Congolese Vanguard Captivates Afrima Jury
The announcement of the 2025 All Africa Music Awards short-list has once again confirmed the Republic of Congo’s capacity to impress well beyond its borders. Five Congolese signatures – the crooner Singuila, the razor-sharp rapper Jessy B, the turn-table innovator DJ Mombochi, the evergreen Espe Bass and the hybrid single “Lifoli” – have been retained in some of the ceremony’s most watched categories. That breadth of styles, from R&B ballad to electro-rumba experiment, illustrates how national heritage and contemporary ambition interact in Brazzaville’s studios.
Afrima’s jury highlighted “creativity rooted in identity”, a phrase that resonates with Congo’s long-standing cultural diplomacy. As the continent prepares for the gala night, scheduled to be broadcast live on multiple African and international channels, the Congolese cohort embodies a confident artistic diplomacy that complements the country’s broader agenda of regional cooperation.
Portraits of the Nominees: Emotion, Flow and Heritage
Singuila enters the race for Best Male Artist in Central Africa with On fait comment, a finely chiselled R&B meditation. His velvety timbre and lyrical introspection remind audiences that emotion remains a universal connector even when sung in Lingala-tinged French.
In the women’s division, Jessy B competes simultaneously for Best Female Artist in Central Africa and Best African Lyricist. Her collaboration with Franco-Guinean star Black M on La vie est belle blends spoken-word urgency with a chorus tailored for stadiums; the piece has rapidly become an anthem for a generation navigating uncertainty with resilience.
DJ Mombochi, guardian of Brazzaville’s nightlife, is shortlisted for Best African DJ thanks to the pulsating single Lifoli, created in tandem with Paterne Maestro. In lifting traditional percussions into electronic soundscapes he signals the growing centrality of DJ culture in African pop ecology.
Espe Bass, stalwart of the legendary Extra Musica ensemble, defends the Congolese palette in the Contemporary African Music category with Le temps des noces. The track revisits the ceremonial chants of central Congo while embedding synthesizer flourishes, proving that respect for lineage and appetite for novelty need not be mutually exclusive.
Global Echoes and Digital Ballots
Beyond the red-carpet allure, Afrima 2025 amplifies its interactive dimension. Online voting – now extended to additional social networks and mobile applications – allows the diaspora to weigh in alongside domestic audiences. Early metrics published by the organisers indicate a sharp rise in participation from Central Africa, where smartphone penetration has accelerated markedly.
Such connectivity not only democratizes the selection process but also augments the export value of Congolese sounds. Streaming platforms report spikes in playlist additions following the nomination announcement, a dynamic that industry analysts interpret as a virtuous cycle: visibility fuels streams, streams fund future production, and successful production consolidates national soft power. A dedicated infographic on our digital edition retraces this feedback loop in figures.
À retenir
Five Congolese works contend for honours in four strategic categories, reflecting the country’s stylistic plurality and generational renewal. The Afrima platform, by pairing live spectacle with participatory technology, magnifies that creative signal toward both pan-African and extra-continental audiences. A photo gallery accompanying this article captures each nominee in studio or on stage, underscoring the distinct aesthetics that converge under the Congolese flag.
Le point juridique/éco
The award race is not only symbolic. A nomination often triggers renegotiation of distribution contracts, neighbouring rights and sponsorship deals. Under the Congolese Intellectual Property Code, artists retain moral rights in perpetuity but must vigilantly manage economic rights when licensing their catalogues to foreign aggregators. Success at Afrima historically correlates with royalty inflows denominated in hard currency – an increasingly important hedge in a regional economy exposed to commodity price cycles.
Local entertainment lawyers recommend registering works with the Bureau congolais des droits d’auteur before any international showcase. For music publishers, the nominations validate investment in high-quality production facilities in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, where job creation in sound engineering and event logistics is gathering pace. Our data visualisation section maps this emergent value chain, confirming culture as a lever of diversification within the national development blueprint.