2023-09-22 16:00:01
Lee-James Edjouma, aka James BKS, in April 2023. OLIVIER D’ALMEIDA
On the stage of the Théâtre de Châtelet in Paris, Friday September 15, producer and singer James BKS came out of his reserve. At the end of his concert, he confided to his audience: “African music is a culture that I have reappropriated, that I denigrated when I was younger. » This is no longer the case. In his new album, Wolves of Africa (Part 2/2)the son of Manu Dibango synthesizes what he learned from his father, his musicians, West African rhythms and his childhood love, hip-hop.
On this hybrid album, he invites Angélique Kidjo as well as the American rapper Royce da 5’9”, the guitarist Carlos Santana and the South African Nomcebo Zikode. It offers modern African music that does not dissolve into urban pop. Formerly hidden illegitimate child, Lee-James Edjouma, from his marital status, transformed his family secret into an artist name, BKS for “Best Kept Secret” (“the best kept secret”).
A few days later, near the Gare du Nord, the musician received at the offices of his label. In large letters on the window, the words “Production Musique Edition » announce the color and let the gold discs hung on the walls stand out. James BKS does not hide his success. He owes his success only to himself, and not to his father, emblem of world music, spokesperson for the French-speaking world, inventor of In Soul Mako (1972). Born in 1982, he was raised by his mother in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis), then by a friend to whom she had entrusted him while traveling back and forth between Cameroon and France. Lee-James only started music late, listening to a lot of American rap during his basketball practices.
At 19, he followed his mother, a hairdresser and remarried, to the United States, to the state of Virginia. It was at university that he took music seriously, between his classes and his training. On campus, his friends encouraged him to write hip-hop beats for local groups. One of his cassettes landed on rapper Akon’s label and he left for Atlanta: “In his stablehe says, I was able to meet a lot of authors who allowed me to work for very well-known artists like Snoop Dogg, Ja Rule, T-Pain…” He knows nothing about his roots and composes his songs for popular rappers.
“I saw myself in someone”
Ten years later, he decided to return to France: “I didn’t necessarily see myself there in terms of businesshe admits. I had to regain control of my copyright and educate myself about the recording industry. » In Paris, he mainly composes music for advertisements and cinema, works with the director Audrey Estrougo, notably for her film, A banal storyreleased in 2014.
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