Congo River mentioned in 1535. Abraham Ortelius in his world map of 1564 labeled as "Manicongo" the city at the mouth of the river. The tribal names in "Kongo" possibly derive from a word for a public gathering or tribal assembly. The modern name of the Kongo people or "Bakongo" was introduced in the early 20th century. The name "Zaire" is from a Portuguese adaptation of a Kikongo word, ("river"), a truncation of ("river swallowing rivers"). The river was known as "Zaire" during the 16th and 17th centuries; "Congo" seems to have replaced "Zaire" gradually in English usage during the 18th century,
Keelay and Zaire Saafir, prominent emcees within the hip hop genre. Zaire, originating from Dayton, Ohio, now resides in Newport News, Virginia, and supplies the other half of the production work from Sole Vibe Studios East, located in Newport News as well. On the east coast, Zaire maintains a constant flow of music by collaborating with local Virginian artists, most notably emcee/songwriter Khizman of Trophy Winner Records, a native of the city of Norfolk, VA, and Newport News' own singer/songwriter Jonathan Moore. Keelay & Zaire released a free EP in January 2009 entitled 'Prelude To Drive EP' on Myx Music Label, featuring artists