Marie-Claire Mboyo Moseka (born January 10, 1959), known professionally as M'bilia Bel, is a Congolese rumba, soukous, and world music singer and songwriter. She is known as the "Queen of African Rumba". She rose to fame after first being discovered by Sam Manguana and later by Tabu Ley Rochereau who helped her gain confidence, master her powerful soprano voice, and achieve acclaim as one of the best Congolese female singers.
Biography
Early life and musical career
Bel became successful at a young age, inspired by her father, who played guitar. She joined the local church choir, where her artistry for singing expeditiously became conspicuous. At the age of seventeen, Bel began her performing career, singing as a backup singer for Abeti Masikini, the "Queen of Perfumed Soukous," and later with Sam Mangwana. In the late 1980s, she caught the attention of Congolese music legend Tabu Ley Rochereau, who recognized her preternatural vocal abilities. Rochereau took her to join his band, l'Orchestre Afrisa International, and became her mentor in 1981. As Tabu Ley's protegee, she leveraged his composing genius and her own voice to produce many hits for l'Orchestre Afrisa International.
In 1981, Bel soared to prominence with the release of her debut album, "Eswi Yo Wapi," with I'Orchestre Afrisa International. In 1982, she released her second song with Afrisa, Mpeve Ya Longo (Holy Spirit in Kikongo), a moving song about spousal abuse. In the song, she tells the story of a woman who had been abandoned by her husband and has to raise her children herself. The song was popular, especially among woman in Zaire.
By the mid-1980s, she officially married Tabu Ley. The birth of her first child prompted her to take a break from performing. However, she reunited with Rochereau for an album in 1987 before eventually relocating to Paris in 1988. There, she started working with guitarist Rigo Star Bamundele and, between 1989 and early 1990, toured the United States, Great Britain, and West Africa. During this time, Tabu Ley recruited another female artist, Kishila Ngoyi (known as Faya Tess), to accompany Bel. l'Orchestre Afrisa International continued to achieve success, with their tour to Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda resulting in several hit albums.
After her departure from Afrisa, both the band’s popularity and Bel's solo career experienced a decline. However, she made a triumphant comeback in 2004 with the release of her album "Bellissimo" (meaning "very beautiful" in Italian). The album received excellent reviews.
Her music
Bel's first album, released in 1981, was Eswi yo Wapi. The title song, which roughly translates to "Where did it hurt you?", was composed by both Tabu Ley and M'bilia Bel. The song won the award for the best song of 1982 in Zaire, and M'bilia Bel won the award for best newcomer. Other songs on the album such as Tabu Ley's "Lisanga ya Bambanda," "Kelhia," and Dino Vangu's "Quelle Mechancete," were big hits for Afrisa International. Afrisa's popularity began to rival that of François Luambo's band TP.OK Jazz. Bel swiftly became the main attraction at Afrisa's concerts in the Congo and wherever they toured, often whipping huge crowds into a delirium when she joined the Rocherettes (dancers) in their routines. By the mid-1980s, Bel officially married Tabu Ley and gave birth to a daughter named Melody Tabu.
Bel's songs continued to dominate the Congolese music scene, among them "Mobali na ngai wana" ("This Husband of Mine"), composed by Tabu Ley and Roger Izeidi, an adaptation of a traditional song in Lingala with a Rap/animation of Bayanzi. In the song, Bel praises her husband as being winsome, elegant and efficacious and stresses that even though he has the opportunity to choose from any of Kinshasa's beautiful women, he chose her. Other songs that dominated the charts during her reign in Afrisa included "Balle a terre", "Bameli soy", "Ba gerants ya Mabala", "Keyna", "Cadence Mudanda", "Bafosami", "Nakei Nairobi", "Ba jeux de Coin", "Paka Wewe", "Boya Ye", "Yamba Ngai", "ShaWuri Yako" "Beyanga", and "La Beaute D'une Femme".
In 1987, Afrisa toured East Africa, particularly Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, culminating in the album Nadina, which had Lingala and Swahili versions of the title song. The tour was well received. M'bilia Bel took center stage, overshadowing other Afrisa artists including Ndombe Opetum, who had returned from T.P OK Jazz. Upon their return to Kinshasa, rumours started surfacing about a rift between Tabu ley and M'bilia Bel. Both publicly denied having any problems when they were interviewed by journalists.