Soukous (also known as Lingala and Congo) is a dance music (1) genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa. "Soukous" (a derivative of the French word secousse, "shake" (2) was originally the name of a dance popular in the Congos in the late 1960s, an African version of rumba. Although the genre was initially known as rumba (sometimes termed specifically as African rumba), the term "soukous" has come to refer to African rumba and its subsequent developments.
Soukous is called Congo music in West Africa, and Lingala in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania - referring to the Lingala language of the region from where it originated. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, where Congolese music is also influential, it is usually referred to as Rumba. In the 1980s and early 1990s, a fast-paced style of soukous known as kwassa kwassa -- named after a popular dance, was popular. A style called ndombolo, also named after a dance, is currently popular. Soukous also mixes styles from zouk music.
