Innoss'B

Innocent Didace Balume (born 5 May 1997), known professionally 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 17 July 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 30 June 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 26 December 2021, Innoss'B released his second studio album, Mortal 06. On 29 March 2024, Innoss'B released his five-track Extended Play (EP) Calcul.

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."

1997–2013: Early life and Maisha Soul
Innocent Didace Balume was born on 5 May 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.

In 2002, Innocent, his brothers, and nearly 300,000 others were evacuated following the Nyiragongo volcanic eruption. To raise awareness, 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. Maisha Soul collaborated with several artists, including Pascal Lokua Kanza. Maisha Soul's "Another Way," debuted 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 also provided a platform to launch his music career, and he later collaborated with Akon on the song "Up and Away".

While still with Maisha Soul, he released his solo 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 toured 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, Maisha Soul toured Los Angeles, where they 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. During their performances, Maisha Soul conveyed the plight of the ongoing Kivu conflict in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After returning to Goma on 28 January, Maisha Soul officially announced the release of their Keep Smiling mixtape, which was recorded during their stay in the US and sung in Swahili. Keep Smiling was later released on 29 January. On 10 February, Innocent published his single "Neti Na Uh" and subsequently toured the US again with Maisha Soul. They performed in Atlanta on February 16, in front of Martin Luther King III, and met Ludacris on February 15. On 10 July, Innocent announced to Radio Okapi his countrywide tour of major cities, culminating in performances at the Amani Festival concerts in Goma. He later represented the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the Global Philanthropy Forum in San Francisco and was subsequently honored with the Special Jury Trophy at the Ndule Pan-African Awards in Kinshasa.

2013–2016: Innocent Vol.1, management woes, and standalone releases
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 17 July 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 the Master Peace Foundation to Holland's Liberation Day for two consecutive concerts. He performed on stage with Dutch singer Roel Van Velzen at Park de Wezenlanden in Zwolle. In October of that year, Innocent 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 made 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 song was produced by Djizzo and directed by his brother Achille Djibril Balume, professionally 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.

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 30 June 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 plus, he also made a guest appearance on Anita Mwarabu's single "Bolingo Mabe". The music video for "Top Model", which incorporated Congolese rumba aesthetics, premiered on 2 November 2017 and featured Rebo Tchulo. This was followed by "Ozo Beta Mabe" on 1 February 2018, which showed Innocent in a school uniform performing choreography alongside students in Kinshasa. The titular phrase "Ozo Beta Mabe," a colloquialism loosely translating as "you do harm," is a commentary on universal negative behavior. "Ozo Beta Mabe" garnered significant popularity in the DRC and across Africa and was viewed more than a million times on YouTube.

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

2019–2020: "Yo Pe", "Yo Pe Remix", "Olandi", "Best", and other ventures
On 11 August 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. "Yo Pe" challenges moral quandaries such as indolence, dependency, solicitation, effortless gains, and parasitism. The song's music video was blocked on 10 September 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.

On 7 September 2019, Innocent unveiled a remix of "Yo Pe", which featured 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 remix amassed 150 million views within a year, becoming the first song in East Africa and Central Africa to achieve this feat so quickly. The song's success catapulted Innocent's visibility, and went on to perform across major European cities, including Luxembourg, Lyon, Essen, Brussels, Pau, Lille, Madrid, Gothenburg, London, Strasbourg, and Berlin. He also performed 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. The remix sparked the "Yope dance challenge" on various social media platforms and influenced Diamond Platnumz to incorporate dance sequences from it into his subsequent release, "Baba Lao." In June 2020, the song earned Innocent a nomination for Best New International Act at the BET Awards.

On 28 July 2020, Innocent issued his AfroCongo-infused single "Olandi," which he said is dedicated to those who initially criticize and oppose him but eventually end up copying his style and listening to his songs, which justifies the titular epithet "Olandi" (interpreted as "You Copy"). "Olandi" was distributed by the Orchard, a subsidiary of Sony Music. Within six months of its debut, "Olandi" garnered 26 million views on YouTube, making Innocent one of the Congolese artists who have contributed to the development of 21st-century Congolese music with his "AfroCongo" style. "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 published his rap-influenced single "Best," featuring French rapper Damso, on 15 October 2020. The music video was directed by Ach'B and filmed in Kinshasa. It featured appearances by Congolese musicians Gaz Fabilouss, Rebo Tchulo, and Gracia Lizarbo. "Best" quickly became a hit, amassing two million views on YouTube within a week and receiving over 550,000 streams on Spotify.

In November 2020, Innocent was invited to perform in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, as part of the Burkinabè presidential election campaign. On 4 December, he performed at the Espace Bahalis Square in Lubumbashi. His concert scheduled for 25 December in Niger, at the Stade Général Seyni Kountché, was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, even though it was initially slated as part of the denouement of the Nigerien presidential election campaign, scheduled for 27 December 2020.

Innocent continued to release a series of successful singles, including "MEME" on 6 March 2021, which accumulated six million views on YouTube in two months. On 17 July 2021, he released "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, marking him as the first Congolese solo artist to achieve this feat.

2021–present: Mortel-06, standalone releases and Calcul
On 9 December 2021, Innocent announced that his forthcoming second studio album, Mortel-06, was almost finished. The record, which contained 15 tracks, was finally released on 26 December 2021, and debuted in the top five Congolese online music stores. Mortel-06 features a diverse range of musical styles, with Innocent embracing Congolese rumba in "A dieu," hip-hop in "Naomi Campbell," and Afro-trap in "Boutchou," among other tracks. The album's hit single "Sukali" amassed one million views in just two months.

In July 2022, Innocent made his debut tour to Togo with a performance at the Hôtel La Concorde in Lomé. He later embarked on several concerts in major US cities including New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Atlanta, Denver, and Dallas as part of his American tour.

On 31 December 2022, Innocent unveiled his Afrocongo-style single "Maboko Milayi" featuring Awilo Longomba, which earned two million views on YouTube within 13 days. He then released another single titled "Kiss" featuring Tanzanian singer Zuchu on 18 February 2023. Innocent later premiered a teaser for his "AfroCongo Planet Live" in May 2023 and was later featured in Zuchu's hit single remix of "Nani" on 6 June, which exceeded two million views on YouTube within 10 days. On 7 July 2023, Innocent issued "Flex" featuring French rapper Kaaris, which earned one million views on YouTube within four days of its debut.

On November 6, 2023, Innocent featured in Yemi Alade's single "Lipeka," which was a fusion of ndombolo style, sung in Lingala and English, which garnered considerable acclaim on digital streaming platforms. On November 21, 2023, Innocent published another single, "Mpiaka," which blends Amapiano and AfroCongo style. Within 24 hours of its release, "Mpiaka" gained substantial traction on TikTok, amassing over 10,000 videos featuring the hashtag #Mpiaka, making the song one of the viral contents of the day on the app.

On 29 March 2024, Innocent released his five-track EP Calcul with singles such as "Number One", "Sete", "Bango Kaka Te", "Bilan Zéro", and "Chantier". The EP features a predominant blend of Congolese rumba, AfroCongo, and Afrobeat and includes a guest appearance by Nigerian singer Reekado Banks. The song "Sete" gained massive popularity, with over a million views in just 13 days. The hashtag #Sete became popular across various social media platforms and was even embraced by celebrities such as Herman Amisi and Migue Niema.

Albums

 * Innocent Vol.1 (2013)
 * Mortel-06 (2021)

Maxi-single

 * Plus (2017)

Extended Play

 * Calcul (2024)