Bolemvn, the melody of “Bat 7”
If Évry has become one of the most important cities in the French rap game again, it is 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!
Melody in the Skin
The success story of the entire Bâtiment 7 team is quite incredible. The story begins 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 thriving. It is then that Koba La D and Kodes began to reveal 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 on his voice intonations. Today, the entire Bat 7 team gathered under the "Seven Binks" banner is clearly established and identified in rap, almost everyone has earned certifications and they have a very important influence in FR Rap. It is 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 with his team the same influences in rap, namely the new generation of trap, the one that comes after Migos or Gucci Mane: Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert and a whole bunch of other American artists who play a lot on musicality. Whether in beats or voices, it has to sound different, that's what's important.
Bolémvn quickly mastered the concept, not hesitating to use autotune but also with very original beat choices. He also made more classic, more kicked trap, especially at the beginning, to show everyone that he could rap hard too. The rapper is really very versatile and today, he is as capable of rapping a long verse on a trap beat as singing a chorus on a few measures of drill and being comfortable everywhere is not given to everyone. It is also a sign of great musical sensitivity, which facilitates his adaptation because he quickly understands the codes in which he evolves and can quickly have fun with these codes. 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 also a somewhat unique aspect in the world. Where in the United States, rappers early distanced themselves from the music of their ancestors, in France the different communities keep a very strong link with the culture of their elders.
From the intro of his last album, "Vol 169 Atterrissage", you get the idea: Bolémvn's music not only makes you nod your head, it also makes you move. While keeping very street, very raw themes, talking about street stories, problems with the police or women with generous shapes. Bolémvn remains more than ever a neighborhood guy, with his sharp humor, his contagious laugh and also his hardworking side. 6 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 obviously, with his frankness and humor, he is a great client for rap media. Another aspect that is not much highlighted when talking about Bolémvn, but which interests us a lot at Project X Paris: his way of working on his image and that of his clips. All his latest videos contain very strong visual elements, whether in his outfits, shots, movements and the way they are choreographed, 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 question of wearing the same outfit twice in two different clips, unless this outfit is legendary or means something special in the artist's universe. Where Bolémvn is strong is that we actually have the impression that he can wear anything, especially the most street pieces. That is why at Project X Paris we created a very "underground", very "dark" atmosphere for the shoot. With, as a guiding line, this desire to make coexist elements evoking desolation, ruin and others evoking luxury or class. From the first outfit, you feel we have something: a set from the "Underground" capsule, with the 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 atmosphere and same success this time with the "Relax" two-tone outfit in yellow and white, with a round-neck knit sweatshirt + knit jogging bottoms that hit the mark again.
For the second part of the shoot, we changed the setting a bit, but kept this 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 the clothes in the capsule are textured to recall corduroy, an old and very noble material that is coming back in fashion. The Mao collar shirt and the textured pants of the same color are a real hit on screen. But the outfit in which he seems the most comfortable, the most natural, is perhaps the "Signature" outfit, timeless, which is part of our iconic pieces. A beige signature hoodie, beige signature jogging bottoms, and that's it with an outfit both quite classy but also quite sober, with a desire to return to the basics of streetwear.
Finally, the last outfit is a novelty that just came out of the oven! We wanted to have Bolémvn try it to tell us what he thinks. And judging by his reaction during the shoot, it looks like he liked it! Microphone in hand, in front of a big red canvas dotted with "PXP" tags, the rapper puts on a show with this last outfit. It must be said that the design is quite nice, really very successful: the set consists of a black round-neck sweatshirt and black sweatpants, 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 there, we hope you will like it too. We obviously thank Bolémvn for this really successful collab, with an epic shoot that is one of our best this year!