John Bashengezi, known by his stage and childhood name as “Jaja”, was born and raised on the peaceful shores of Lake Kivu in Eastern Congo, in the town of Bukavu. Music was part of daily life in his household. Jaja and his friends would improvise instruments out of tin cans, rubber, bicycle parts and whatever was around, and sing together in the street. His musical childhood set the course of his life and career.
In the 1980s and ‘90s, Jaja was a student, but he still pursued music with a passion. He played in church groups and in nightclub bands in Bukavu and across the border in Burundi, and eventually led his own group Fuji Yama (Super Joy), which found radio success in the region. Jaja created a popular group at university as well. He did not shy from singing about the dark clouds of xenophobia and tribal politics gathering in neighboring Rwanda. Jaja graduated college in 1994 just as the Rwandan genocide began to spill over into eastern Congo. Over the next few years, Kivu Province deteriorated into a surreal, lawless place of war and massacre, kidnapping and rape as rebels overran Bukavu on their way to the Congolese capital of Kinshasa. Students and musicians, along with clergy, politicians and journalists, became targets for the spreading virus of hate and tribalism.
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