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I always dreamed of being an artist, but I didn't know I had to do it for the Lord": K.S Bloom, a young evangelical Ivorian rapper, managed in a few years to make a splash by declaiming his pious life.
At 26 years old, K.S Bloom, whose real name is Souleymane Koné, born in Yopougon, a working-class district of Abidjan, was one of the most viewed French-speaking artists on Youtube in 2021: his songs have accumulated more than 100 million listens, including 57 million for the title Child of God alone. In July 2022, he goes on stage at the Casino de Paris, "where some of his Ivorian elders have never set foot," notes one of his managers, Rodrigue Liabi.
The starting point of his career is a Monday in October 2017, "the most significant day of my life," he says, "because that's when I really gave my life to Jesus." Then rapper "trash" and "in the clash", caught in "many vices" like "the outings" or "the cigarette", he says he "stopped everything at once" when his uncle presented him religion as a "solution". "Even the shape of my head has changed," he laughs. K.S Bloom, a calm and smiling young man, wants to "evangelize" his audience, mixing rap and coupé-décalé, French and nouchi (Ivorian slang), strict dedication to religion and humor.
In his first album released in 2021, Allumez la lumière, he warns: "En enfer, y a pas alloco" (fried plantains, typical Ivorian dish), then "paradise is better". The reasons for its success? "We say it's God's grace," says Rodrigue Liabi. There is especially the rapper's flair for assemblages of rhythms and melodies that work, coupled with meticulous work on the post-production of his songs.
Côte d'Ivoire and France have the largest number of his fans, but his music also appeals to countries with a Christian majority. Very popular in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has 85% Christians, or more than 81 million people, including 15 million evangelicals, it is also in Gabon and Cameroon, which each have more than 60%. "I'm not the first gospel rapper," the other name for Christian rap, he admits.
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Christian and hip
The genre existed in the 80s in the United States, before a French group tried it, without succeeding in popularizing it. In French-speaking Africa in the 2000s, a rapper and son of the first Burkinabe president Maurice Yaméogo, Mc Claver, also composed them, without more success.
The celebrity, K.S Bloom "manages molo molo", quietly. "Parents don't see you too much anymore, you don't have too much time for your friends," he says, but he prefers his religious life today. Although he claims to be devoted to religion, the artist mocks the attitude considered too strict by some Christians. He feels that the dreadlocks and tattoos he wears, like other young people, do not harm his belief, and this open-mindedness appeals to his audience.
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You can be Christian and be fresh" (trendy), said Romaric Lozo Kouakou, 23, after the concert of K.S Bloom at the Urban Music Festival of Anoumabo (Femua) in Abidjan, at the end of April. Surrounded by a dozen people, K.S Bloom follows the advice of a "spiritual leader" who also takes care of the team's prayer times.
Being an evangelical is not a condition for working with him, "but if you are a Christian we will speak the same language," says Rodrigue Liabi. The future of K.S. Bloom is "pastoral pain," he says with a laugh. "It is very likely that I will end up pastor one day, even if I do not want to", because "one no longer belongs to oneself being a Christian, one belongs to a master and it is he who decides". For now, he's focused on "charity work," releasing his second album in June, Disciple in the City, and an international tour.