The heart of soukous is the electric guitar. Soukous guitarists are famous around the world for their incredibly fast, fluid playing style — their fingers seem to move like water over the strings. There are usually two or three guitars playing at once, weaving together melodies that make it almost impossible to sit still.
Soukous songs often have two distinct sections. The first part has singing and a steady groove. Then comes the 'sebene' — an instrumental section where the guitars go wild and the dancers start to move faster and faster. The sebene is what dancers live for, showing off quick, spinning footwork and energetic hip movements called ndombolo.
Big soukous bands can have over twenty members — singers, guitarists, bass players, drummers and a line of dancers. Famous musicians from the Republic of the Congo and the DRC, such as Franco and Papa Wemba, became stars across Africa and in Europe. Their music showed the world how rich and exciting Central African music could be.