Franklin Boukaka

Franklin Boukaka was born on October 10, 1940, in Brazzaville. Playing with prominent rumba orchestras including Negro Band and Cercul Jazz, Boukaka brought deep social consciousness and anti-imperialist political lyricism to Congolese popular music.

In 1970, accompanied by Manu Dibango's orchestra, Boukaka recorded his masterwork Le Bûcheron (The Woodcutter, widely known as Aye Africa), a soaring lament mourning the suffering and continued exploitation of the African working man despite nominal independence. On February 23, 1972, following an abortive military coup led by Ange Diawara, Boukaka was arrested and executed by military forces at age thirty-one, becoming a martyr of African musical protest.