Zap Mama

Zap Mama is a Belgian singer-songwriter, performer, composer, lyricist, activist, video artist and ethno-vocal therapist[clarification needed] born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in Belgium. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro pop music, a harmonic music with a mixture of infused African vocal techniques, urban, hip hop with emphasis on voice. In order to explore and discover the vast world of oral tradition music, she travels throughout Africa, learning, exchanging and sharing information about healing songs, lullabies, mourning, and practising polyphony with griots (bards), Tartit tuareg women, Dogons, Peulhs, Pygmies, Mangbetus, Zulus and others. Zap Mama's worldwide success began with a quintet of polyphonic female singers, whose unique vocal polyphony style has inspired influences in American hip hop, nu-soul, jazz and elements of pop. Her song "Iko-iko" was featured in the film Mission: Impossible II. "The voice is an instrument in itself," says Daulne, "it's the original instrument. It's the original instrument. The main instrument. It's the instrument that gives the most soul, the human voice. We sing songs in French and English with African and world roots." Marie Daulne was born in the city of Isiro in east Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Her father was a white Walloon (French-speaking Belgian); her mother was a black Congolese Bantu woman from Kisangani. When she was a few days old, her father was captured and killed by Simba rebels during the Congo Crisis. Marie's mother, with her brother and two sisters, survived by hiding in the forest. Several months later, they were airlifted by Belgian paratroopers and flown to Belgium. Growing up in Belgium was not easy for the family. "The afro community was very under-represented and not at all prominent at that time in Belgium," said Daulne. "It became easier as I grew older". There were black role models seen in music and sports. At home, the Congolese culture remained present through traditional songs, which her mother and sisters sang together. The paternal family of Marie's father provided liturgical music and the Walloon popular songs. From early adolescence, Marie trained and competed in track, field and volleyball, with aspirations to one day compete in the Olympics. Marie graduated from the Academie Royale des Beaux Arts de Bruxelles and the Nationale Superieure des Arts Visuales de La Cambre.[citation needed] Daulne also trained in modern dance, choreography and acrobatics at the Ecole du Cirque, and briefly attended the Antwerp School of Jazz.[citation needed] Daulne's mother sang songs and polyphonies with Daulne and her sisters so the children benefited from a heritage of oral tradition. Daulne grew up and listened to European music. "Belgian radio stations programmed European music mainly from France, UK and American which were very popular throughout Europe. Since our mother did not want us to watch TV at home, we entertained ourselves by creating our own music. We were very musical." Daulne was introduced to black music watching television. "When I was growing up, there were only a few Afro families, and they were mostly isolated. However, we would often come together in a renowned district of Brussels known as "Matongue," around the La Maison Africane. It was there that my mother established several shops specializing in African items. Then I saw an American musical comedy called Carmen Jones with black people on TV. And I couldn't believe it. I said, "That's us!" My whole fantasy life was based on that movie." Daulne said she felt a special connection to blues songs like "Damn Your Eyes" by Etta James. "When I was a teenager I listened to a lot of American blues," she said. "That song brought me happiness while I was going through the pain of a broken love. It helped me to open the door and see the life in front of me. I sing it now and I hope, in my turn, that I can help another teenager to do the same if they are having pain from love." When Daulne was 14 years old, she frequently visited London, England and discovered British Jamaican reggae artists. "My first vinyl was Kaya by Bob Marley. I know that whole album by heart." Then Daulne became interested in the rap music of Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys. "I was into breakdancing at the time. I formed a girl group, and we used to show off with break-dance acrobatics and beatbox influences from Doug E Fresh and Fat Boys." It was during this time that she began incorporating the polyphonic sounds of African rhythms into her music. After Daulne left her family home, she came to realize the profound richness of the African songs that her mother had sung to her during her childhood. "In the school choir, I wondered why we didn't use African harmonizations or rhythms. So I started recording music that reflected this mix of influences from traditional African melodies, British reggae, USA beatbox, French and American funk songs, and Zap Mama was born. I wrote my first song when I was 15, and since then, I haven't stopped." However, Daulne's true professional involvement in music began after an unfortunate accident that hindered her ability to continue her athletics training. This incident forced her to redirect her energy and passion towards her musical pursuits. "I wanted to have a career in sports, but I tore my ligaments during an acrobatic breakdance performance. It marked the end of my journey in the world of sports I stayed at home, listening to music. I recorded sounds all the time and I listened to sounds that went on for hours. But I still needed something, and that's when I decided to go to Africa, to the deep Ituri forest where I was born." In the documentary film Mizike Mama, Daulne and her family talk about a backwards cultural struggle to win her allegiance as a child. Her mother, having lived through a period of Belgian colonial rule, feared that Daulne would speak with an African accent and so did not teach her the language. Daulne first heard a recording of Pygmy ritual music from the colonial period exposed in a toy library in Brussels, and recognized the same musical ranges as her mother's songs. She returned to Congo-Kinshasa in 1984 to learn about her heritage and train in pygmy onomatopoeic vocal techniques. "When I went to the Congo, I hadn't thought of becoming the vocal artist I am today. Not at all. But I was there, to understand the family history, and I was in the middle of the forest, hearing the music that had been part of my earliest memories, and it was like an illumination, like a light," Daulne said. Daulne made further trips to Africa. "I've been all over Africa. I started where I was born, in the forest of Zaire. Then I went to West Africa, to discover the Tuareg, Mandingo music and griots, to South Africa in Soweto, to East Africa with the Masai and to North Africa with the Gnawa. "I focused mainly on vocal techniques," explains Daulne. Daulne considers herself a citizen of the world. "You know, when I went back to Congo, I thought I'd be welcomed as if I were part of the community, part of the country, but that wasn't the case," says Daulne. "They treated me like a Belgian coming to visit. I saw that no where would I find a place where I could feel at home." Daulne's music has evolved over the years from an a cappella quintet to a lead voice accompanied by instruments. "I'm a nomad. I like to discover my sound with different instruments, different genres. For me it's normal. My name is Zap Mama...it's easy for me to zap in from one instrument to another, a culture, a style. I'm more a citizen of the world, not an American or Belgian." Zap Mama has released nine full-length albums: Zap Mama (1991) (re-released in 1993 as Adventures in Afropea 1, minus the single track Etupe), Sabsylma (1994), Seven (1997), A Ma Zone (1999), Ancestry in Progress (2004), Supermoon (2007), ReCreation (2009), Eclectic Breath (2018) and Odyssée (2022) that fall into five