Koffi Olomide will be in town this month for a number of charity
activities and a music concert. He will be the headlining artiste at a charity
concert organised by Rotary Uganda. Here’s a few facts about the singer.
1] Koffi Olomide is 57 Years Old. He was born Christophe Antoine
Agbepa Mumba, to a Congolese father and Sierra Leone mother on 13 July 1956.
2] The name Koffi was given to him in accordance with the common
West African naming tradition (Sierra Leone, Ghana) in relation to the day of
the week one is born. Koffi is one of the names given to boys born on Friday.
Popular male
names for the other weekdays are: Kojo(Monday), Komla(Tuesday), Kwaku(Wednesday),
Yao(Thursday), Kwame(Saturday) and Kwasi(Sunday)
3] Koffi Olomide is a proud holder of a Bachelors’ Degree in
Business Economics. He also has a Masters’ Degree in Mathematics from the
University of Paris.
4] He started his music career with Papa Wemba's band, Viva la
Musica, initially as a composer and song-writer, and later as a vocalist and
lead-singer.
5] The name Olomide was coined during his time at Viva La
Musica. Koffi was such an impressive songwriter that one day in 1977 Papa Wemba
exclaimed, "Ooh! l'homme idee" (French for: Oh! the idea-man!). A
funkier version of the words was adopted - Olomide. Koffi Olomide would later
become his official stage name.
6] He went solo in 1986, forming his own band that he called
Quartier Latin. He does a unique genre, a slower style of soukous that he calls
Tcha Tcho.
7] Koffi won four Kora Awards at the annual Kora Awards in South
Africa in 2002 for his effort on the album: Effrakata. These included the award
for Best African Artist, which he had earlier won in 1998.
8] Koffi mainly lives in France, and is married with seven
children. His children have a unique naming convention: Aristote, Elvis, Miss
Universe, Nike, Rocky, Del pirlo Mourinho and Saint James Rolls.
9] In August 2012, Koffi Olomide was found guilty of assaulting
his producer. Earlier on, in the same year he had been charged with raping
three of his dancers. The charges were later dropped.
10] Koffi Olomide probably holds the record for the biggest
number of aliases by any musician in the world. He is known by a total of at
least 35 names. Known names include the following;
Makila Mabe
[which literally means "bad blood" or unlucky child] he was born very
sickly. Others include: Papa Plus; Tcha - Tcho , Kulutu yaba kulutu[Elder of
the elders], Eza Mayi , Papa Top, Mukulu Kulu, Effrakata, Fololo Papa, Papa
Happiness , Rapid Intervention Force, Golden Star, World No. 1 , Quadra Kora
Man, Grand Mopao, Mopao Mokonzi, MM, High Priest Mother, Nzambe Ya Ba Na
Africa Golden Ball, Valeur du Tresor Nationale [Value of The
National Treasury], BB Taste, Favorite Dish, Na Didi Papa, Papa Mourinho, Mopao
Sarkozy, Pape Noir, Barack Obama, Young Pato, Guardiola, La Rambo Du Congo, Le
Roman Abramovich du RDC, Central Market, Acram – Oje, Zando Ya Munene, Pure
Again, Patrão Cinco Estrelas[Portuguese for 5-Star Boss], Koffi Central,
Treizième Apôtre[Thirteenth Apostle].
Koffi courted controversy after he attempted to add Pape Noir
(Black Pope) to his numerous names, a move that did not go down well with the
predominant catholic DR Congo fraternity.
* Dan B. Atuhaire
Uhm...what a story he has behind him.
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