Staff Benda Bilili

By MAYA REID

Some people use music to relax, others todance. For the band Staff Benda Bilili, music isabout passing on a message. Its even embeddedin their name. Benda Bilili in essence means“look beyond appearances” in Lingala, the linguafranca of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic ofthe Congo, where the group of street musicianshails from. Considering that most of Staff BendaBililis members are paraplegics (and formerlyhomeless), the message is particularly apt.