Guided Tour: “Control” By Fally Ipupa – Part 1 of 3

Canne à Sucre

Right, after a bit of perspiration comes the real thing. Control is a rumba triple-album in essence. Therefore, there’s a pattern you will notice from now on, both in term of arrangements and contents. And it starts with Canne à Sucre.

Arrangement wise, Congolese rumba songs mostly have simple backbones. They usually consist of a pattern of two or more chords, usually three. Those chords play repetitively and melodies are built on top of them. No doubt there’s a looming monotony to beat. I noticed two main strategies to manage the repetitiveness.

The first and most used one consists of breaking the song in two or more parts by varying the chord pattern, tempo or the main melody. In the song at hand here, the shift happens towards the second minute. A quick transition leads to the meat of the song, the one part most people would probably remember the most. The second strategy consists of spicing up the song’s arrangement. You will notice multiple melody instruments simultaneously playing in the background. This multi-melody arrangement is a brilliant disguise for a couple of looping chords spine. It enriches the song so you do not get bored, or too bored.

In term of content, love is the dominant theme of Congolese rumba songs. I have not come over a quantitative study of modern Congolese music yet, but I believe more than seventy percent of Congolese songs treat about love anyway. The love universe has its galaxies too. Canne à Sucre’s galaxy has a long title: “Honey you’re the best in the world”. Canne à Sucre stands for sugar cane. That’s what Danielle is (I don’t know Danielle personally, in case you wondered).

And here are some key translations:

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