Baloji at Cloudspotting Festival 2017
Chris Horkan
Congolese poet, composer-lyricist, scriptwriter and performer Baloji makes his only northern UK festival performance of the summer at Cloudspotting – headlining the festival’s Saturday evening.
Originally emerging in the late 1990s with his hip-hop group Starflam, Baloji has gone on to release three solo albums – with his most recent, 64 Bits and Malachite, released via Bella Union last November. His music stands at the crossroads of African music, rap, the French singer-songwriter tradition, Afro-American music such as soul, funk, jazz, plus hip hop culture, sampling and electronic music – which was prevalent in the region of Belgium where Baloji grew up.
