FULU MIZIKI, “the sound of dustbins” in Lingala, is a band born in the Ngwaka neighbourhood, a veritable labyrinth of streets in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC. They define themselves as an Eco-Friendly-Afro-Futuristic-Punk assembly straight from a future where humans are reconciled with the earth and with themselves. They produce a new kind of music, which they call Twerkanda, a sort of explosive afro disco-house / post soukous, composed entirely from instruments made from materials they have recycled and assembled. For several years, all members have spent a lot of time conceptualising an orchestra made from salvaged objects found in rubbish bins, instruments that are constantly changing for new sounds.
Making their own instruments, performance costumes and masks is essential to their approach. Their unique sound carries a pan-African message of artistic liberation and peace, and alarming on tge ecological situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the world. For the collective, everything can be reclaimed and re-enchanted.