N'Yoka Longo

N'Yoka^[1] Longo, also known as Jossart, is a DR Congo soukous singer, historical member and current leader of the popular soukous band Zaiko Langa Langa.

He began his career in a big band known as Bel Guide National. On december 24th 1969, in Kinshasa, he founded Zaiko Langa Langa together with Papa Wemba and a group of fellow Bel Guide National members, including Henri Mongombe, D. V. Moanda, Marcelin Bita, and Félix Manuaku Waku. Despite the longevity of Zaiko Langa Langa and their uncountable personnel changes, N'Yoka Longo never left, and he is currently the leader and main song writer of the band.

In 1977 Longo was chosen to perform with Zaire's National Orchestra at the FESTAC festival in Lagos; this was a significant thrust to his popularity, that has been steadily growing since then. He has written major Zaiko Langa Langa hits such as Nalala Pongi and Amando and played in over 100 international concert tours.

A distinctive feature of N'Yoka Longo is that, as a polyglot, he sings in several languages, including Kikongo, Swahili, French, and English.

Footnotes

1. ^ The simplified spelling "Nyoka" is also found in literature.

References

• Nyoka Longo: The Charismatic Leader of Zaiko Langa Langa

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Name	Longo, Nyoka
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