The dancers cut their hair short and tint them blonde, are forbidden from having an affair with anyone, locked up during tours, and any male member of the band who as little as ogles them is summarily expelled.
Koffi Olomide betrays a tinge of amorousness when he talks about his first two queen dancers.
With Fifi Miss Yolo, it was flirting on the street. And with Rosette Kamono, he could not resist approaching her during his band’s rehearsal.
Born Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, Koffi formed Quartier Latin (QL) in 1986 after a sojourn in Paris, France, to record his first album, Dieu Voit Tout (God sees all).
“He preferred songs that addressed the nature of Christianity and forces of life,” says Gary Stewart in his book, Rumba on the River.
But all the faith Koffi professed was gone the moment he saw Kamono in Bandalungwa, Kinshasa in DRC during a rehearsal.
Koffi sent for her. In their flirtation, she chided him for not having dancers and advised he take in girl dancers—offering herself as one—in 1989.
Kamono was soon joined by Jacquie ‘Bebeto’ Kanam, Florianne Mangenda, and by 1990, the first four ‘Ba Koffiettes’ was completed by Fifi.
Koffi says he met Solange Mbusu—who still goes by the alias Fifi Miss Yolo from her Kasavubu ghetto—on the street.
As the two flirted, Koffi told her the only way to get close to him was to become a QL dancer. Fifi said she could not dance, to which Koffi reacted “you can learn.”
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