A few weeks ago, I heard about Baloji, a young rapper of Congolese origin who lives in Belgium. I researched him on the Internet and was able to listen to sound bites of his numbers, to view one of his clips and – I was caught.
I enjoyed listening to this young man from the Congo, with his candid verve, one who looks straight at things, who does not try to avert his look from reality, even though reality is not always clean.
I came across Baloji in Kinshasa and I must admit that after meeting this young man and having a long discussion with him, I have some renewed hope. It was comforting to see that there are young Congolese who do not give in to the tradition of clothes addiction, of looking instead of being.
Baloji Website
Baloji Blog
The videoclip « tout ceci ne nous rendra pas le Congo »
info[at]congoblog[dot]net
3 Comments
Nadine- What do you think about this translation:
A few weeks ago, someone told me about Baloji, a young rapper with Congolese roots who lives in Belgium. In doing some research on him on the internet, I was able to listen to some excerpts of his music and to see a clip of one of his videos. I was immediately hooked.
I really enjoyed listening to this young man from the Congo, with his candid verve; someone who looks at things square in the face and does not shy away from reality, even though reality is not always clean. (This paragraph I would have also combined with the first, but I know that is not how Cedric wrote it.)
I ran into Baloji by coincidence in Kinshasa and I must admit that after having met this young man and having had a long discussion with him, I have some renewed hope. It was comforting to see that there are young Congolese out there who do not conform to the tradition of being trendy, valuing the outside more than the inside (or “valuing appearing above being”).
-end translation-
Also, regarding the “Smart Congolese” series… I’m wondering why you went with the word “smart” as opposed to say, “Congolese Survivors” or “Congolese Overcomers”. Just curious….
Hi, it’s a very nice blog! Many things to learn about DRC…
Baloji’s music is amazing. Thanks for sharing.
regards from Portugal.
Sorry Jannie, I don’t know whether or not you’ve been asked, by this article’s author, to translate his entry or you just did it to show off. Even if the author required what you, mistakenly, call translation, I think what you’ve done would be, precisely, call editing because the source was written in English, it was not in another language awaiting your English translation. If you’ve never been contacted for any “translation”, I would say shame on you. Why would you even come out with such shameful idea, where were you when Cedric conceived his blog. If this is the case, I’d suggest you to, immediately, stop this disgusting attitude in belittling other.