Papa Wemba's road to fame and prominence began when he joined the music group
Zaiko Langa Langa in 1969. This was followed by his success as a founding member both of
Isifi Lokole and then
Yoka Lokole, along with a short stint as a member of
Afrisa International for a few months. influenced by western popular music that reflected a European flavor and style, referred to as "
Europop." and impressed the band’s administrators. The next day, Bel Guide National was dissolved by its administration which decided to form (with Wemba as a singer) what-became the influential rock-rumba band
Zaïko Langa Langa (ZLL) keeping just two Bel Guide National members:
Jossart N'Yoka Longo and
Félix Manuaku Waku. He remained with the group for four years.
Isifi Lokole In December 1974, at the pinnacle of their fame (and just a month after the
Rumble in the Jungle between
Muhammad Ali and
George Foreman in Kinshasa), when he was suspected of having a relationship with army general's daughter. After his success already with three influential groups, in 1977 Papa Wemba established a kind of commune for musicians. To accomplish this, he used his family home (on Kanda-Kanda street) as a fashionable gathering place for Matonge youths. He named it "Village Molokai" and declared himself to be its
tribal chief (
chef coutumier).
Move to Paris Beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wemba (both by himself and with Viva la Musica) started traveling to Paris,
100% Star Bakala Dia Kuba performed exceptionally well in Paris and Kinshasa. On 31 December 2001, he performed at the
Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, where he was joined onstage by
Wendo Kolosoy. This performance formed part of a European tour that included France, Belgium, England, and
Switzerland, before the band returned home at the end of February 2002 after a stop in
West Africa. By this time, Wemba's use of African, Cuban and Western influences was not only one of Africa's most popular music styles, it was crossing cultural boundaries and attracting a more diverse audience outside of Africa. In 1993, Wemba joined with
Peter Gabriel for the latter's
Secret World Tour, and this drew attention to Wemba's unique style and groundbreaking sound. The aforementioned
Emotion album, released in 1995, showed that he was achieving a global following. This album appeared under Peter Gabriel's Real World record label, and sold more than 100,000 copies. ==Legal issues==