The World (Public Radio Intl), Global Hit: So Kalmery (Real Audio) >>
Four vice presidents signed a power sharing agreement yesterday in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The agreement is aimed at bringing peace to the nation that's been at war for the past five years. Civil strife has been part of life in the central African nation for longer than that though. And that's part of the reason so many talented Congolese musicians have left their country. 48 year-old So Kalmery is one of them.
So Kalmery began to sing a Congolese ty pe of swinging poetry-rap called "brakka" when he was 14. He's still singing it.
So Kalmery had a good voice, even when he was a kid. He played gigs in Kinshasa, and all over Congo.
So Kalmery: And then one man saw me and he say, "You sing good, I want you to meet my band." And I was young, so I said, no maybe I have to tell my parents. And he said, "No it's not far, I take you, I bring you back." We drive for maybe the whole night, til I start crying. I say I have to go back because my parents will be worried. And then I find myself in another country, and then he said, no you have to sing with my band and then teach them how to sing. So I stay there for months, and I keep crying but I get used to singing and so on because I was afraid, I was young, all the musicians were older than me.
Basically, the bandleader kidnapped young So Kalmery. It was an especially wrenching experience because So had been left fatherless a year before. His dad had been an ally of Patrice Lumumba, Congo's first premier. Lumumba was overthrown and murdered in 1961 and So Kalmery's father disappeared. So Kalmery never found out what happened to his father. But he believes Congo's dictator Mobutu Sese Seko had a hand in his father's disappearance.
So Kalmery eventually returned to his family in Congo. He later moved to Kenya where he formed his first band. Kalmery then settled in Paris, like many Congolese musicians. He hasn't returned to Congo in more than 15 years. But the new power sharing agreement has given So Kalmery a glimmer of hope.
So Kalmery:I hope it's going to be positive now because all my friends I know they want to get back home. I wanted to get back just two or three years ago when Mobutu left the country. But you see what's happening? It's always the same. I lost all my family, all my young brother and my old brother.
So Kalmery says that not being in Congo has torn him. He has to be abroad to pursue his music. And that means, in his mind, he and his fellow Congolese musicians can't really be part of their country.
So Kalmery: Til now I don't really consider myself as a Congolese, because if you are Congolese then you must be in the Congo and contribute to the country. But we can't for the moment.
So Kalmery is currently wrapping up a tour of North America. He performs tonight in Washington, and this weekend in Chicago and New York.
Our theme music is composed by Eric Goldberg. The World is produced by Andrew Sussman. Our team includes Jennifer Goren, David Leveille, Emma Lydersen, Michael Rass and Adeline Sire.
Ann Lopez is our director. Our editor is Ken Bader. Chris Woolf is news editor. The World's engineers are Ray Fallon, Robert O'Connell, Tina Tobey, and Mike Wilkins. Our interactive team includes Chip Griffin and Stephani Roberts Lincoln.
William Troop is Senior Editor. Jonathan Dyer, Managing Editor. The Executive Producer of The World is Bob Ferrante.
I'm Marco Werman in Boston. Have a nice weekend. We'll be back on Monday for another spin of The World. 07/18/03 >> go there
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