The singer Babia Ndonga Shokoro, acclaimed as one of the finest vocalists in Koffi Olomidé’s band Quartier Latin, passed away on Wednesday 8 October 2014 in Luanda, Angola, due to a stroke. Following a dizzy spell that occurred on the eve, the singer was in emergency taken for healthcare to a clinic of Prenda, a borough nearing the 4 de Fevereiro International Airport.
Babia passed on in Angola, where he had been sojourning for a year, while he was finalising the release of his first album Vrai moment. His only one artwork released to date is the song Amen, which is part of album Magie that was released in 1994 by Koffi Olomidé and Quartier Latin. It is within this band, where he evolved for 18 years under Koffi Olomidé’s leadership, that Babia was revealed to the public.
He finally decided to quit Quartier Latin, because he started suffocating due to the integration of Cindy le Coeur in the band, as he explained in an interview with Paulin Mukendi. “Koffi Olomidé raised her as the leading star at the expenses of these fine singers whom he demoted to the rank of back vocalists, thus becoming a stumbling block in their bid to accordingly exploit their talents”, he said.
Babia Ndonga participated in the making of several albums of Koffi Olomidé, as well as in the band’s numerous tours in Africa, Europe and the USA.
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