About KOKOKO!
Pioneers of Kinshasa’s sonic revolution, KOKOKO! have captivated global audiences with their striking sonics and energetic performances since 2017. Their accolades include best live band award by AIF, NPR Tiny Desk and Boiler Room slots, appearances at festivals including All Points East, SXSW, Green Man and Pitchfork Festival, and a placement on the Grand Theft Auto and FIFA soundtracks. Their critically acclaimed debut album Fongola achieved global praise, with DJ Mag labelling it “quite unlike anything else you’ll hear”, while The Guardian called the group a “commanding new voice”.
Today, KOKOKO! announce their highly anticipated second album, BUTU, out July 5 on Transgressive Records. To celebrate the album announcement, KOKOKO! share the album’s lead single “Mokili”.
On the new track the group says, “Mokili is about moving the world so much that it’s going to tip over sort of. This track was a track we were used to trying live in a more improvised way, we never got the chance to record till recently where we added the right touch for the studio. It was the last addition to our album BUTU and became the first single, so it’s really fresh. It has obviously influences from Kinshasa but also Kwaito and 90’s dance music.”
“Mokili” arrives alongside a stunning visual where KOKOKO! and Kinshasa take over the media by force, even without internet signal, and let the world dive into the surreal and energetic scenes they come across in Kinshasa.
Notes for Editors
In Kinshasa the spirit of performance is multidisciplinary and collaborative, the performance artists, musicians and dancers often perform together, expressing similar sentiments and sharing the same rebellious spirit.
The wider KOKOKO! collective includes performance artists who head to busy crossroads in search of an audience in the bustling city, their gestures expressing the harsh realities of current events in the country. Their work allows them to speak out, without words, in order to express the frustrations of today and the events of the past that have driven what should be one of the richest country in the world into chaos, which richer foreign countries feed off of and exploit.
It does not escape the notice of the Congolese people that the very resources which have fuelled much of the most prosperous countries industrial and technological progress, from slaves, rubber and diamonds to the coltan powering our smartphones and Kobalt for new electric batteries, are the root cause of their own country’s suffering.
