1991 marked the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Tanzanian/Kenyan band Simba Wanyika, led by the Kinyonga brothers, Wilson & George. To celebrate, the band embarked on a lengthy world tour, during which time they picked a series of their favourite compositions from their career to re-record for an album called Pepea, which means Fly Away in Swahili.
Mwongele acted as an opening tune both for the album and their live sets. The title translates as Talk to Him and the performance reflects the impassioned nature of the title, with Wilson Kinyonga sounding as though he’s trying urge some stubborn people to put their pride aside and communicate. The music too, which is performed in the Congolese rumba style, is equally edgy, with sudden, stabby riffs that feel like an aggrieved person trying to angrily make their point. The rumba lacks the lightness of soukous, it has a more pronounced bottom end, and although it’s perfectly danceable, in this track it feels darker in tone and intensity. Even the final clatter of drums seems to suggest that a breakthrough in the stalemate hasn’t been found.
The tour and the Pepea LP were valedictory affairs. The celebrations had been overshadowed by the progressive deterioration in George Kinyonga’s health, which had been undermined since the late 1980s by bouts of tuberculosis and pneumonia. This latter condition would eventually take his life on Christmas Eve, 1992, at the age of 42. Simba Wanyika would formally split in 1995, when Wilson Kinyonga also passed away, aged 48.
Video courtesy of Billy Shitcheese.
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