MAPUMBA sings of personal stories and moral issues, portraying the message of love and unity.

His music is a simple sound inspired by different styles – from his ethnic elements to the modern sounds of soul music, all blended by his rich velvet voice and unique style of musical arrangement.

Born Dieu Merci Mapumba Cilombo in the small town of Kolwezi in DRC, Mapumba’s childhood was one filled with political and social instability.

Mapumba found refuge in music, teaching himself voice, guitar and piano throughout high school and college. Eventually Mapumba embarked on a quest to find a place that would let him make music his career. And so, in 2000, Mapumba arrived in Cape Town, with a guitar as his only companion.

Here Mapumba was exposed to various styles of music and performances, learning as much as he could, becoming an inspiring singer, songwriter, composer, producer and a multi-instrumentalist whose creativity evolves with every single performance.

Singing in French, English, Chiluba and Swahili, Mapumba’s debut album Mapumba has been described by the Cape Times as “a brilliantly self-produced and self-composed album with a fantastic combination of beautiful ballads and some groovy upbeat African themes, all diversely blended by his rich soothing velvet voice. A sound that can only be simply called world music...!”