baloji april 2011

8/7/2019 Baloji April 2011

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April ~ 2011 ~ Avril

L O N D O N ~ PA R I S ~ B R U S S E L S & B E Y O N D

BalojiModel, rapper,king of styleMannequin,rappeur, roidu style

Dressing Kate:

a royal fashionfantasy Les crateurs se

battent pour habiller Kate

The cultof beauty

L'ar t selo nles Esthtes

anglais

VanessaParadisChanteuse,

actrice,muse Chanel

THE FA SHION ISSUENumro spcial mode


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SWEET RAPPERSeparated from his mother at the age of three when he fled the Congo for Europe, Belgian rapper Balojis poignant tales of love

and loss sear through his stirring blend of traditional African melodies and urban music. Emma Beddington talks to the ri sstar about family reunions, sharp suits and modelling Louis Vuitton

LA SOURCE DU SORCIERBaloji, ltoile montante du slam belge, voque ses racines congolaises

Photographie: Alexander Popelier

Separated from his mother at the age of three when he fled the Congo for Europe, Belgian rapper Balojis poignant tales of loveand loss sear through his stirring blend of traditional African melodies and urban music. Emma Beddington talks to the ris

star about family reunions, sharp suits and modelling Louis Vuitton

LA SOURCE DU SORCIERBaloji, ltoile montante du slam belge, voque ses racines congolaises

Photographie: Alexander Popelier


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traditional family. He le home early and went o the rails,falling into delinquency, spending time in prison andnarrowly avoiding expulsion from Belgium. His applicationfor naturalisation was repeatedly rejected. At this dark point

in his life he joined Lige rap collect ive Star am and they rose to chart success in the late 1990s.A er an acrimonious split with Star am in 2004, Baloji

swore o music. I had no intention of starting a solo career,he says, until I received this letter from my mother. Hismother was still living in Lubumbashi and had seen oneof the groups videos on a satellite music channel. She wroteto him, breaking her 25-year silence, hoping to reuniteher family and nd out what her son had been doing sinceshe last saw him.

Balojis rst solo a lbum, Hotel Impala (named for hisfathers hotel which was razed during the war), attemptsto provide an answer. Its an intensely personal song cycleabout his growing up and his search for belonging andreconciliation. The album closes with a hauntingly aptsample from a Marvin Gaye track: Im going home to see my mother. Thats exactly what Baloji did in 2007. However,returning to DRC, he found that the album his gi to hismother had not been as well received as hed have hoped.

Talking about that trip, his usual uency deserts him. Itwas a culture shock, he says. Thats the moment I realised

Baloji means sorcerer in Swahili and there isundoubtedly something magical about the Congolese-bornBelgian rapper and model. At 33, he has already had a greatdeal of drama in his life: family breakup, adversity, the

rediscovery of his African roots. It is all so much larger thanlife. But the man sitting opposite me, sweetly polite andunderstated in a navy cardigan, is having no more successattracting the waiter in this Brussels caf than I am.

It emerges from our conversation that Baloji is thoughtful,devoted to his two-year-old daughter and quietly passionateabout, well, everything: Le Mondes Twitter feed, the impactof Obama on Africa, Brazils attitude to black culture.

He is also so so ly spoken, so melli uous, that sometimesit takes a couple of seconds for the impact of what hes telling me to hit home. Hang on, I nd myself saying, your rstalbum was a reply to a letter from your mother, whom youhadnt seen for 25 years? You spent three years dodging deportation? You recorded your last album (the 2010 hitKinshasa Succursale ) in ve days with musicians you met thenight before in a nightclub? Yes, yes and yes, thats exactly what Baloji is saying.

Born in 1978 in Lubumbashi, war-torn DemocraticRepublic of Congos second city, Baloji was taken away fromhis mother at the age of three and raised by his fathersrelatives in Lige. He grew up feeling an outsider in a closed,


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Baloji signi e sorcier en swahili, et il y a en e et quelque chose de magique chez ce rappeur etmannequin belge dorigine congolaise. De celles qui vousharponnent et ne vous lchent plus.

33 ans, il a dj derrire lui une vie digne dAmour,Gloire et Beaut : drames familiaux, adversit, racinesafricaines retrouves Flamboyant, certes, mais dans cecaf bruxellois o il me fait face, ce jeune homme discretet dsarmant de politesse dans son gilet bleu marine peinecomme moi attirer lattention du serveur.

Baloji est pondr, fou de sa lle de deux ans, et passionnjuste ce quil faut d peu prs tout, des tweets du Monde lin uence Obama sur lAfrique en passant parlattitude brsilienne envers la culture noire.

Ajoutez une voix si pose, si douce, queparfois quelques secondes me sont ncessairespour saisir toute la porte de ses paroles.Minute, vous tes en train de me dire quevotre premier album tait une rponse unelettre de votre mre, que vous naviez pas vuedepuis 25 ans ? Vous avez pass trois ans viter dtre reconduit la frontire ? Vousavez enregistr votre dernier album (KinshasaSuccursale , gros succs 2010) en cinq jours,avec des musiciens rencontrs la veille enbote ? Oui, oui et re-oui. Baloji con rme.

N en 1978 Lubumbashi,deuxime ville dunCongo ravag parla guerre, Baloji estarrach sa mre trois ans et lev Lige par sa famillepaternelle. Un milieu ferm, traditionnel, o il se senttranger et quil quittera tt. Sensuivent dlinquance,prison, expulsion de Belgique vite de justesse et plusieursdemandes de naturalisation rejetes. Cest pendant cettepriode sombre de sa vie quil rejoint le collectif de rapligeois Star am, avec lequel il rencontrera le succs la ndes annes 90.

Aprs une rupture acrimonieuse avec les autres membresde Star am en 2004, il dcide darrter la musique. Je navais aucune intention de dmarrer une carriresolo jusqu ce que je reoive cette lettre de ma mre ,explique-t-il. Vivant toujours Lubumbashi en Rpubliquedmocratique du Congo, elle avait vu son groupe latlvision grce au satellite et lui avait crit. Vingt-cinqannes de silence rompues, la redcouverte dune famille etune question, brlante : quas-tu fait depuis tout ce temps ?

Baloji rpond dans son premier albumHotel Impala (dunom de lhtel de son pre, ras pendant la guerre). Cecycle de chansons intensment personnel explore le thmede lenfant qui grandit et sa qute dappartenance et derconciliation, avant de se clore sur un sample de MarvinGaye de circonstance :Im going home to see my mother .

Rentrer voir sa mre, cestexactement ce quil fait en 2007en retournant en RDC pour lapremire fois en 25 ans. Lalbum,son cadeau sa mre, ne reutpas laccueil quil escomptait. Sonaisance habituelle disparat lvocation de ce voyage.

Ce fut un norme chocculturel. Cest l que jai pris conscience de mon ducationeuropenne, de ma perspective compltement di rente.Cest un sentiment bizarre que dtre un tranger pour samre. Bizarre pour elle aussi.

Ctait un album si personnel, dit-il dune voix plus basseencore, qui a bless tant de gens de mon entourage. Noussommes une famille africaine traditionnelle, et mme si ona rme vouloir partager nos histoires La voix devientinaudible. Il poursuit.

Que jaie fait de la prison, a ne fait rien aux gens. Maismontrer ses motions, cest faire aveu de faiblesse. En ncest comme a quils le peroivent. Il secoue la tte. Maisa va, on la fait. EtKinshasa Succursale fut plus facile. AprsHotel Impala , je voulais quelque chose de plus organique.

Objectif atteint.Kinshasa Succursale regorge des rythmes,instruments, tragdies et absurdits dune toute jeunedmocratie prte imploser. Un extraordinaire cocktailde sons, beau, plein de colre et despoir. Avec les deuxmembres de son quipe, Baloji a rencontr et auditionn lesmusiciens Kinshasa et enregistr 14 chansons. En 5 jours. 35 personnes, une section cuivres, un chur Nous tionstous nerveux, mais a sest bien pass .

Cest un sentimentbizarre que dtre un

tranger pour sa mre.Bizarre pour elle aussi

Muso Balojiis also indemandas a model

g : Balojiest aussimannequin


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Son respect pour ces artistes est palpable. Lalbum taittrs important pour eux. Nous navions que quelques heurespour travailler sur chaque chanson et cela a donn naissance une relation spciale avec les musiciens. On avait prpar

des chansons, mais ils ont demand si on pouvait enregistrerles titres plus politiques. Ils ont dit : Ici, nous les Congolais nous ne pouvons pas

faire cette musique-l. Cest un aspect vraiment importantdu disque. Dans le documentaire qui accompagne la sortiede lalbum, un des chanteurs sadresse non sans ert lacamra : Cest un gros projet. Et comme jy ai particip, jesuis grand aussi, maintenant.

Mais lhistoire connut un de ces rebondissements dontBaloji a le secret. EMI a dtest lalbum et a dcrt que lesventes plafonneraient 150 exemplaires. Le label le lcheet cest le magazine belge Le Vif Express qui a sorti lalbumpour le 50 e anniversaire de lindpendance congolaise enjuillet 2010. Bilan : 60 000 exemplaires couls, et un Balojitrs courtis. Recrut lan dernier par Damon Albarn pourson projet Africa Express, il sera en tourne mondiale cet t

et un nouvel album est en prparation. Alors,a fait quoi ? Jadore. Cest gnial de pouvoirdire : Vous mavez lch, bande de losers. Jedis a mais jtais stress sur le moment.

Ce hiatus stressant de huit mois, Baloji laconsacr un travail obsessionnel. Sur lesvisuels de lalbum, la pochette, un encart photoet sur deux vidos primes, tournes au Congo.Il secoue la tte en riant au souvenir de ces

lms mlant dancing rtro, Kinshasa et lutteurs masqus. Je suis vraiment er des vidos. Ctait fantast ique

davoir le temps de travailler sur les dtails, mais fouaussi. On a mis deux semaines pour choisir le micro. Lesthtique occupe une grande place dans sa vie il a joules mannequins pour Louis Vuitton, la marque de vtementsbelge Caf Costume et la vodka Eristo . Avec ses presquedeux mtres, un visage alliance ext raordinaire de force et dedouceur, alternant plats et angles, rien dtonnant cela.

Jai vraiment apprci. Jadore la mode, beaucoup decrateurs belges comme Kris Van Assche et Dries Van

I had a European education, a completely di er entperspective. Its a strange feeling, to be a stranger toyour mother a strange feeling for her as well.

That album was so personal, he continues, his voice,

always so , dropping still further. It hurt so many peoplearound me. Were a traditional African family and even if youpretend you want to share stories He trails o , tries again.People have no issue with me telling them I was in jail. Butshowing emotion is like showing weakness. I mean, thatsthe way people see it. He shakes his head. But its okay, wemade it. And Kinshasa Succursale was easier. A er HotelImpala I wanted to do something more organic.

It certainly worked. Kinshasa Succursale is bursting with the rhythms and instruments and the tragedy andabsurdities of this turbulent infant democracy. Its anextraordinary alchemy of sounds: beautiful, angry, hopeful.Baloji and his two-man team travelled to Kinshasa tomeet and audition the musicians, before recording thealbums 14 songs, all in ve days. There were 35 peoplethere, a brass section, a choir, Baloji recalls. Everyone

was nervous, but it went so smoothly.Balojis respect for the artists is palpable. The album

was really important to them, he says. We only had acouple of hours to work on each song and it created a specialrelationship with the musicians. We had some songsprepared, but they asked if we could record the more politicalsongs. They said: Here, as Congolese, we cant make thiskind of music. That aspect of the record was really important.

In the documentary lm made to accompany the albumsrelease, one of the singers says, with quiet pride, straight tocamera: This is a big project. And because I took part, thatmeans Im big now, too.

If recording went smoothly, distributing the album wasvexed. EMI hated the album, says Baloji. They said: Wellonly sell 150 copies. The label duly dropped him. Instead,Belgian magazine Le Vif Express released the album to mark the 50th anniversary of Congolese independence in July 2010. It sold over 60,000 copies and Baloji i s now in demand;Damon Albarn dra ed him into his Africa Express projectlast year, hes touring worldwide this summer and theres anew album on the way.

How does that feel? I love it. Im really happy to be ableto say: You dropped me, you losers. I can say that now but at the time I was really stressed. During that stressfuleight-month hiatus, Baloji worked obsessively on thealbums visual elements the sleeve design, a photo insertand two award-winning videos, both lmed in Congo,which take in a retro dancehall, street scenes in Kinshasa

Its a strange feeling to bea stranger to your mother.A strange feeling for her too

Le : a stillfrom theKaribu Ya

Bintou video,shot inKinshasa

g : photoextraite duclipKaribu YaBintou , tourn Kinshasa


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and a troupe of masked wrestlers. He laughs, shaking hishead at the memory. Im really proud of the videos, and itwas fantastic that we had the time to work on the details,he says. But it was crazy. We spent two weeks choosing which microphone I should use. Aesthetics is a huge partof his world view. He has modelled for Louis Vuitton,Belgian tailoring brand Caf Costume and Eristo vodka.At six feet six, with a face thats an extraordinary mix of hard and so , of planes and angles, you can see why.

I really enjoyed it. I love fashion. I love lots of Belgiandesigners, like Kris Van Assche and Dries Van Noten. Idlove to work with Vuitton again. Or Tom Ford hesamazing. For my next video project, Tom Ford is a really big in uence, styling-wise.

Living between two countries in crisis, notquite at home in either, is an odd existence, andBaloji is still making his peace with it, musically and personally. The new record talks a lot aboutthis, he says. When youre black youre notcompletely at home in Europe. Its the same inAfrica you have this European culture. Its likemy daughter. Shes mixed race, not black, notwhite. Being an African in Europe is like that. Inbetween, yes, but in-between can be a positive identity in itself.

With that, hes o again, telling me about Flemishtelevision, a contemporary dance troupe in Kinshasa,the impact of wi- on African polit ics. It seems that, for Baloji, the sorcerer who its between worlds, everything in life contains some magic.Kinshasa Succursale is on release now. Baloji plays thefollowing dates in Belgium: April 1, Huy; April 30, Villers-la-Ville; May 5, Inglemunster; July 30, Bruges; August 15,Ostende. Visit baloji.com for more details

Noten. Jadorerais retravailler avec Vuitton. Ou Tom Ford. Ilest incroyable. Ma prochaine vido sera trs in uence parTom Ford, stylistiquement parlant.

Drle de vie, entre deux pays en crise et nulle partvraiment chez lui. Une existence avec laquelle il continue,musicalement et personnellement, de chercher la paix.

Le nouveau disque parle beaucoup de a. Quand on estnoir on nest pas compltement chez soi en Europe, maiscest pareil en Afrique. On a cette culture europenne. Cestcomme ma lle. Elle est mtisse, ni noire, ni blanche. Cesta, tre africain en Europe. Entre deux, oui, mais entre-deux peut aussi tre une identit positive.

Et le voil repart i : tlvision amande, troupe de dansecontemporaine Kinshasa, impact du wi- sur la politiqueafricaine Car le style particulier d entre-deux de Balojiest clectique, spontan, et oui, un peu magique.Kinshasa Succursale est dj dans les bacs. Baloji sera enconcert en Belgique : 1 er avril Huy ; 30 avril Villers-la-Ville ;5 mai Inglemunster ; 30 juillet Bruges ; 15 aot Ostende.Consultez baloji.com pour plus dinfos

Above: Balojiin a still fromLe Jour daprs

Ci-dessus:photo extraitedu clip LeJour daprs

baloji april 2011

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