Fulu Muziki, a Congolese music band, rose to public attention in 2019. Their message was simple: they make music out of garbage, which is the literal translation of their music band’s name in the local dialect.
Producing music from the dumpsite entails making musical instruments, costumes, and masks out of the waste they reclaimed. Song Lines claims that their adventure began in 2003, when Kinshasa musician Pisko Crane began foraging on the mountains of Ngwaka street garbage.
Ngwaka is a 16,000-person urban hamlet that creates 10,000 metric tons of waste every day. It was a city dealing with its expanding domestic trash, which was endangering the community’s health and basic life.
Crane founded the Fulu Miziki project with the help of his wife and a devoted eco-friendly Afro-Futuristic crew. They began by creating art out of trash and filming its impact on Ngwaka. Renaud Barret, a Belgian filmmaker, assisted him in organizing a workshop to share their struggles and inability to purchase or rent instruments to amplify their message.
He also stated that they were at a crossroads in terms of how to remake themselves in the face of stiff competition among Kinshasa’s traditional singers and become globally significant. The first step they took was to develop their own rhythm and musical style. They had more than 30 pieces recorded in the studios. They added a touch of a major concern to them in the costumes they wore for their performances. They made what they wore on stage out of garbage found on their streets and dumpsites.
Many people in the community did not grasp the idea they were attempting to spread. However, it was discovered by the general public when they began on musical tours in the United Kingdom and the United States. They went it a step further by creating their own musical instruments out of discarded items gathered from dumping grounds.
They fashioned drum sets out of old oil canisters and other instruments out of PVC tubing attached to wood and worn-out flip-flops. Their mission was to raise the awareness of the people of Ngwaka, who were literally submerged in filth.
Fulu Muziki music goes beyond making people joyful with catchy tunes and noises. It is about organizing individuals to help preserve and clean up the city. The goal is to launch a campaign that will persuade city officials to establish proper recycling organizations in order to inspire the public.
This message was conveyed through their music and lyrics. At their own level, the group has turned garbage recycling into a hobby. There is a desire to create their own instruments out of trash and to reinvent fashion trends using the discarded materials they pick up on a daily basis from the streets.
Fulu Miziki believes in reusing waste for the benefit of humanity. They hope to raise awareness about the importance of waste management throughout Africa.