Afrika Yetu is proud to support the following performers and is always looking for and auditioning talent in our attempt to educate the American People and to help our African emigrant brothers and sisters share their culture here in America.
The WACONGO Dance Company is a
traditional ensemble of master drummers, musicians and dancers from the
Democratic Republic of Congo, who perform the ancestral songs and dances of
WACONGO promotes African culture by presenting African arts to the public,
especially schools, churches, neighborhood organizations and community
forums.
In its performances WACONGO explores music from 400 ethnic groups, including
Luba, Mongo, Kongo, Mbala, Chokwe, Pende, Kuba, Mbunda and many more.
Soukous Stars has
been pleasing USA-based African music fans for the past several years and
are currently the most interesting and authentic Congolese touring act based
full-time in 
certainly evident - the band has hosted top session players and singers.
Nyboma, Madilu, Yondo Sister, Dally Kimoko and others have all made their
mark on this groups history. Luckily, the most recent incarnation of the
band emphasis two of the more alluring elements of Congolese music. First,
the band has several talented youthful recruits who perform the latest
Congolese grooves and dance crazes from
Kinshasa, Central Africa. He performs
Reggae Nzaki – a fusion of
traditional African elements, urban sounds, reggae, spirituality and
tradition along with elements of Western pop.
Born in Kinshasa, he was raised in a community of musicians and began singing in a church at age 12. Songwriting became a way for Shegue-Di to express his emotions.
He had a taste of being in the spotlight at that early age, when he played with his friends. He started playing his first guitar at age 19, with time he gravitated toward percussion to experiment with several traditional African sounds. He created a musical fusion that led him to found EMBOWASSA with childhood friends in 1983.
After a series of success in Central
Africa, they accepted an invitation to a festival in Brussels, Belgium where
they recorded and released their first album Tuta Weza (Sowarex) in 1992. The following year would prove to be
Shegue-Di’s year. In 1983, they became recipients of French Cultural Center
award in Kinshasa, the Best Band at the Festival of Kinshasa and he won the
prize of the Best Singer.The word that describes him best is "Versatility." He is an inescapable presence in every major facet of Afropop music since the early 90’s. His recording with EMBOWASSA helped rejuvenate the Congolese tradition of Rumba music in Congo. The experience alone made Shegue-Di a staple of "African Urban Fusion Music" on radios all over Central Africa. His song Tshanga from the album Tuta Weza was licensed by Putumayo (USA) in 1995 for the compilation The Best of World Music.
Yet his considerable success was eclipsed by his songwriting for other artists and his 10-year collaboration as a bass player, singer and percussionist with his brother, Lokua Kanza. However, the 10 years next to his talented brother had him performed at the most prestigious venues such as Olympia, Zenith, the omni-Sport Stadium of Bercy in Paris-France, Central Park in New York City, and the Festival of Montreal in Canada.
He successfully toured Africa, Europe, Asia, Brazil, Japan and the USA. His talent linked him with some of the biggest stars, Nougaro (France), Morane (Belgium) and Sara Tavarez (Portugal) Shegue-Di sings in his native Lingala & Swahili and occasionally in English and French. Playing a highly infectious music, he is constantly expending his audience and he says "worry not, life will fix it somehow, someday"
