Английская Википедия:Innoss'B

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Innocent Didace Balume (born May 5, 1997), professionally known as Innoss'B, is a Congolese singer-songwriter, rapper, percussionist, dancer, and philanthropist. Often referred to as the "Jeune Leader," he is renowned for pioneering the AfroCongo music genre, an eclectic fusion of Congolese rumba, indigenous folklore, and ndombolo.

Innoss'B was born into a musical family in war-ravaged Goma, North Kivu Province. At the age of six, he began his music career as a member of the family group Maisha Soul. The group gained recognition after winning the 2007 Revelation Award at the Goma Tourism Fair. He later ventured out as a solo artist after winning the Akon-sponsored 2010 Vodacom Superstar contest, which led to his collaboration with Akon on the international song "Up and Away". On July 17, 2013, he released his debut studio album, Innocent Vol.1. In October 2015, Innoss'B made a name for himself in Kinshasa with his collaborations with Werrason on a hit single "Eloko" and later with Koffi Olomidé on "Elengi" in October 2016. On June 30, 2017, he released his five-track maxi-single, Plus. The lead track, "Ozo Beta Mabe", became an instant hit in Africa with over one million views on YouTube in just five months, making Innoss'B one of the most successful young Congolese and African artists. On December 26, 2021, Innoss'B released his second studio album, Mortal 06.

In 2020, Innoss'B became the first Congolese musician to reach more than 100 million views on YouTube for his "Yo Pe" remix, featuring Tanzanian singer Diamond Platnumz. The BBC has tipped him as one of the African stars with the potential for global success in 2020, praising his unique style that has him "dancing to the beat of his drum" and bringing "a modern and youthful sound to Congolese music."

Biography

1997–2000: Early life and career beginnings

Innocent Didace Balume was born on May 5, 1997, in Goma, North Kivu Province, Zaire. His father was a dancer, and his mother was a cantor at church. He is the youngest of six children and had three brothers as musicians. Raised in Goma's Birere District, he spent considerable time at his paternal grandmother's residence, where he developed a passion for Michael Jackson's music.

2002–2013: Maisha Soul, Vodacom Superstar and other ventures

In 2002, Innocent, his brothers, and around 300,000 others were displaced by the Nyiragongo volcanic eruption. To raise awareness of their situation, the brothers formed a band called Maisha Soul while living in a refugee camp. The family ensemble included Prince Agakhan Balume, Eric Fonkodji Balume, Achille Djibril Balume, and Innocent Didace Balume. They received training at Yolé!Africa, a youth cultural center founded by filmmaker and activist Petna Ndaliko Katondolo. The band collaborated with several artists, including Pascal Lokua Kanza. Their single "Another Way," released in 2005, won the Revelation 2007 Award at the Goma Tourism Fair.

In 2009, Innocent participated in a provincial singing competition organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross and secured third place among over 20 selected groups. The following year, at just 13 years old, he won the Vodacom Superstar contest, co-hosted by Vodacom in partnership with Akon, Akonic Entertainment, and Nickie Davis. He achieved the feat with a performance of Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel." His victory earned him $25,000, and allocated a portion of his prize money to his former school in Goma. The win provided a platform to launch his music career, and he collaborated with Akon on the song "Up and Away".

While still in Maisha Soul, he released his debut single, "I Can Be Your Blue-Eyed Boy," in March 2012, which became an instant hit and peaked at number one on the Africa Hit chart on Trace TV. He later participated in Lexxus Legal's self-titled album, Lexxus, on the track "Dors Pas Tard". In December 2012, he relocated to Washington, accompanied by Maisha Soul and his manager Lady Nadia, where they appeared on various TV shows and radio stations, including Bakolo States owned by Gary Iwele and Voice of America.

In January 2013, they toured Los Angeles, where Innocent and Maisha Soul attended the Cinema for Peace Humanitarian Awards, honoring Ben Affleck and his foundation, Eastern Congo Initiatives, at the Beverly Hills Hotel during the 70th Golden Globe Awards. The band conveyed the plight of the Kivu conflict in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo through their performances while showcasing their talents and representing their country. On January 28, he and Maisha Soul returned to the DRC and officially announced their "Keep Smiling" mixtape from the US. The mixtape was sung in Swahili and was later released on January 29.

On February 10, 2013, Innocent released his single "Neti Na Uh" and subsequently toured the US along with Maisha Soul. They performed in Atlanta in front of Martin Luther King III on February 16 and met Ludacris on February 15. On July 10, 2013, he officially announced to Radio Okapi his countrywide tour of major cities, culminating in performances at the Amani Festival concerts in Goma, promoting the culture of peace as part of the countrywide tour. He later represented his country at the Global Philanthropy Forum in San Francisco and was honored with the Special Jury Trophy at the prestigious Ndule Pan-African Awards in Kinshasa.

2013–2016: Innocent Vol.1, management woes, "Pola", and collaborative ventures

During an exclusive interview on Radio Kivu1 in early 2013, Innocent announced his debut solo studio album, Innocent Vol.1. The album contained eight singles, including his previous hit "Up and Away" and was released on July 17 of that year. The album was predominantly sung in Lingala to broaden his fan base in Kinshasa. However, some saw this move as a capricious departure from his previous Swahili repertoire endemic to the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

On May 5, 2014, Innocent was invited by Master Peace Foundation to Holland's Liberation Day for two consecutive concerts, where he shared the stage with Dutch singer Roel Van Velzen at Park de Wezenlanden in Zwolle.

In October 2014, he ended his contract deal with Lady Nadia, citing incompetence and unprofessionalism. Innocent revealed that during her three-year managerial tenure, they only produced one music video, "I Can Be Your Blue Eyed Boy," which was only possible through external support and not Lady Nadia's leadership.

In February 2015, Innocent released his single "Pola," which marked the beginning of his AfroCongo music style. The single was produced by Djizzo, and the music video was directed by his brother Achille Balume, popularly known as Ach'B.

In October 2015, Innocent collaborated with Werrason on his hit "Eloko," and the music video was filmed in Kinshasa with comedian Fiston Sai Sai. In February 2016, he took to the stage at the Amani Festival in front of thirty thousand people in Goma. In May 2016, he was featured in the track "First Lady" alongside X-Maleya, the Cameroonian makossa group.

In October 2016, Innocent released his single "Elengi," featuring Koffi Olomide. The song was performed in French, Lingala, and English. "Elengi," meaning "pleasure" in Lingala, encapsulates themes of love and wealth and blended elements of AfroCongo and Afropop genres.

2017–2018: Plus

In March 2017, Innocent revealed to Télé50 that his forthcoming five-track maxi single, Plus, was nearing its conclusive stages of production and would be released on June 30 of that year. Plus blended Congolese rumba and ndombolo and was supported by the singles "Top Model", "Ozo Beta Mabe", "Lelo Lelo", "Mur", and "Mon Boulot". While working on his maxi-single, he also collaborated on Anita Mwarabu's single "Bolingo Mabe". The music video for the maxi-single's lead single "Top Model," which incorporated Congolese rumba aesthetics, premiered on November 2, 2017. This was followed by the release of the "Ozo Beta Mabe" music video on February 1, 2018, which depicted Innocent in a school uniform engaging in choreography alongside students in Kinshasa. The titular phrase "Ozo Beta Mabe," a colloquialism loosely translating as "you do harm," is a commentary on universal adverse conduct. "Ozo Beta Mabe" garnered significant popularity in the DRC and across Africa and was viewed more than a million times on YouTube.

On June 1, 2018, he unveiled the music video for "Lelo Lelo," imbued with his self-proclaimed style dubbed Afrocongo, subtly alluding to the ndombolo style without overwhelming the auditory senses. The "Mon Boulot" music video was released on November 1, 2018, and incorporated ndombolo urban style.

2019–2020: "Yo Pe", "Yo Pe Remix", "Olandi", "Best", and other ventures

On August 11, 2019, Innocent released his single "Yo Pe," which gained significant popularity in Africa with over one million views on YouTube in two weeks and sparked controversy due to the image of a goat wearing a crown. The song challenges moral quandaries such as indolence, dependency, solicitation, effortless gains, and parasitism. The music video for "Yo Pe" was blocked on September 10, 2019, due to YouTube copyright constraints, as it used content protected by the Indian-based company Spice Digital South Africa, which claims rights to its creations. The company later reassured that its teams were doing everything to resolve the situation. "Yo Pe" was named "Song of the Year" by Congolese entertainment website Mbote. The song's success catapulted Innocent's visibility, leading him to perform at several festivals, including the Starboy Fest with the Nigerian singer Wizkid, the Kinshasa Showbuzz concert, and the Afro Nation festival in Ghana in December of that year.

On September 7, 2019, Innocent released a remix music video of his song "Yo Pe" featuring Tanzanian singer Diamond Platnumz. It was directed by Director Kenny under Zoom Extra. In the video, Innocent repeats the lyrics of the original version while Diamond Platnumz interjects with Swahili refrains. The "Yo Pe Remix" amassed 150 million views within a year, becoming the first song in East Africa and Central Africa to achieve this feat most quickly. "Yo Pe Remix" led to the "Yope dance challenge" on various social media platforms and led Diamond Platnumz to incorporate dance sequences from the remix into his subsequent release, "Baba Lao." On November 10, 2019, Innocent performed alongside Diamond Platnumz at Wasa Festivals in Tanzania with the theme song "Yo Pe", before Innocent's inaugural major concert at the Dock Pullman in Paris in October of that year, followed by a string of performances across Europe including Luxembourg, Lyon, Essen, Brussels, Pau, Lille, Madrid, Gothenburg, London, Strasbourg, and Berlin. In June 2020, the song received him a nomination for Best New International Artist at the BET Awards.

On July 28, 2020, Innocent released his AfroCongo-infused single "Olandi," an ode to those who disparage and oppose him but eventually follow him and listen to his songs and copy what he does, which justifies the title "Olandi" (interpreted as "You Copy"). "Olandi" was distributed by The Orchard, a subsidiary of Sony Music. The song accumulated 26 million views on YouTube in six months, making him one of the Congolese artists who raised 21st-century Congolese music with the "Afrocongo" style of which he is a precursor. "Olandi" peaked at number-one on the Trace Africa weekly television countdown African Hit 30. Reviewing for Music in Africa, Jean de Dieu Boukanga described the song as "joyful and catchy" and praised the dance moves as "pleasant choreographies."

Innocent unveiled his rap single "Best," featuring French rapper Damso, on October 15, 2020. The accompanying music video, directed by Ach'B and filmed in Kinshasa, featured appearances by Congolese musicians Gaz Fabilouss, Rebo Tchulo, and Gracia Lizarbo. "Best" amassed two million views on YouTube within a week and was the most-streamed of all recent releases, with more than 550,000 streams on Spotify within the same timeframe. On November 20 of that year, Innocent performed in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, at the end of the Burkinabè presidential election campaign at the invitation of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré. On December 4, he performed at the Espace Bahalis Square in Lubumbashi. His concert scheduled for December 25 in Niger, at the Stade Général Seyni Kountché, was canceled due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, albeit it was initially slated as part of the denouement of the Nigerien presidential election campaign, scheduled for December 27, 2020.

Innocent continued to release a series of successful singles, including "MEME" on March 6, 2021, which accumulated 6 million views on YouTube in two months. On July 17, 2021, he released his single "NO NO," featuring his fiancée Rebo Tchulo, which amassed one million views on YouTube within three days and ranked second place on BBC Radio 1Xtra, after Diamond Platnumz, becoming the first Congolese solo artist to achieve this feat.

2021: Mortel-06

On December 9, 2021, Innocent announced that his forthcoming second studio album, Mortel-06, was almost finished. Mortel-06 contained 15 tracks and was released on December 26, 2021. It debuted in the top 5 online music stores and did not include any collaborative features. The album stands out for its diverse range of musical styles. Innocent diversified his repertoire, embracing Congolese rumba in "A dieu," rap in "Naomi Campbell," and Afro-trap in "Boutchou," among other compelling selections.

Collaborations

Year	Title	Album
2010	"Up and Away" (featuring Akon)	rowspan="5"Шаблон:N/a
2013	Navio "She likes me" (featuring Innoss'B)
	Navio "One and Only" (featuring Innoss'B)
2010	"Merci maman" (featuring Fally Ipupa)
2019	"Yo Pe" Remix (featuring Diamond Platnumz)

Discography

Year	Title	Album
2013	"follow me"	Innocent Vol.1
	"Lost"
	"EhYo Innossb"
	"I Like You"
	"Big Africa"
	"Abibi"
	"Ola"
	"No Bodyguard"
	"Free"
	"Pick Up My Phone Calls"
	"Yoka Ngai"
	"Real Party"
	"Crazy"
	"Neti Na Uh"
	"Turn On the Radio"
	"Bounce Like a Ball"
2013	"Big Africa"	rowspan="10"Шаблон:N/a
	"Ce C'est Bon"
2015	"Pola"
	"Cha Cha"
	"Eloko (featuring Werrason)
2016	Elengi (featuring Koffi Olomide)
	"Pepele"
	"Together as One"
	"I Can Be Your Blue Eyed Boy"
	"Eh Yo Innoss'B"
2017	"Logik"	Plus
	"Top Model"
	"Ozo Beta Mabe"
	"Lelo Lelo"
	"Mur"
	"Mon Boulot"
2019	"Achour"
	"Dernière Chance"	rowspan="4"Шаблон:N/a
	"Yo Pe"
	2020	"Best (feat Damso)"
2021		"Adieu" "Boutchou" "Bb De Bb" "Sukali" "Naomi Campbell" "African girl" "Do Ré Mi" "Kweli" "Toc Toc" "Eh Dieu" "Réponds Moi" "Minama" "Mortel-06" "Cherchons l'Argent" "A 2"	Mortel-06

Awards and nominations

Шаблон:Awards table |- |2007 |Innoss'B |Revelation 2007 Awards |Шаблон:Nominated |-

|2010 |Innoss'B |Vodacom SuperStar Awards |Шаблон:Winner |-

|2011 |Innoss'B |Ndule Awards as Special Jury trophy |Шаблон:Nominated |-

|2020 |Innoss'B |BET Awards 2020 Best International Act |Шаблон:Nominated Шаблон:End