With the recent release of his EP, Test Book, this February 24, 2023, the group 257 Block signs its final entry on the musical scene of Burundi. We encountered this boys band with an atypical career and an (un)measured ambition.
It was in a video game room located in the Kinanira 3 district in the south of the town hall of Bujumbura that a happy benefactor, who agreed to lifter, drops me off. I brave the falling rain and eject myself inside the video game room. Inside, two members of 257 Block are already there.
“The others aren’t here yet. Rain, see? »explains Dellard Girineza, 22, also known by his stage name of Delladaddy. Beside him, his little brother, Karl Ngabonziza, 19, invites me to sit on one of the chairs next to his. Controllers in hand, he turns on FIFA 2021 and asks me: “Do you play FIFA? » As I’m regarding to nod, I remember my level on FIFA: “Oh no, you might beat me up. I’m totally useless “. He lets out a small smile.
I watch him play while waiting for the other band members to arrive. As boredom begins to overwhelm me, I decide to take out my notebook and start scribbling the questions to ask the “Block”: who are they? How did they meet? What are their future plans? Etc.
Beginnings in the freestyle…
A little further from the arcade, 257 Block has its own recording studio on Higiro Avenue. A feat for a group that has just been born. This is where our meeting will take place. Everyone is here now: Raul Kenan Ntwari alias 9kr, 19 years old. Next to him, Loic Sumiye, 24. The group did not come alone, they are accompanied by their manager, Anthony Buhire, 22 years old.
Between a few jokes, I learn from Raul Kenan that 257 Block was born from freestyles. “But before that, Delladady had just released a song and we already knew each other at the time. I approached him to ask him for a feat telling him that I also wrote texts. I gave him a little freestyle and we decided to form a duo. »
At the time, says the young man, they will write a song, but which unfortunately will not be released. Afterwards, a third, Loic, will join them. “We started with a freestyle that was a hit on Insta, October 12, 2020” Loic recalls. To Karl to add: “I studied with Kenan in high school. In class, we stopped freestyling. We thought that following high school, we were going to start a career in rap. And since Dellard is also my brother, it was easy to integrate Block 257”.
Besides, where does the name Block 257 come from? To this question, Kenan gives the answer: “Well, we took the country code, 257, and associated it with block. We all live in the south of Bujumbura. We see ourselves as people living together. It is to signify that we are united and welded like the people who live in the blocks”.
This group which has just released an EP and which considers itself ” welded “, is also ambitious. Despite some pitfalls in the Burundian music industry.
big projects
We continue to exchange with 257 Block and more particularly on their projects. Block 257 manager Anthony Buhire assures that Block 257 has big plans : “Recently we released the EP “Test Book”. But, to tell the truth, for the moment, we are giving ourselves time to grow well. We just recently released an EP and we only did one show at King’s School. We are not yet a big group that is very well known in the rap world today. However, we are working on it”.
Is the fact that the group was not well known in Bujumbura despite having two songs to its credit before “Test Book” is not due to the fact that the majority of the members rap in French? “We don’t all rap in French. There is Dellard who raps in Kirundi…but we are artists. We are guided by our inspiration. », replies Raul Kenan. And to insert a little joke: “Maybe Dellard doesn’t speak French, that’s why his rap is barely in French”. The whole group giggles.
The complicity is obvious between the members of 257 Block and it shows through in their songs. Will they be able to keep their heads held high in a demanding music industry and moreover in a country where is art the res publica’s unloved child? Loïc Sumiye is sure: “We know what we want”. And to Dellard Girineza (Delladady) to add: “We already know our audience, we are confident to go all the way”. You need confidence to evolve in the Buja Fleva.
We end on a small shot (if any) that might stick to 257 Block. Indeed, all the members of the group come from more or less wealthy families. They attended one of the best schools in Bujumbura, and come from the “pretty neighborhoods”. I ask them this question: “Don’t you think people might mistake you for ‘rich kids’?” And put your works in the background? “.
All Block 257 responds: “We are artists first and foremost. We have things to say. A message to give. Art takes precedence over everything. Whether we are rich kids or not, the main thing is what we convey through our songs”.
The projects and ambition of 257 Block seem to indicate a group that aims beyond the Burundian borders (the fact that their texts are in French is one of the signs of this ambition). Should we expect a rap group that will conquer the hearts of an entire continent (and beyond) like Kiffe No Beat from Ivory Coast ?
In any case, the talent to get there, 257 Block, he has it. Aiming for the moon shouldn’t scare themjudging by the reactions of Test Book. one of their songs (Intention) is a trend right now on Tiktok. And we already know the power that social networks have in this 21st Century. But, 257 Block keeps its feet on the ground and has the ambition to go further. For the good of aficionados hip-hop and more.
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