Born and raised in the Bay Area, Kiazi Malonga is a master Congolese drummer and dancer in the tradition of his late father, the world-renowned Malonga Casquelourd. Fluent in Kikongo/Lari as well as French and English, Kiazi is a lifelong student and teacher not just of his ancestral music, but of his culture as a whole. He has been the lead drummer for Fua Dia Kongo, his father’s dance company, since he was 16, and has taught traditional Congolese drumming throughout the Bay Area, around the country and internationally for the past 20 years. Since 2020, Kiazi has also served on the board of World Arts West, expanding his advocacy for traditional arts as a whole.
In 2019, he took his role as culture keeper into the recording studio for the first time, something his father never had the chance to do. The goal was to present the traditional rhythms and instruments of the Kongo Kingdom in a more permanent form. His debut album, Tembo Kia Ngoma, is an instrumental tour de force, with each of its 10 tracks built upon a unique rhythm from his motherland. Kiazi displays his mastery on countless types of drums, shakers, “kisansi” (thumb piano) and more. Following up with Zu Dia Ngoma, essentially part two of his first album, he adapted most of the same instrumental material to make space for vocal arrangements recorded by singers in Congo Brazzaville. Gorgeous melodies and rich harmonies elevate the music to a new level. Album #3 is on the way. An ethnographic presentation and preservation of hyper-local traditional music, it is a groundbreaking collaboration with numerous musical groups from villages around the country.
Kiazi’s live show is transcendent, a door to another plane, another time. Ancient rhythms on traditional drums, at times standing alone, at times backed by a rhythm section, supporting voices that transmit the strength, joy, struggle and hope of spirit and culture to the audience. The rhythms are irresistible and the whole room is moving. It is celebration. It is invocation. It is resistance and anti-colonization. If the key to unlocking a sustainable future is to be found in our ability to reconnect with ancestral ways and wisdom, to carry them into the world we are shaping, then Kiazi is among those who hold the key.
BATÉla
From Kiazi’s 2024 album “Zu Dia Ngoma,” this song tells the story of a fishing village by the Congo River whose fishermen are mysteriously disappearing. The villagers suspect Mami Wata, the legendary mermaid known to reside in different regions of the Congo River, is to blame. The village’s last fisherman sets out to save the village from starvation, and is blessed and protected before going to fish. He encounters Mami Wata while fishing, but he ultimately prevails.
mfiawukiri
This word expresses a depth of gratitude that cannot be adequately translated into any English equivalent. In this song, Kiazi is proclaiming his profound appreciation for those who have gone before him, the keepers of the culture, the drum, the dance, who have passed on their knowledge and spirit to him. He further extends his thanks to musical collaborators and culture keepers who are still with us and with whom he is grateful to carry on the tradition. The video is shot at one of Kiazi’s dance classes in Oakland.