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Indépendance Cha ChaLe Grand Kallé et l'African Jazz

Released
1960
On one list
Congolese Rumba
Updated
2026-08-30

Analysis

5 sections, no single moment the energy jumps to, 17% of it spent climbing.

Tempo
117.5 BPM
holds throughout
Dynamic range
2.8 dB
compressed hard — very little between the quiet and the loud
Phrase
8 bars
the length the arrangement is built on
Length
3:10
measured from the YouTube master

The record, end to end

energy
drums
bass
vocals
other
  1. 0:00Aintro0
  2. 0:32Bliftbar 16*
  3. 0:49Abuildbar 24*
  4. 1:21Cpeakbar 40*
  5. 2:13Aoutrobar 65

* starts between phrase lines rather than on one.

0:00 · A · intro

opens the record below its own average energy · sung · one of 3 stretches of the same music (A)

Lasts
0:32
Energy
68
Brightness
0
Density
79
  • drums
  • bass
  • vocals
  • other

Brightness and density are scored against this record's own sections, not against music in general — they say how its parts differ from each other, and nothing about how it compares to anything else.

Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

drums
the drum kit, separated from the mix
bass
the bass part, separated from the mix
vocals
the voice, separated from the mix
other
everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings
intro
opens the record below its own average energy
lift
a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build
build
energy and brightness climbing without a break
peak
sits at the top of this record's range
outro
the closing fall
Every moment against every other. Squares on the diagonal are sections; a bright patch off it is the record recognising itself — the second chorus meeting the first.

Measured from the YouTube master on . Section labels describe how the energy of the recording moves, not its musical form — a machine can see loudness climb and jump, it cannot hear a chorus arrive. Anything we were not confident enough to state is left out rather than shown with a caveat.

  1. Ranked No. 1 in Congolese Rumba

    Written in Brussels during the independence negotiations and sung across the continent within weeks. Perhaps the only pop record that functions as a founding document for several countries at once.