borrina mapaka

Borrina Mapaka was born in Brazzaville (Congo) in 1973. As a child, he dreamt of becoming a great musician. Every Saturday, his father who loves music took him to Parafifi, a “nganda”of Bacongo where musicians like Pamelo Mouka or Youlou Mabialia performed. At six, he made a one- string guitar which he used to take along with him everywhere. One day, his teacher caught him playing his guitar instead of attending a class. Teachers and pupils were his first audience. He stayed for four years in that school. During those four years, his performanc grew richer with the inclusion od dance and three percussionists who played on tins. They were called upon to perform interschool cultural activities.
As the years went by, he tried to learn more about music. At the age of ten, he went to Pointe-Noire and had to leave his guitar in Brazzaville. Indeed, spending all his time with his instrument did not appeal to his parents. But there, he could not be enrolled in a school and then he spent a whole year singing and dancing at the seaside.
When he returned to Brazzaville, his guitar had disappeared and he devoted more to dance to show his parents that his stay in Pointe-Noire had changed him.
But there was no way he could give up playing the guitar. So he started to look for places where he could borrow an instrument to practice.
He spent as much time as he could, listening to choir rehearsals in schools and churches. At the end, in order to practice he would clean the instruments; he was then allowed to play unplugged electric guitars.
In 1989, he managed to get his first guitar and started playing day and night. He practiced very hard for two years but never went to a school to learn.
At that time, he started performing in the streets. With a few friends, he created a funk band called “The strong boys” where he would sing the songs he wrote.
As he was interested in traditional rythms of his own country, he integrated them in his music and his dance.His first songs date back to that time (1989/1990)
In 1995, he got enough money to buy himself a Yamaha guitar which he still plays;
In 1996, as Irene Tassembedo was in Brazzaville, on a tour, she noticed him. Selected by Afrique en Créations, he will attend a training courses with her and Germaine Acogny before entering Compagnie Ebene of Irene Tassembedo in Paris.
His first CD, “Wivu Sana” has been self-produced, the second one, “Yula”, after beeing a few months on BBC play list, got in february 2000, the first international prize on CKRL MF 89,1, a Canadian radio. His third one, “Marianne” was for a few months on Francodiffusion's play list..

He is currently recording different artists in his studio in Paris and his preparing his next CD "Human beeing"