Barbara Kanam Mutund (born September 27, 1973), known professionally as Barbara Kanam, is a Congolese singer-songwriter, music producer, actress, philanthropist, and Director General of the Cultural Promotion Fund (FPC). She gained fame after being discovered by Alpha Blondy and producer Dodo Kone, who helped her release her debut studio album Mokili in 1999. The album's gospel-influenced lead single "Mokili Ekoleka" earned her a television appearance at the Koras Awards. Teti, her second studio album, released in 2003, won her Most Promising African Female Artist at the 2003 Kora Award. Teti won many accolades, including two consecutive Best Female of Central Africa for Kunde d'Or and Tamani d'Or in 2004, two consecutive Black Music Awards for Best Female and Best Video for "Bibi Madeleine" in 2005.
In 2009, she established her label Kanam Music, which produced her third studio album Karibu. The album later won her the Okapi Award for Best Female Artist in 2011. She later launched the Kanam Luxury shop in Kinshasa that sold her branded products, including the Barbara Luxury champagne brand. In 2015, she released her fourth studio album Zawadi, which earned her Poro Award for Best Music Video for "Jardin d'Amour" and Ndule Awards for Best Female Voice. She was later nominated for the Best Female Artist at the 2015 MTV Africa Music Awarda.
Early life and work
Barbara Kanam Mutund was born in Bukavu, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Her father was an executive for the Sheraton Hotel in Lubumbashi.
After completing her secondary studies at the Belgian private school of Kolwezi, she went to study international business at the University of Pretoria in South Africa in 1992. While in South Africa, she became involved in several choirs in Soweto and developed a passion for gospel music. However, her father faced unemployment, leaving the family financially unstable to afford Barbara's continued education. She took a short hiatus from her studies to secure a job. She purchased a guitar, self-taught herself to play, and began composing music. When she returned to Lubumbashi during the holidays, she shared her desire to pursue music with her father, who initially disapproved. Eventually, she agreed to a sabbatical, and Barbara found work in import-export to support her family.
In 1995, her family relocated to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where she became a soloist in her church choir, Réconciliation nationale/Mel Théodore à Ouattara. She later developed an acoustic setlist for a "One Woman Acoustic Show" tour and staged performances in South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1977, while performing at the Hôtel Ivoire, she was spotted by Alpha Blondy and his manager, Koné Dodo. Although they wanted to sign her, Barbara's parents insisted she complete her studies before pursuing a music career. She eventually earned her BTS International Commerce later that year from the Université Tertiaire et Technologique LOKO in Abidjan.
In 1999, with the help of Koné Dodo, she released her debut studio album Mokili, which featured gospel-influenced music. She made her first television appearance and impressed Ernest Adjovi, the founder of the Koras Awards, who invited her to present her album.
Recording artist
In 1998, Kanam released her first album, Mokili, with producer Kone Dodo, which popularized her in the African music genre, and earned her a Kora Award nomination.
In 2003, she released her second album, Teti, which gained international recognition. She then began touring across Africa and Europe, and earned the following awards
In 2005, with producer Kiki Touré and producer-arranger Edgar Yonkeu, Kanam released a cover of the song "Bibi Madeleine L'argent" (translation: "Money attracts money"), which also featured her fiancé Awilo Longomba. This song was a huge success in Africa, the Caribbean and Europe—especially France. In 2005, she gained recognition at the Black Music Awards in Cotonou, Benin, for best female video.
Her career has included numerous collaborations with artists such as Jacob Desvarieux, and Edgar Yonkeu, with whom she produced African Dance Company in 2006. In 2006, Kanam accepted an invitation to appear on Fally Ipupa's album Droit Chemin in a song entitled 100% Love. Subsequently, Ipupa contributed to a song on Kanam's album entitled Noir et Blanc.