50 Years Later: the Rumble in the Jungle and Zaire 74

With President Mobutu's financial support for the Rumble in the Jungle, there emerged a unique cultural and economic opportunity for events surrounding it. South African jazz phenomenon Hugh Masekela and American record producer Stewart Levine envisioned a music festival titled Zaire 74, aimed at fostering solidarity across Africa and for those of African ancestry. They originally planned to host the festival separately in 1974 but proposed to Don King that it be combined with the fight.

Masekela and Stewart were aware of the cultural and political climate of Zaire, so they chose the location to leverage international exposure. Although King and President Mobutu agreed to host the music festival, Mobutu would not provide financial support. Masekela and Stewart secured funding from a Liberian investment group for the festival and a film, emphasizing the worldly interest in the event.

For inspiration, Masekela and Levine referenced the World Festival of Black Arts 1966 hosted in Senegal and Soul to Soul 1971 held in Ghana. The World Festival of Black Arts, also known as The First World Festival of Negro Arts, celebrated Black culture and art in a transnational manner and was attended by artists, writers, and musicians. Several notable attendees included Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, and Josephine Baker. It encouraged the cultural, political, and economic development of African nations to ensure autonomy from outside forces. 

Soul to Soul 1971 is the first music-centered festival to connect African nations of the broader diaspora. The festival was hosted to celebrate Ghana's annual independence day but also allowed those of the diaspora home and reclaim a sense of African identity. Ike and Tina Turner, Santana, the Staple Singers, and Wilson Pickett were only a few performers at Soul to Soul 1971. 

Both of these festivals were deeply influenced by Pan-Africanism, a movement to connect people across nations of African identity. Pan-Africanism played a large role in conceptualizing the Zaire 74 Festival, especially with its co-occurrence with "Rumble in the Jungle." Its focus on claiming further agency resonated with President Mobutu's philosophy of authenticité, or the adoption of cultural characteristics considered to be traditionally African.