By Brian Okoth
DRC musicians Fally Ipupa and Ferre Gola have many things in common. At 46 years old, Fally is in the same age group as 48-year-old Gola.
Both of them at some point passed through the hands of the legendary Koffi Olomide, and both of them have filled stadia in different parts of Africa.
Sporting a neatly trimmed beard, and dressing to turn heads, Fally and Gola would probably pass for brothers in a world where few people knew about them. But with their celebrity status, their worlds unfold right before our eyes. And we have come to love and appreciate them — equally and differently.
In the process, their fans have often clashed whenever a debate arises on who between them is the ultimate king of modern-day Rhumba.
That debate has never ended with a winner-loser conclusion, because both Fally and Gola are so good at what they do.
This is the story of DRC's best musical exports of today's generation.
Solo artists
And we'll begin with Gola — not for any particular reason.
He was born on March 3rd, 1976 in DRC's capital Kinshasa. The artiste's official name is Hervé NGola Bataringe.
Gola's passion for music significantly grew in the early 1990s, when he was a teenager.
In the mid-90s, Congolese singer and producer Werrason recruited Gola to the Wenge Musica soukous band. Gola was about 18 years old then.
The Wenge Musica band however split in 1997, but Gola followed Werrason to his new band.
Gola stayed with the new group for seven years.
In attempts to establish his career, Gola teamed up with his two friends to form a new band in 2004.
However, the group's existence was short-lived, and Gola thereafter found a landing in Koffi Olomide's Quartier Latin International, which had existed since 1986.
In 2006, Gola ventured into solo career, with reports suggesting that he and Olomide fell out.
Today, the 48-year-old award-winning musician has a collection of hit songs such as "Mea Culpa", "Vita Imana", "Visas", and "Jugement", among others.
On Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok, he has a combined following of 5.3 million. The musician has several children.
Band conductor
Now, let us turn to Fally Ipupa.
He was born on December 14th, 1977 in Kinshasa. His official name is Fally Ipupa N'simba.
The musician, who was raised in a Catholic family, previously said his exposure to church choir made him overcome stage fright.
In 1997, Fally began his music career through the Kinshasa-based Talent Latent band.
Two years later, he joined Koffi Olomide's Quartier Latin International.
Olomide liked Fally's creativity, which saw the band produce popular hit songs such as "Force de frappe".
To reward Fally's contribution, Olomide promoted him to band conductor. However, in 2006 — after seven years with Quartier Latin — Fally opted for a solo career.
His first studio album titled "Droit Chemin" sold over 100,000 copies, and introduced Fally's credentials to the world.
Today, the 46-year-old has won it all, graced every big stage, and amassed a legion of followers. Some of his hit songs are "Associé", "Mayday", "Amore" and "Ecole."
On Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok, Fally has a combined following of 19.6 million.
