He was once a member of the seminal soukous band TPOK Jazz which dominated the Congolese music scene from the 1960s through the 1980s.
Ndombe Opetum was the lead vocalist for Afrisa International, prior to joining TPOK Jazz, in the mid-1970s, after Sam Mangwana had left the band.
He came over to TPOK Jazz with horn player Empopo Loway, and he stayed with the band until it split up in December 1993, four years after the death of founder François Luambo Makiadi.
[1] Ndombe Opetum is credited with composing the following songs for the band, among others: Following the death of Franco in 1989, TPOK Jazz continued to play together for four years.
[4] Pepe Ndombe Opetum died of cardiac arrest on May 24, 2012, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.