Nouveaux Sapeurs

Things sure seem to have changed on the Sapeurs front, since most of the Congolese dandies were driven into exile during the war. Sure there's still the old school (see above), but if you check out the video by the Sapeurs Premier (love the shoutout to the lead singer's mother, who's a mayor in the Sangha province of Congo Brazzaville in the beginning), you'll definitely see some new definitions of dapper. Hip Hop sure got nothing on them in terms of recent fashion and dance innovations (besides the fact that this been one of the most infectious Soukouss hits I've heard in a while).



There's been some renewed interest in the fashion gangs of Kinshasa and Brazzaville (and Paris and Bruxelles - anybody know, if the Sapeurs made it to the African community in Berlin yet?). There was a story in Colors a while ago, one in Vice and recently another in the LA Times. There's even some semi-scientific paper on the Sapeurs, which ran in the Australian Humanities Review

YouTube has also plenty of underground Sapeurs stuff. A report on Sapeurs from Brazzaville at home and in exile, partially sung by Rapha Bounzéki, in two parts. Uncut videos of young sapeurs showing off their garb in some hotel ballroom and in some parking lot. And of course there's plenty of recent tunes, like the one by Félix Wazekwa , who sure follows in Hip Hop's consumerist steps (just replacing the Gulfstream with a turboprop and the Cristal with some Primus beer) or a recent one by Koffi Olomide , confirming his status as Papa Wemba's true heir as the ultimate style setter. For more Soukouss updates Betrand Kissou's YouTube blog is worth a visist, featuring some recent tunes by the smooth Aurlus Mabele, the hard hitting Extra Musica International, plus some Congolese Hip Hop by BBA and a report on the Brazza scene with the members of Légitime Brigade.