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| Cat# 6942144 | V12 (1995) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SUAVEReleased: 10 Jul 2006 Country: D.R.CONGO  Sterns TOP VeteranDate/place on top Aug 2006 - 16 Price: £9.95  |
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| Customer Reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yakil : | One of the 30 essential Congolese albums, Koffi Olomide's V12 a.k.a. Cross-Over is delectable listening. This is a new Koffi Olomide, capitalising on his previous albums success and improving on his Tcha Tcho formula. "Probleme sur probleme" as he liked to put it, he is refering to the Mercedes V12 that came out around that time and he purchased. It was reported that the car created jealousy amongst his fellow musicians. But for someone who has owned a Porsche, this is a mere thing.
The album opens with a certain Catholic choir with "Andrada", which talks about a ungrateful friend who is jealous of Koffi Olomide. With his deep baritone voice, Koffi "Papa Top Mukulu-kulu" Olomide is backed by his quartier Latin. In Parking ya ba Baba ("Parking of the Deaf and mute "), Koffi says that his Tcha Tcho is like water, whether you drink it or you bathe in it: You can't escape it. A really melodic Soukous Love by the master himself. The concept behind this song is that he cannot express his sorrow except to people sharing his condition (Deaf and mute people). In this case, people who are in love can only understand what he is going through. Full of parables such as "Love doesn't exist, only proofs of love exist" - Fouta Djallon; or "Even an elephant needs vitamins". "Papa Top" exceeds in musicality and sultry lyrics, that shows his commitment to bring a new vision of his music. They say if it's not broke, don't fix it. My favourite track has to be Etat Civil "Marital status". With his arrangement, his almost whispering voice and the call and answer technique used, Etat Civil raises the bar in Congolese music. Aspirine is an ode to the ailment of love, with an interpolation of a successful Grand Kalle Jeff song, which it is not credited on the album. However, the song is known in the whole country, but the title is still obscure to me (maybe "Fifi"). Koffi always made songs that seemed timeless, and Aspirine makes no exception. The King of Tcha Tcho knows his strenghts and weaknesses. That's why he combined his Soukous love to the today's requirements (the album was released in 1994) of the Sebene. A song will start with a slow tempo and evolves in an up-tempo that is certified to fill a dancefloor. He starts giving verses to his Quartier Latin singers on his solo albums. This is the first one where he does so. As opposed to the group album where the backing singers can sing a verse. His strenghts lies in his lyrics; he knows how to express his feelings. For years, his words have been used by men to woo their girlfriends. V12 is an album for any Koffi's fan, an unmissable. 12 years after its release, it has kept his danceability, his cross-over appeal and his legendary status. A must. |
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