Kwassa kwassa (or kwasa kwasa) refers to a dance rhythm from Congo (DRC), where the hips move back and forth while the hands move to follow the hips – that was very popular in Africa in the late 1980s. The words "kwassa kwassa" may have come from the French quoi ça? (what is it?). The dance was created by Pepe Kalle, and popularized by his soukous music videos, as well as the videos of Kanda Bongo Man and other Congolese musicians.

Later, in other parts of Africa, the dance became a synonym for soukous music, which is still often referred to as kwassa kwassa. A slower version of this genre has been created and popularized by Koffi Olomide and his band Quarter Latin. Their songs have enjoyed massive airplay throughout Africa in countries like Botswana, Zimbabwe,South Africa, Senegal and others.Metavo is also very popular in South Africa.