tempo varies, no sourced figureKinshasa

Kinshasa DIY electronics: the sound of Kinshasa

Kinshasa's DIY electronic scene is a movement of musicians in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital who build instruments from scrap and run them through amplifiers and electronics, rooted in the electrified traditional music Crammed Discs named 'Congotronics' and growing from around 2000.[1][2][3][4]

6 artists on Pulse1 cities2 sets to play

Pulse

What kinshasa diy electronics is

Bands play drums made from saucepans and tins, string instruments and vibraphones cobbled from plastic and wood, bicycle parts, typewriters and engine pieces, mixed with drum machines and rumba, soukous, funk and punk. The older lineage is Konono Nº1's electric likembé (thumb piano) with handmade magnet pick-ups. A separate thread, Rey Sapienz's 'Congo Techno', mixes soukous with trap and noise from Kampala.[1][2][3][4]

Kinshasa DIY electronics, also written Congotronics (Crammed Discs series name), Fulu Miziki: 'music from the trash', Congotekno / Congo Techno (Rey Sapienz), electro-rumba, punk-soukous (descriptive tags in our data).

Tempo

No sourced tempo. No sourced BPM; sources describe a range of tempos and band setups rather than one tempo PAM (2025) and the Congotronics and KOKOKO! sources give no tempo. Pulse shows no BPM number for this sound; the city tempos on the map are the cities' own pulse figures.

On the Pulse map
Kinshasa sits at 128 BPM (our editorial estimate). That is each city's own pulse, not a figure for this sound.

Where it comes from

Kinshasa: Avenue Kato (Bebson de la rue's open-air workshop), Ngwaka (near the zoo and Zando market), Matonge, Bacongo, Lemba Terminus · Konono Nº1 from the 1960s; the recycled-instrument movement from around the turn of the millennium[1][2][4]

  • Mingiedi Mawangu / Konono Nº1

    founded in the 1960s; three electric likembés with handmade magnet microphones; 'Congotronics' (Crammed Discs, 2004)[2][1]

  • Freddy Tsimba

    sculptor described as a godfather of the scene[1]

  • Bebson de la rue (Jean-Claude Elemba)

    Avenue Kato workshop; led Trionyx; circle that produced KOKOKO! and Kin'Gongolo Kiniata[1]

  • Pisko Crane / Fulu Miziki

    collective founded 2012 (per our data); rehearsed in a courtyard in Ngwaka[1]

  • KOKOKO! (with French producer Débruit)

    first called Slum Robots; 'Fongola' (Transgressive, 5 July 2019), 'Butu' (summer 2024)[1][3]

  • Rey Sapienz

    left North Kivu for Kampala in 2012, taught himself Ableton; 'Congo Techno' name; co-founded Hakuna Kulala[4]

Where the sources disagree

Is it one genre?. Our data uses the umbrella 'Kinshasa DIY electronics'. Sources describe several distinct projects (traditional electrified likembé, recycled-instrument bands, Kampala-based club producers) rather than one style. Present it as a scene.[1][2][4]

Album title. PAM spells KOKOKO!'s debut 'Fongala'; the label and DIY spell it 'Fongola'.[1][3]

Who carried it

  • Crammed Discslabel (Brussels)

    Congotronics series, curated and produced by Vincent Kenis, from 2004; Kasai Allstars volumes 2008 and 2014[2]

  • Transgressivelabel (London)

    KOKOKO![3]

  • Hakuna Kulalalabel (Kampala)

    Nyege Nyege sub-label; name is Swahili for 'no sleep'[4]

  • Nyege Nyege Tapeslabel

    Fulu Miziki debut

  • System K (Renaud Barret)documentary

    film on Kinshasa's street artists; KOKOKO! scored a Barret film[1]

Moments

  1. 2004Crammed Discs releases Konono Nº1's 'Congotronics', opening the series[2]
  2. 2019-07-05KOKOKO! release 'Fongola' on Transgressive[3]
  3. 2024KOKOKO!'s 'Butu'; only Makara Bianko and Débruit remain from the original line-up[1]
  4. 2025-11-07PAM surveys the scene; several members of Fulu Miziki have moved to Europe[1]
  5. 2026-07-08Fulu Miziki play Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam (per our data)

The rooms it was made for

  • Street workshops

    Bebson de la rue's Avenue Kato workshop, the scene's open-air lab.[1]

  • Courtyards

    Fulu Miziki rehearsed in a courtyard in Ngwaka.[1]

  • Streets of Kinshasa

    KOKOKO! make 'their voices heard on Kinshasa's streets'.[3]

  • Neighbourhood clubs

    Atalaku (MC) Makara Bianko performed at his club, Le Couloir de Bercy.[1]

Cities on Pulse

Cities whose signature sound or style tags include Kinshasa DIY electronics. The number is each city's own pulse tempo.

Artists on Pulse

6 artists and collectives tagged Kinshasa DIY electronics in our data, busiest cities first.

Sets to play

One tap plays here; the next Kinshasa DIY electronics set follows, then Pulse Radio carries on.

Set page
Set page

Questions about Kinshasa DIY electronics

What is Congotronics?

The name of Crammed Discs' series of electrified traditional Congolese music, which began in 2004 with Konono Nº1's album 'Congotronics'.[2]

What instruments do KOKOKO! play?

Instruments built from salvaged objects such as typewriters, tins, bicycle parts and engine components, alongside electronics.[3][1]

What does Fulu Miziki mean?

'Music from the trash' in Lingala.[1]

What is Congo Techno?

Rey Sapienz's name for his music made in Kampala; PAM calls the name a malapropism, closer to soukous and trap than to techno.[4]

Sources

Last checked 16 October 2026 · Send a correction or a tip

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