Franco was the pride of what was then (and would be again) the Democratic Republic of Congo, for a brief spell known as Zaire.  He went from singing rumba and bolero tunes to developing a funk-influenced sound that lit up most of the African continent.  From the Bandcamp site: “This compilation brings together an original selection of 16 tracks from the first three years of Les Editions Populaires. They are a showcase of the sound Franco had envisioned for his band. The focus was less on cha-cha-cha and Spanish lyrics, but on lingering rumba and bolero ballads in Lingala, tradition-rooted…