Following the recent success of contemporary bands such as Staff Benda Bilili and Konono N°1, it's time once again for Crammed Discs to revisit the rich heritage of music from DR Congo, with the reissue of the Congo Classics albums, originally compiled by Vincent Kenis in 1993 from recordings dating back to the early Fifties.

Congo Classics is an essential collection documenting the early days of Congolese pop. Lovingly put together by (Congotronics man) Vincent Kenis, these albums chronicle the birth of what was to become Africa's most popular musical style.

In the early '50s, modern Afro-Cuban music served a cultural role in Congo similar to that of Rock 'n Roll in the West: played by the young for the young, it was adorned with all  the charms of rebellion.

The origins of Congolese rumba, its strange links with traditional music, French crooners and Belgian brass bands… the spectacular reappropriation of Afro-Cuban music by Kinshasa musicians who, when exposed to the son montuno piano styles, recognized some of the old likembe (thumb piano) patterns originally brought to Cuba by deported Congolese slaves, and proceeded to adapt them to the electric guitar… the social context, the lifestyle of Congolese musicians in the early Fifties… all of that and much more is extensively described in the liner notes written by Kenis and based on interviews with musicians from that era.