Opika Records

Opika Records was an early Congolese record label active in the late 1940s and 1950s. Founded in 1949, it became one of the main competitors to Ngoma Records and played an important role in recording emerging urban musicians in Léopoldville. The label recorded and released music locally, contributing to the spread of rumba music across the region.

Artists who recorded with Opika include Joseph Kabasele, known as Grand Kallé, widely regarded as the father of modern Congolese rumba. He formed African Jazz in the 1950s, blending Cuban rhythms with local melodies, and his composition Indépendance Cha Cha became an anthem for Congo’s independence in 1960. Nico Kasanda, also known as Dr. Nico, was a virtuoso guitarist who pioneered intricate guitar lines in Congolese rumba, co-founding African Jazz and later African Fiesta. Déchaud Mwamba was an early guitarist associated with Opika Records and African Jazz, contributing to the harmonic and rhythmic structure of rumba ensembles in the 1950s and helping define the sound of early Congolese popular music.