Staff Benda Bilili

A collective of Congolese street performers known as Staff Benda Bilili blends rumba with reggae and classic R&B elements. Ricky Likabu and Coco Ngambali established the ensemble, which features four middle-aged individuals paralyzed by childhood polio and thus reliant on wheelchairs, alongside a number of younger participants. Roger Landu entered the fold during his teenage years and functions in a lead guitar capacity, delivering solos via a single-string electric instrument constructed from a tin can. The remaining younger musicians handle the rhythmic foundation.

Rehearsals for Staff Benda Bilili originally occurred at the Kinshasha Zoo, followed by performances on street corners throughout the city. French filmmakers Florent de la Tullaye and Renaud Barrett encountered the musicians while shooting a documentary on Kinshasha street musicians, after which the group gained wider attention. The directors then connected them with Belgian producer Vincent Kenis, who placed the band on his Crammed Discs label and facilitated the recording of an album. Captured at the zoo and issued in 2009, Très Très Fort drew global praise. Tullaye and Barrett’s documentary, centered solely on the band, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival the next year.