As the gloom and murk of autumn descends - it is time to bring some African rhythm (with Belgian rap) to brighten up your days. It might not be for everyone, but as ever, there are interesting stories behind the music.
Baloji is perhaps not a name that many of you will be familiar with, but he has been on the scene for around thirty years. The fact that he sings in French, and that Belgian-Congolese rap is considered niche by some, may have kept him off the airwaves (except on BBC 6 Music, here in the UK), and that is a shame, because the vibrant jumble of rhythms he brings is worth a listen.
Who is Baloji?
Baloji is a name that means 'man of science' or 'sorcerer' in Swahili, but in a post-Colonial world, can also be taken to mean, 'man of the occult.'
He is Belgian-Congolese; born in Lubumbashi, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1978, to a Belgian father and Congolese mother (it seems he was the result of a fling, with his father being an already married travelling businessman), he moved to Ostende with his dad as a child, losing contact with his mum.
His childhood does not seem to have improved much after moving. Constantly arguing with his dad, he got involved with petty crime, ending up in a youth delinquent home by the time he was fifteen.
But, as is sometimes the way, when his life could have gone in several directions, he picked up a passion for rap and dance music. At age fifteen, he was in the hip hop group H-Posse, in Liege - consisting of Baloji (known as MC Balo), DJ Mig One, Fred'alabas and Seg. With the addition of Akro and Mista R, they become Malfrats Linguistiques (the linguistic gangsters). Mista R then leaves, replaced by Kaer and Pavé - with another name change, to Starflam (an anagram of Malfrats). The band went on to release several albums over the next decade, before Baloji left them in 2005, actually quitting music altogether.
Starflam: La Sonora https://youtu.be/iSPtKaX3PHM?si=y_TntfI1YGz3Tagc
(Official video)
Solo
In 2006, Baloji received a letter from his mother, whom he had not seen since 1981, and, coupled with winning a poetry competition in Paris, he made a decision to return to music as a solo artist.
2008 saw the release of a largely autobiographical debut album, Hotel Impala, which contains his response to that letter from his mother, which he says, meant he felt like he had something to sing about. RFI called it "a supremely personal, supremely musical debut."
Baloji: Septembre - https://youtu.be/ikHCaMS09So?si=2bRNFKU37mkm4q7x
(Audio only)
His second album, Kinshasa Succursale followed in 2011. BBC online described it as having "an electrifying production [that] harnesses the flashpoint of inspiration... several songs dipping into surprising depths and full-blown Congolese soukous, reggae, 1970s rock, soul and even doo-wop gospel rear their respective heads."
Baloji: Le Jour d'Apres - https://youtu.be/C4vc25TcIe0?si=ksrm0nGqnfb4IVx9
(Official video - an updated take on a 1960s African independence tune)
64 Bits And Malachite EP came out in 2015. A press release from record label Universal France explained the meaning behind the record's title.
"64 bits is the current reference for processors. It evokes the idea of built-in obsolescence; how previous versions, even if they still function, are designed to become useless, like Malachite. Malachite is a green-layered stone found in Katanga (DRC Congo). The whole world comes to Katanga for its precious minerals, but those with only sentimental value, such as malachite, are rare. It is one of the few Congolese minerals not used in this computer that helps Baloji to create and share his music. 64 bits & Malachite mines our operating systems: it is a metaphor of our era, a melody of diaspora; a nomadic music between encounters and collisions."
In 2018, his father died and he produced the record that started getting him airplay further afield (and the first I knew of him) - 137 Avenue Kanaima. Liam Konneman in Loud & Quiet called it a "sprawling tableau that blends funk, soul and hip hop with traditional African rhythms in a mass of multicultural influences." He went on to say that the album feels "like a breath of fresh air from start to finish."
Baloji: Soleil De Volt - https://youtu.be/lGzvjR6X_Xk?si=aEr3tegEgECjnwzA
(Official video)
Baloji at the movies
Although he'd been in a things before, 2019 saw Baloji prove himself as an actor, playing the role of Jovial in the Belgian film Binti, which saw him win the Magritte Award for Most Promising Actor.
And in May 2023, he directed his own film, Augure (Omen), which is about four people accused of witchcraft, and was shown at the Cannes Film Festival. The music did not desert him though, as he wrote four soundtrack albums to accompany the movie, one representing each of the main characters - although not much from these records actually ended up in the movie.
He said, "I have synaesthesia: a sensory association which means I perceive colours in relation to sounds. This helped me in choosing the backgrounds, the costumes and generally with directing my work and my work with the Director of Photography."
Light Music, Dark Lyrics
Baloji explained where his musical inspiration has come from.
At home, my parents were only playing three artists: Tabu Ley Rochereau (a singer from the Democratic Republic of Congo), Marvin Gaye and Julio Iglesias. They have a huge influence on the music that I've liked to listen to at home: Jai Paul, Thundercat, Frank Ocean, Andre 3000, D'Angelo etc. Commonly, these three artists have a very melodic, elegant ad sophisticated sound constructed on multiple layering. Each style offers a different approach; light or candid, pop or experimental, at the same time."
He described his musical sound - "What I really love is Tina Turner-style soul with a real live feeling."
NPR spoke of his "deep voice full of cocky brashness.... Baloji raps with brazen ease about the indignities of life as an African in Belgium, but also the tragic bloody history of his homeland." They note Baloji's feeling of not quite belonging and how it impacts on his music and lyrics - "He says he feels like a stranger both in Belgium and in Congo, but that existential bind seems to inspire him as he taps powerful music from both worlds to create a landscape of his own - perhaps the only place he really feels at home."
And this is the interesting bit. There is an almost constant conflict between those bright, shimmering African riffs and rhythms, that make you want to smile and dance - and the often very dark tone of the lyrics, as discusses race, immigration, colonialism, isolation..... However, if like me you don't speak much French, you can perhaps choose to ignore this element of his work, but it is there, as this sample of translated lyrics shows.
From: L'hiver Indien (137 Avenue Kanaima)
"We make 5 Euros an hour...
Inner exile clinging to his radiator....
It's a race for the certificate, the papers are the grail, the slums are vertical."
Baloji: L'Hiver Indien - https://youtu.be/JrUCzcAfoNU?si=WkdcepqKnVXH-NBU
(Live session)
From: Repris de Justesse (Hotel Impala)
"The idea of leaving everything changes me,
That of losing everything, losing my landmarks,
I'm a foreigner on both sides of the border....
The Promised Land does not keep its promises."
Baloji: Repris De Justesse - https://youtu.be/nYOQsITyifA?si=_DbH9IC_k4QxB89A
(Audio only)
From: Tout Ceci Ne Vous Rendra Pas Le Congo (Hotel Impala)
"The plundering of our minerals, our ingots...
Who at 13 finds his insurance in an M16,
At 14 years in quarantine,
They thought he was a wizard because he was getting high on kerosene....
For a third of the country is without power, no running water,
Ethnic wars reinforce the status quo,
The Congo is a land of Stratego....
Let's leave our differences aside, we have a country to rebuild."
Baloji: Tout Ceci Ne Vous Rendra Pas Le Congo -
(Official video)
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