Nothing better than a music festival to make us dream of beautiful summer evenings. The season of large gatherings opens this weekend with Santa Teresa, which invites alongside musicians a handful of comedians to liven up the municipality of Sainte-Thérèse. Karkwa headlines Friday night; Frenchman Ziak will head Saturday’s hip-hop event (with Muzion and Loud Lary Ajust, among others); Daniel Bélanger will be closing on Sunday.
Belgian artists will also be at the party, including Badi, a rapper and singer from Brussels who claims his Congolese roots in his music.
Host Bernard Pivot, who died last Monday, hosted Cameroonian writer Mongo Beti on his sets twice. The first time in 1983 to discuss The two mothers of Guillaume Ismaël Dzewatama, future trucker on the show Apostrophes ; the second in 1999 on the show Culture brothin the wake of the publication of his novel Too much sun kills love. The exchanges that took place in front of the camera left their mark on Badibanga Ndeka, says Badi.
“It’s a video that has circulated a lot, one of those passages during which he gets pushed around a bit by the guests on set because they want to reduce him by calling him an “African writer”, while he claimed rather be a writer, period. He was a bit left alone in this conversation. This statement made me really attached to the work of Mongo Beti, and that’s why I thought it was a great tribute to this writer, who we don’t talk about enough. »
Because Badi gave his most recent album published last February the title of this novel by Mongo Beti, who died in 2001. “Beti’s novel is more of a police investigation, but what I liked about it is that music, in this case jazz, plays a particular role in connection with a female character. This title was exactly what I was looking for, marking the continuation of my previous album, Moyi — “sun” in Lingala. And as I was going for my new album with a more romantic theme, or at least around a love story, this title was appropriate. »
Evolve, hang on, speak
Badi gave his first concert in Quebec seven years ago. Since then, his style has evolved, he explains. “At the time, I was more into a hip-hop sound based on samples Congolese music; in the meantime, many electronic ingredients have been added, notably through collaborations with [le compositeur et DJ trinidadien] Jillionaire and Boddhi Satva”, veteran of the original Central African Republic afrohouse scene. “I always had this base, these Afro musical roots, which I extended through electronic music. »
Between his last visit and the invitation made by Santa Teresa, the popular and dance music of the African continent also moved from the underground to the light, and Badi entered the dance, with complete legitimacy. “Of course we benefit from this trend, especially since for years, for artists like me, it was difficult to overcome the barrier that we called “world music”. Today, it’s popular music, electro, hip-hop. Perceptions have changed, afrobeats have changed everything, as has the Black Lives Matter movement in terms of text and messages. »
I really wanted to strike a balance between the two: it’s important that we can be carried away by the music, but the lyrics are just as important, because I come from rap
Because like Bob Marley, Fela Kuti or – closer to him – Stromae, Badi makes catchy pop that does not neglect the scope of the message.
On his most recent album, the excellent Afro-R&B song 5:10 p.m. Distant evokes “the continent’s diaspora” and the Rwandan genocide. On the sweet pop Gabriel, a duet with Pierre Kwenders, he talks about rejection and marginalization. “I really wanted to strike a balance between the two: it’s important that we can be carried away by the music, but the lyrics are just as important, because I come from rap. I tell myself that if Marley and Kuti succeeded in that, for us, with the sounds we have today, it’s important to do it, because there are already enough artists who talk about love and women on these kinds of grooves, so let’s do something else. »
Under the names written in large letters, the Santa Teresa poster gives an admirable place to the next generation. Friday evening, festival-goers will be able to discover rocker Alix Fernz on stage, who has just launched her album kiss, or even folk muse Arielle Soucy. The more hip-hop program for the evening of May 11 will also feature R&B singer Modlee and the Belgian duo Caballero & JeanJass. More indie pop-rock, the day of May 12 will be marked by performances by Comment debord and the duo Bibi Club, who are launching their new album today, Guard light.
Badi will perform for free on the Desjardins stage of the Santa Teresa festival on Sunday, May 12 at 7 p.m., in Sainte-Thérèse.