Name	Power metal
Color	white
Bgcolor	#BB0022
Stylistic origins	NWOBHM, speed metal, thrash metal
Cultural origins	Early–mid 1980s, Germany
Instruments	Vocals − electric guitar − bass − drums − keyboards
Popularity	Medium in Europe, Japan, South America and North America, and underground in Asia.
Fusiongenres	Symphonic metal
Regional scenes	Germany - Scandinavia - Finland - Italy - Brazil - Japan
Other topics	}}

Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a later more widespread and popular style based in Europe (especially Germany, Finland, Italy, Scandinavia), Brazil and Japan with a lighter, more melodic sound and frequent use of keyboards.

Musical characteristics

Power metal is today associated with fast tempo and melodic harmonies, the sound tempered by characteristics of speed metal, power metal's musical forerunner.

Vocals

Power metal is highly focused on the vocalist, with "clean" vocals being much more prevalent than the growling vocals often associated with death metal and black metal, Children of Bodom for example. Following in the tradition of Ronnie James Dio, Ian Gillan, Eric Adams, Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford and other heavy metal vocalists, power metal vocals are often in a high register, Cam Pipes of 3 Inches of Blood for example. The majority of the genre's vocalists sing in the tenor range, capable of hitting very high notes. There are however many exceptions who sing in either baritone or bass range, or even make use of growls. Many power metal vocalists record multi-layered vocals reminiscent of Queen, creating a choral effect.

Lyrical themes

Power metal's lyrical themes, though as varied as metal itself, often focus on fantasy and mythology, camaraderie and hope, personal struggles and emotions, war and death, or combinations of the listed themes. Many otherwise typical metal themes such as religion and politics are comparatively rare but not unheard of.

Instrumentation

Power metal guitarists and bassists generally play rapid streams of notes, but change chords comparatively slowly, with a harmonic tempo of once per measure or slower. Fast and demanding guitar solos, however, are almost guaranteed. The slow changing of chords are significant in defining power metal just as the fast rapid chord changes often define traditional thrash metal. Power metal often makes use of Major chord progressions as well as circle progressions. Some of the most influential and imitated power metal guitarists are Kai Hansen of Gamma Ray, Michael Weikath of Helloween, and Timo Tolkki formerly of Stratovarius, currently of Symfonia. It is a common trait in power metal for the bass guitar to take a back seat, so to speak; often simply providing the chord root notes and being drowned out by the more prevalent rhythm guitars. However, some power metal bands incorporate bass that is more audible with colorful patterns distinct from the rhythm guitars, such as Helloween, Hibria, and Symphony X.

Many power metal drummers play with double bass pedals or two bass drums, utilizing them to play a constant stream of sixteenth notes (semiquavers) with snare drum accents on the beat, a style not restricted to, but most often associated with, power metal. The style was used by drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg of Helloween, setting a blueprint for many other drummers to follow. Others, such as the drummers of Blind Guardian and Iced Earth, use a more thrash metal style of drumming with rapid bursts of double bass that involve three to six beats with the double kick. Even more uncommon, but not unheard of, is the use of the blast beat.

Power metal bands often incorporate keyboards into their musical arrangements, something popularized by Jens Johansson of Stratovarius, though their usage varies from subtle accents to a full-blown melody line. Some power metal bands also record with symphonic elements, and as such, they utilize a full orchestra to fill the role usually played by the keyboardist.

Types of power metal

American power metal

This branch of power metal emerged in early 1980s in the United States, drawing its influences mainly from speed metal and the NWOBHM. Though very close to its roots, US power metal (often abbreviated USPM) is often faster than standard heavy metal, with a more riff-driven approach than its later European counterpart, but more melodic and often with a higher emphasis on guitar leads than thrash. Another notable difference is the relative lack of keyboards in American power metal, in contrast to their almost universal presence in the European variety. USPM is also notable for its wide (but not universal) use of high-register operatic vocals, a trend which would continue with the rise of European power metal in the late 80s and early 90s. Many major US power metal bands, such as Fates Warning, were also pivotal in pioneering the progressive metal genre. US power metal saw a sharp decline in popularity at the beginning of the 90s, though the style has rebounded somewhat in the past decade.

European power metal

Often referred to as melodic power metal, European power metal originated from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, emerging in mid/late 1980s with Germany's Helloween, Blind Guardian and Finland's Stratovarius, with a strong focus on melody and uplifting, positive themes. Helloween mixed fast palm muted speed metal riffs with high-pitched clean vocals. Stratovarius further developed this melodic direction by making heavy use of keyboards. This genre spread over Europe, often incorporating further influences from classical and folk music. The style has become one of the most popular metal subgenres, and has many bands outside of Europe.

See also

List of power metal bands

Neo-classical metal

Progressive metal

Symphonic metal

Literature

References

External links

[ Power Metal] at Allmusic

Power Metal Radio

Category:Power metal Category:Heavy metal subgenres

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name	Kid Congo Powers
background	solo_singer
birth name	Brian Tristan
born	March 27, 1961La Puente, California, U.S.A.
instrument	Guitar, piano, keyboards, vocals
genre	Post-punk, alternative rock, garage rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist,
years active	1979–present
label	Mute
associated acts	The Gun Club, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Cramps, The Divine Horsemen, Congo Norvell, Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds
website	Official site
notable instruments	}}

Kid Congo Powers is the stage name of Brian Tristan (born March 27, 1961, La Puente, California), an American rock guitarist and singer, best known as a member of The Gun Club, The Cramps and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Biography

Powers is a second generation Mexican American. In 1976, he was president of The Ramones fan club, then ran a fanzine for The Screamers. After traveling to London and New York City he returned to L.A. and in 1979 met Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Pierce taught him to play guitar using open tuning, and they formed 'The Creeping Ritual', which became The Gun Club. Powers left that group before their recording debut, instead joining New York-based band The Cramps in December 1980. He rejoined the Gun Club briefly in 1983, rejoining again between 1985 and 1988, when he again left to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in Berlin, for several albums and associated tours. Powers has also played with The Divine Horsemen, The Angels of Light, Die Haut and The Fall.

Powers has collaborated with New York City guitarist Jack Martin on projects like The Pink Monkey Birds, Congo Norvell and Knoxville Girls.

2009 saw Powers update band members Kiki Solis on Bass, Ron Miller on Drums, and Jesse Roberts on guitar and keyboards. The band move to In The Red Records and released the much acclaimed LP "Dracula Boots" which was herald by many as a "return to form." Co-Produced by Jason Ward and recorded in a High School gymnasium in Harveyville, Kansas, now an artists retreat known as The Harveyville Project, Dracula Boots uses southern soul, 60's Chicano rock, and psychedelic imagery. British magazine N.M.E. said " In short, on ‘Dracula Boots’ Kid Congo Powers has once again found the juicy jugular of soul-fired, funked-up rock’n’roll. You’d be foolish not to take a bite." In 2011 Kid Congo and The Pink Monkey Birds released their follow up album, "Gorilla Rose" also on In The Red Records. Eamon Carr of The Dublin Evening Herald said of "Gorilla Rose" "Having a working band is paying off. Gorilla Rose elevates seedy go-go weirdness to the level of high art."

Selected discography

1981 The Cramps - ''Psychedelic Jungle''

1984 The Cramps - ''Smell of Female''

1984 The Gun Club - ''The Las Vegas Story''

1987 The Gun Club - ''Mother Juno''

1990 The Gun Club - ''Pastoral Hide and Seek''

1991 The Gun Club - ''Divinity'' EP

1985 The Fur Bible EP

1988 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - ''Tender Prey''

1990 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - ''The Good Son''

1988 Barry Adamson - ''Moss Side Story''

1998 Mark Eitzel - ''Caught in a Trap and I Can't Back Out 'Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby''

2005 Kid Congo Powers - ''Solo Cholo''

2006 Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds - ''Philosophy and Underwear''

2006 Madrugada - ''Live at Oslo Spektrum'' [DVD]

2009 Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds - ''Dracula Boots''

2011 Kid Congo and The Pink Monkey Birds - ''Gorilla Rose''

References

External links

Kid Congo Powers official site

Kid's page from his label, New York Night Train

The ultimate Kid Congo Powers resource - Kid discusses his life and career in over 4 hours of audio, text, mp3s, rare photos, and more from NewYorkNightTrain.com

2006 Interview with Kid Congo Powers from the Modern Pea Pod

interview on outsideleft.com

two part 2006 interview with Kid Congo Powers on outsideleft.com part one part two

Interview with Kid Congo on ruadebaixo.com (Portuguese)

LA Weekly 2011 interview {http://www.laweekly.com/2011-05-26/music/kid-congo-powers-the-abrasive-and-the-beautiful/}

Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:People from Los Angeles County, California Category:American blues guitarists Category:American rock guitarists Category:American indie rock musicians Category:The Cramps members Category:Punk blues Category:Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds members

fr:Kid Congo Powers

name	Wiz Khalifa
alt	Wiz Khalifa holding a microphone
background	solo_singer
birth name	Cameron Jibril Thomaz
alias
born	September 08, 1987Minot, North Dakota, United States
origin	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
genre	Hip hop
occupation	Rapper, Singer
years active	2005–present
label	Rostrum, Warner Bros., Atlantic
associated acts	Tinie Tempah, Snoop Dogg,Rick Ross, Curren$y, Big Sean, Fashawn, Mac Miller
website	wizkhalifa.com
notable instruments	}}

Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by the stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006, and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007. His eurodance-influenced single, "Say Yeah", received urban radio airplay, charting on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts in 2008. Khalifa parted with Warner Bros. and released his second album, ''Deal or No Deal'', in November 2009. He released the mixtape ''Kush and Orange Juice'' as a free download in April 2010; he then signed with Atlantic Records. He is also well-known for his debut single for Atlantic, "Black and Yellow", which peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album for the label, ''Rolling Papers'', was released on March 29, 2011.

Early life

Khalifa was born on September 8, 1987 in Minot, North Dakota, to a mother and a father serving in the military. His parents divorced when Khalifa was about three years old. His parents' military service caused him to move on a regular basis. Khalifa lived in Germany, England, and Japan before settling in Pittsburgh where he attended Taylor Allderdice High School.

His stage name is derived from khalifa, an Arabic word meaning "successor", and wisdom, which was shortened to Wiz when Khalifa was fifteen. Khalifa stated to spinner.com that the name also came from being called "young Wiz 'cause I was good at everything I did, and my granddad is Muslim, so he gave me that name; he felt like that's what I was doing with my music." He got his stage name tattooed on his 17th birthday. He includes Camp Lo, The Notorious B.I.G. and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony among his influences.

Career

2005-08: Early mixtapes and ''Show and Prove''

Khalifa released his first mixtape, ''Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania'', in 2005. The mixtape led to his first full length album entitled ''Show and Prove'' in 2006. Khalifa was declared an "artist to watch" that year in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine.

In 2007, Khalifa signed to Warner Bros. Records and released two mixtapes through Rostrum Records: ''Grow Season'', hosted by DJ Green Lantern and released on July 4, 2007, and ''Prince of the City 2'', released on November 20, 2007. His debut Warner Bros. single "Say Yeah" reached number 25 on the ''Billboard'' Rhythmic Top 40 music chart and number 20 on ''Billboard's'' Hot Rap Tracks. The song samples "Better Off Alone" by Alice Deejay. Khalifa's vocals from "Say Yeah" appear near the end of Pittsburgh mash up producer Girl Talk's 2008 album, ''Feed the Animals'', over music from Underworld's "Born Slippy", Usher's "Love in This Club", and the Cure's "In Between Days". Khalifa appeared with The Game, David Banner and Play-n-Skillz at U92's Summer Jam at the USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City, Utah on August 2, 2008. Khalifa released the mixtapes ''Star Power'' in September 2008, and ''Flight School'' in April 2009 on Rostrum Records.

Khalifa parted ways with Warner Bros. Records in July 2009 after numerous delays in releasing his planned debut album for the label, ''First Flight''. Khalifa stated to the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' that, "I learned a lot during my time there and matured as an artist during the process. I'm happy to be moving on with all of my material and having the chance to be in control of my next moves". Khalifa appeared with Girl Talk, Modey Lemon, Donora, Grand Buffet, and Don Caballero at the Amphitheatre at Station Square in Pittsburgh on July 31, 2009, where he announced that his relationship with Warner Bros. was over.

2009-10: ''Deal or No Deal''

Continuing his association with Rostrum Records, Khalifa released the single "Teach U to Fly", and the mixtape ''How Fly'', a collaboration with New Orleans rapper Curren$y, on August 9, 2009. Khalifa introduced a more melodic style on the mixtape, alternating between singing and rapping. He opened for Wu-Tang Clan member U-God at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. Khalifa released the mixtape ''Burn After Rolling'' on November 2, 2009, where he raps over familiar beats from other artists, including the songs "If I Were A Boy" and "Diva" by Beyoncé, "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun, "Luchini AKA This Is It" by Camp Lo, and "Best I Ever Had" by Drake. Khalifa released his second album, ''Deal or No Deal'', on November 24, 2009.

Khalifa performed at Emo's in Austin, Texas in March 2010 as part of the 2010 South by Southwest Music Festival. He appeared on the cover of ''XXL'' magazine that same month, for the magazine's annual list of Top 10 Freshman, which included Donnis, J. Cole, Pill, Freddie Gibbs, and Fashawn. Wiz Khalifa was named 2010 "Rookie Of The Year" by "The Source", with alongside Rick Ross, "The Man Of The Year". He toured with rapper Yelawolf on a 20-date tour, the Deal Or No Deal Tour. Khalifa released the free mixtape ''Kush and Orange Juice'' for download on April 14, 2010. Due to Khalifa's devoted grassroots fan base, the mixtape became the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter with the hash tag #kushandorangejuice, and "Kush and Orange Juice download” ranked No. 1 on Google’s hot search trends.

2010: Signing with Atlantic Records

Citing music industry insiders, ''New York'' magazine wrote that Khalifa signed with Atlantic Records in April 2010, although the rapper did not confirm it. He stated to AllHipHop in June 2010 that he was working on a new album, but was weighing his options and had not yet decided on a label to distribute it. Khalifa confirmed to MTV on July 30 that he was signing an Atlantic Records deal.

Khalifa was featured in a remix and video for the 2010 Rick Ross single "Super High", alongside Curren$y. He guested on the mixtape ''Grey Goose, Head Phones, and Thirsty Women '' by St. Louis rapper M.C, and was featured on the track "The Breeze (Cool)" on rapper Wale's August 2010 mixtape ''More About Nothing''. Khalifa was named MTV's Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2010, winning with nearly 70,000 votes, and beating out finalists Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, Travis Porter, and Diggy Simmons.

Khalifa appeared at the Soundset 2010 festival in May 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, alongside Method Man & Redman, Del the Funky Homosapien and Hieroglyphics, Atmosphere, Murs, Cage, and others. He also performed at the 2010 Rock the Bells festival, along with hip hop veterans Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, KRS-One, Jedi Mind Tricks and Slick Rick. Khalifa declined an invitation to tour with rapper Drake and launched his own "Waken Baken" tour, a 50-city national tour with rapper Yelawolf. The tour, scheduled to last from September to November 2010, has, as of October, sold out every venue. On November 2010, during his "Waken Baken" tour at East Carolina University, Wiz Khalifa was arrested for possession and trafficking of marijuana. He was then released the next morning after a $300K bail, and resumed his tour. Khalifa performed in a cypher during the 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards. He recited his verse from the song, "The Check Point", from his mixtape with Curren$y, ''How Fly''.

2010-11: Mainstream success and ''Rolling Papers''

Khalifa released "Black and Yellow", his first single for Rostrum/Atlantic, produced by Stargate, which has received radio airplay. The single was peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100; the title of the song refers to the colours of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Khalifa will release his debut album with Atlantic Records in 2011. He appeared with Curren$y on the track "Scaling the Building" on producer Ski Beatz' 2010 album, ''24 Hour Karate School''. Khalifa's fanbase is known as the Taylor Gang, named after his love of Chuck Taylor All-Stars shoes.

On March 29, 2011, Khalifa released his first studio album, ''Rolling Papers''. The album debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 197,000 copies in the United States.

On June 26, 2011, Khalifa was nominated and won Best New Artist at the BET Awards of 2011.

Khalifa collaborated with the prolific British rapper Tinie Tempah whom Tinie announced in an interview with Rolling Stone that his next single is to be called "Till I'm Gone" and would feature Wiz Khalifa and is to be produced by Stargate. The single and the video song were released at the end of June 2011.

Personal life

Thomaz is dating Amber Rose, the former girlfriend of Thomaz's fellow hip-hop star Kanye West. He is also personal friends with rapper Yelawolf, and fellow Pittsburgh rapper, Mac Miller.

Discography

;Studio albums

''Show and Prove'' (2006)

''Deal or No Deal'' (2009)

''Rolling Papers'' (2011)

References

External links

Wiz Khalifa at MTV

Category:1987 births Category:Military brats Category:African American rappers Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:People from Minot, North Dakota Category:Rappers from Pennsylvania

bs:Wiz Khalifa ca:Wiz khalifa cs:Wiz Khalifa da:Wiz Khalifa de:Wiz Khalifa es:Wiz Khalifa fa:ویز خلیفا fr:Wiz Khalifa hr:Wiz Khalifa it:Wiz Khalifa he:ויז קאליפה nl:Wiz Khalifa ja:ウィズ・カリファ no:Wiz Khalifa pl:Wiz Khalifa pt:Wiz Khalifa ro:Wiz Khalifa ru:Wiz Khalifa simple:Wiz Khalifa sh:Wiz Khalifa fi:Wiz Khalifa sv:Wiz Khalifa vi:Wiz Khalifa zh:维兹·卡利法

Michael West (born 27 August 1965 in Tottenham, London), better known under the aliases Conquering Lion, Congo Natty, Rebel MC, Blackstar, Tribe Of Issachar, X Project and Ras Project, is an English jungle producer and toaster. "Conquering Lion" is an abbreviation for "The Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah", one of emperor Haile Selassie's many titles.

Biography

In the early 1980s, West formed the group Double Trouble with the now deceased Michael Menson, Karl Brown (more commonly known as the UK garage DJ Karl 'Tuff Enuff' Brown) and Leigh Guest; and released the single "Just Keep Rockin" on the Desire record label in 1989 as Double Trouble and Rebel MC. The single was a UK Top 20 hit, and the follow-up "Street Tuff" (1989) was his biggest success, reaching #3 in the UK Singles Chart.

Because of the style and content of these releases, West was often dismissed by a British hip hop community, distrustful of pop success and "selling out". His first album was ''Rebel Music'' (Desire, 1990) which included the popular dance track "Better World".

His second album. ''Black Meaning Good'' (Desire, 1991) was a complete change of style for West, mixing his former pop-rap influences with reggae, hip hop, dance and the emerging jungle styles. The album featured ragga notables like Barrington Levy, Tenor Fly and Dennis Brown singing and toasting on top of reggae-house music rhythms.

''Word, Sound and Power'' (1992) was a further exploration of roots electronica that mashed up techno, house, reggae, ragga and hip hop music.

Forming the Tribal Bass label, Rebel MC released "Tribal Bass" (1992), which was his last significant hit, reaching #20 in the UK charts, and the hip house track Demon Boyz "Dett" (1992) and the Oldschool Jungle track "Jungle-ist" (1993). The X Project label followed shortly with the "Old School Ting" (1993) single. As Conquering Lion, West, with help from DJ Ron and Jumping Jack Frost, released the sound system mash up "Lion of Judah/Innah Sound/Dub Plate Special" (1993). With vocals from Supercat, Conquering Lion's "Code Red/Phenomenon" (1994) caught the attention of 4th & Broadway who re-released the track along with "Rastaman/Word, Sound and Power/Code Black" (1995).

Tribal Bass gradually mutated into Congo Natty, and West himself released some material under this name, before settling on the Conquering Lion name. However, this was not the last the world heard of Rebel MC. Despite his continued success with his new style of music, West released the single "Junglist" (Congo Natty, 2004) under the Rebel MC name, and followed this up with a greatest hits album ''Born Again'' (Congo Natty, 2005).

New interest in the Double Trouble & Rebel MC song, "Just Keep Rockin" in December 2007, saw it re-enter the UK Dance Chart at #32.

Music

Rebel MC's sound derives from his focus on blackness from various angles. Rather than solely celebrating Afrocentric motifs, his music hearkens back to the African diaspora. The lyrics embrace a wide range of approaches to blackness and black-pride, bringing a different understanding of tradition by combining the different voices, themes and styles drawn from all kinds of sources of "blackness", creating a "playful, vibrant, postracial utopia". This amalgamated version of modern thought has allowed for the emergence of a uniquely London version of politically charged hip hop. Paul Gilroy argues that Rebel MC's message prevents the existence of "the trope of race as family." Instead, Gilroy states that the London hip hop culture allows for a healthy competition between African-American and Caribbean sounds to gain exposure.As recently as 2009 Joe Rankin' Rattigan described the song Street Tuff as "the birth of UK grime", a view supported by Dizzy Rascal also.

Album discography

''Rebel Music'' (Desire, 1990)

''Black Meaning Good'' (Desire, 1991)

''Word Sound and Power'' (Big Life, 1991)

''Born Again'' (Congo Natty, 2005)

References

External links

Discog's Rebel MC page

Heroes of UK Hip Hop's Rebel MC page

Rebel MC - MC Directory

Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:Drum and bass musicians Category:English electronic musicians Category:English male singers Category:English rappers Category:English record producers Category:Musicians from London

bg:Конкъринг Лайън de:Rebel MC es:Rebel MC fr:Congo Natty ru:Вест, Майкл sr:Мајкл Вест

name	Joseph Kabila Kabange
order	President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
primeminister	Antoine GizengaAdolphe Muzito
term start	26 January 2001
predecessor	Laurent-Désiré Kabila
birth date	June 04, 1971
birth place	Fizi, Zaire
spouse	Olive Lembe di Sita
religion	Anglican
party	PPRD }}

Joseph Kabila Kabange (known commonly as Joseph Kabila, born on June 4, 1971), is the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He took office in January 2001, ten days after the murder of his father and DRC president Laurent-Désiré Kabila. On November 27, 2006, Joseph Kabila was confirmed as President following the first ever democratic elections in the country's history .

Biography

Early life and education

Joseph Kabila Kabange was born on June 4, 1971 at Hewabora, a small village in the Fizi territory of the South Kivu province, in Eastern Congo. He is the son of long time rebel, former AFDL leader and president of the Congo Laurent-Désiré Kabila and Sifa Mahanya.

Guerrilla and army years

Following high school, Joseph Kabila followed a military curriculum in Tanzania, then at Makerere University in Uganda. In October 1996, Laurent-Désiré Kabila launched the campaign in Zaire to oust the Mobutu regime. Joseph became the commander of the infamous army of "kadogos" (child soldiers) and played a key role in major battles on the road to Kinshasa. The liberation army received logistical and military support from regional armies from Rwanda, Uganda, Angola and Zimbabwe. Following the AFDL's victory, and Laurent-Désiré Kabila's rise to the presidency, Joseph Kabila went on to get further training at the PLA National Defense University, in Beijing, China.

When he returned from China, Kabila was awarded the rank of Major-General, and appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1998. He was later, in 2000, appointed Chief of Staff of the Land Forces, a position he held until the elder President Kabila's assassination in January 2001. As chief of staff, he was one of the main military leaders in charge of Government troops during the time of the Second Congo War (1998–2003).

Presidency

Kabila rose to the Presidency on 26 January 2001 after the assassination of Laurent-Désiré Kabila. As such Kabila became the world's first head of government born in the 1970s. He remained the world's youngest head of government until Roosevelt Skerrit became Prime Minister of Dominica in January 2004.

At age 29, he was considered young and inexperienced. He subsequently attempted to end the ongoing civil war by negotiating peace agreements with rebel groups who were backed by Rwanda and Uganda, the same regional armies who brought Laurent-Désiré Kabila's rebel group to power 3 years before. The 2002 peace agreement signed at the Inter-Congolese Dialogue in Sun City, South Africa, which nominally ended the Second Congo War, maintained Joseph Kabila as President and head of state of the Congo. An interim administration was set up under him, including the leaders of the country's two main rebel groups as vice-presidents (two other vice-presidents were representatives of the civilian opposition and government supporters respectively).

On March 28, 2003, an apparent coup attempt or mutiny around the capital Kinshasa, allegedly on the part of members of the former guard of former president Mobutu Sese Seko (who had been ousted by Kabila's father in 1997 and died in the same year), failed. On June 11, 2004, coup plotters led by Major Eric Lenge allegedly attempted to take power and announced on state radio that the transitional government was suspended, but were defeated by loyalist troops.

In December 2005, a partial referendum approved a new constitution, and a presidential election was held on July 30, 2006 (having been delayed from an earlier date in June). The new constitution lowers the minimum age of presidential candidates from 35 to 30; Kabila turned 35 shortly before the election. In March 2006, he registered as a candidate. Although the new constitution stipulates that a debate be held between the two remaining candidates for the presidency, no debates took place and this was declared by many as unconstitutional.

According to widely disputed provisional results announced on August 20, Kabila won 45% of the vote; his main opponent, vice-president and former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, won 20%. The irregularities surrounding the elections results prompted a run-off vote between Kabila and Bemba which was held on October 29. On November 15, the electoral commission announced the official results and Kabila was declared the winner, with 58.05% of the vote. These results were confirmed by the Supreme Court on November 27, 2006, and Kabila was inaugurated on December 6, 2006 as the country's newly elected President. He named Antoine Gizenga, who placed third in the first round of the presidential election (and then backed Kabila in the second round) as prime minister on December 30.

Although Kabila registered as an independent, he is the "initiator" of the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), which chose him as their candidate to the election.

In response to accusations that sex crimes had been committed by the Congolese military, he pointed out that 300 soldiers have been convicted of sex crimes, although he admitted that is not enough.

Wedding

On June 1, 2006, after many wedding rumors were fueled by many in top positions in the country, the head of the Presidential Household, Ambassador Theodore Mugalu officially announced the wedding of the President to Ms Olive Lembe di Sita. The wedding ceremonies took place on June 17, 2006. Mr Kabila and his spouse have a daughter, born in 2001, named Sifa after Kabila's mother. A few years later, rumours of domestic abuse started to surface in the presidential circle, supposedly due to his frequent consumption of Marijuana.

As President Kabila is Protestant (Anglican), and Ms Lembe di Sita is Catholic, the wedding ceremonies were ecumenical, and were therefore officiated by both the Catholic Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Frederic Etsou Bamungwabi, and Pierre Marini Bodho – Presiding Bishop of the Church of Christ in Congo, the umbrella church for most Protestant denominations in the Congo, known within the country simply as "The Protestant Church".

References

External links

Concerning the true Identity of Mr. Hippolyte Kanombe alias “Joseph Kabila”

Rape in the DRC

BBC Country Profile

Official website of the President of the DRC

Kabila 2006 campaign site

Democratic Republic of the Congo - Permanent Mission to the United Nations

DR Congo presidential candidates face off in second round Jane's Intelligence Watch Report, 22 August 2006

For Congo’s Leader, Middling Reviews by Jeffrey Gettleman, ''The New York Times'', April 4, 2009

{{Incumbent succession box | title = President of the Congo-Kinshasa | before = Laurent-Désiré Kabila | start = 2001 }}

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:People from Sud-Kivu Province Category:Current national leaders Category:Makerere University alumni Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo Protestants Category:People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy politicians

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