Bolemvn, the melody of “Bat 7”

If Évry has become one of the most important cities in the French rap game again, it’s also thanks to the Bâtiment 7 team. And within the team, some individuals stand out, like Bolémvn. A raw talent with multiple musical facets, and of course we love that at Project X Paris!

The melody in the skin The success story of the entire Bâtiment 7 team is quite incredible. It started around 2015 in Évry, in building number 7 of the Parc aux Lièvres housing estate in Évry, a large and very cosmopolitan city in Essonne where urban culture is booming. That’s when Koba La D and Kodes began revealing their first tracks to the public. As often in French rap, the critics were quite harsh at first, especially with Koba and his very special way of rapping, playing with his vocal intonations. Today, the whole Bat 7 team gathered under the “Seven Binks” banner is clearly established and recognized in rap, almost everyone has earned certifications and they have a very important influence in French rap. It’s no coincidence; you can feel they worked hard to get there. Like Bolémvn, for example, who has evolved a lot since his official solo debut in 2016 with the clip “Walter White.” At first, he shared the same rap influences as his team, namely the new generation of trap, the one that came after Migos or Gucci Mane: Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, and many other American artists who heavily play on musicality. Whether in the beats or the voices, it has to sound different, that’s what matters.

Bolémvn quickly mastered the concept, not hesitating to use autotune but also very original beat choices. He also made more classic, harder trap, especially at the beginning, to show everyone he could rap hard too. The rapper is really versatile and today he can rap a long verse on a trap beat, or sing a chorus on a few bars of drill, and being comfortable everywhere is not something everyone can do. It’s also a sign of great musical sensitivity, which facilitates his adaptation because he quickly understands the codes he evolves in and can quickly have fun with them. When you listen to his music today, like in his last two projects, “Anarchiste” and “Vol 169 Atterrissage,” you quickly notice the place taken by African or Caribbean sounds, more rhythmic, warmer than those of classic trap or drill. This influence of African music on French rap is actually a somewhat unique aspect worldwide. Where in the US, rappers early distanced themselves from their ancestors’ music, in France the different communities maintain a very strong link with their elders’ culture.

From the intro of his latest album, “Vol 169 Atterrissage,” you get the vibe: Bolémvn’s music doesn’t just make you nod your head, it makes you move. While keeping very street, very raw themes, talking about street stories, problems with the police, or women with generous curves. Bolémvn remains more than ever a neighborhood guy, with his sharp humor, contagious laugh, and hardworking side. Six solo projects since 2018 for the rapper from the 91, who also participated in the three collective projects of Seven Binks. He is also very present in interviews, because with his frankness and humor, he is a great client for rap media. Another aspect not often highlighted when talking about Bolémvn, but which interests us a lot at Project X Paris: his way of working on his image and his clips. All his latest videos contain very strong visual elements, whether in his outfits, shots, movements, and choreography, everything is very worked out.

The Bolemvn x PXP collab The rapper keeps finding new outfits, new hairstyles, new styles in each of his videos, which has become a crucial aspect for current rappers. No way to wear the same outfit twice in two different clips, unless that outfit is legendary or means something special in the artist’s universe. Where Bolémvn is strong is that you get the impression he can wear everything, especially the most street pieces. That’s why at Project X Paris we created a very “underground,” very “dark” vibe for the shooting. With the guiding line being the desire to combine elements evoking desolation, ruin, and others evoking luxury or class. From the first outfit, you feel we have something: set from the “Underground” capsule, with shorts and the pink t-shirt, street art prints and reworked logos. We add a pair of white sneakers, socks of the same color, and a Ford car that looks both very vintage and very “post-apocalypse” Mad Max style, and it matches immediately. Same room, same vibe, and same success with the “Relax” two-tone yellow and white outfit, with a knit crewneck sweatshirt + knit joggers that hit the mark again.

For the second part of the shoot, we changed the setting a bit but kept the idea of a hangar where you can find very classy things. Like a barber chair, for example, shining brightly in the middle of the dark hangar. On it, Bolémvn poses, sometimes very naturally, sometimes with a threatening look, sometimes very smiling. Again, the outfits are very effective, starting with a set composed of pieces from the “Comfort Wear” capsule, one of our most ambitious. Indeed, all clothes in the capsule are textured to recall corduroy, an old and very noble material coming back in fashion. The Mao collar shirt and textured pants of the same color make a real hit on screen. But the outfit where he seems most comfortable, most natural, is probably the “Signature” outfit, timeless, part of our iconic pieces. A beige signature hoodie, matching beige signature joggers, and that’s it, an outfit both quite classy and quite sober, aiming to go back to the basics of streetwear.

Finally, the last outfit is a new release fresh out of the oven! We wanted Bolémvn to test it and tell us what he thinks. Judging by his reaction during the shoot, it looks like he liked it! Microphone in hand, in front of a big red canvas covered with “PXP” tags, the rapper puts on a show with this last outfit. The design is quite nice, really well done: the set consists of a black crewneck sweatshirt and black tracksuit bottoms, with quite loose cuts, and doves printed all over in different sizes. All with slightly reworked Project X Paris logos, as you can see, especially on the back where the logo, with its specific typography, is surrounded by two birds. The visual effect is spot on, we hope you’ll like it too. We obviously thank Bolémvn for this really successful collab, with an iconic shoot that is one of our best this year!

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