Group
Konono Nº1
Kinshasa‐Congolese musical group
- From
- Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Since
- 1966–present
- Releases
- 8
About
Konono Nº1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are known for their DIY aesthetic, combining electric likembé (a traditional instrument similar to the mbira) with vocals, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard. The group's amplification equipment is equally rudimentary, including a microphone carved out of wood fitted with a magnet from an automobile alternator and a gigantic horn-shaped amplifier. The genre of the band's music has been characterized as difficult to classify; the group themselves have classified their music under the labels of "tradi-modern" and "Congotronics".
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Konono Nº1 achieved international recognition around 2004, with the release of their album Congotronics through the Crammed Discs record label. Appealing to fans of rock and electronic music, they played at the Eurockéennes festival in France the following year. They collaborated with Björk for a song on her 2007 album Volta, and with Herbie Hancock for a song on his 2010 album The Imagine Project. Konono Nº1 released the album Assume Crash Position in 2010, followed by Konono Nº1 Meets Batida (2016), a collaboration between Konono Nº1 and the musician Batida, also known as Pedro Coquenão.
Members
Discography
EPs
Singles
Links
Listen
Concerts
Also known as
Konono No. 1 · Konono No.1 · Konono Nr. 1 · Konono N°1 · L'orchestre folklorique T.P. Konono Nº1 de Mingiedi · Orchestre T.P. Likembe Konoko · Orchestre tout puissant likembé Konono Nº1
Tags
- african
- congolese
Identifiers
- MusicBrainz
- 5abe0fc1-63d1-4dcd-902a-be4a5a46b90b
- ISNI
- 0000000121041563
Data from MusicBrainz, saved 12 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.