jason (14 August 2015). "SPIN World Report: Mbongwana Star's Congolese Street Music, Fabiano Do Nascimento's Afro-Brazilian Folk Shredding". Spin. SpinMedia. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  12. ^ Uncut. June 2015, p.78.
  13. ^ "From Kinshasa by Mbongwana Star". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  14. ^ "NPR Music's 25 Favorite Albums Of 2015 (So Far)". NPR Music. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  15. ^ "45 Best Albums of 2015 So Far". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
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