Nomadic, polymorphic and transversal, the genesis of the +250 project is similar to the development of a perennial rhizome. Of these rhizomes so dear to Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari who, almost fifty years ago in A Thousand Plateausstated one of the most important characters: “always have multiple entries.”
First entry precisely, that of journalism, with the first international publication dedicated to the kinyatrap scene in the online pages of PAM, in 2019. From 2022, PAM commissioned the photographer Michiel Robberecht through a series of images dedicated to the rap movement in the Rwandan capital. Moving images which will lead Michiel, two years later, to the making of the documentary film B-Threy, dreams and scars of a rapper from Kigali.
Exhibition, projection, concert… This first multimedia ensemble will be presented at Chaillot Théâtre national de la Danse in May 2024 as part of Chaillot Experience #8, organized under the leadership of Rwandan artist Dorothée Munyaneza.
A multimedia hub, to celebrate the vibrant Rwandan cultural scene
Since then, the artistic collective has spread. Supported by the collaboration of members of PAM and the Rwandan agency Cornwine, the project was stabilized under the +250 flag (the telephone code for Rwanda). A standard that never ceases to gather around itself new creative desires and new skills. Objective ? Celebrate the vibrant Rwandan cultural scene through a new space of expression. In Music, first: currently, eight rappers are in the studio alongside eight beatmakers in Kigali. Lyricists Bushali, Slum Drip, B-Threy, Sema Solé, Ish Kevin, Nikita Heaven, Angel Muttoni and Ice Nova, coupled with producers Dr. Nganji, ProZed, Barick, Aristide, KushBeatz, Kina Beat, Makembe and Herviz Beats are preparing, together, the release of a new collaborative album. A real sonic promise, a major step in the evolution of hip-hop in Rwanda. +250 will be in concert exclusively during the ACCES – Music In Africa festival, organized from November 14 to 16, 2024 in Kigali (KCC and Mundi Center). A sound deployment, while awaiting its arrival in 2025 on the stages of European festivals, where the collective will, for example, fire on the Hip-hop Society stage, in April 2025 in Marseille.
Documentary, ready-to-wear or artbook… The hybridizations of the +250 project
Remember the words of Deleuze and Guattari: “the rhizome itself has very diverse shapes.”. Thus, +250 will open up through numerous mediums: through a documentary already, produced by the Rwandan collective Big Team Productions, which documents in video the emergence of the rap scene in Kigali since its beginnings. Fashion is also expected from 2025 within the program, since the ready-to-wear brand Native 1018 will masterfully pilot the textile artistic direction of the crew. Hand-sewn, to be discovered among other things on international stages, through the group’s merchandising. The power of this new Rwandan cultural scene will also be expressed through a publishing project dedicated to the +250 experience, which will be released at the beginning of April, and will be distributed on both sides of the Mediterranean.
A first studio release alongside Octopizzo and Bantu Spaceship
While waiting for the many hybridizations of the +250 project, an appointment is made at the Mundi Center, on November 15 from 10 p.m. in Kigali, to discover the first residency release of +250. The All-star band will share the mic alongside Impakanizi, Ruti Joel or the lively Rwandan songwriter Kaya Byinshii, already heard featuring with Bushali. Other international headliners to watch closely, the set of the South African amapiano duo Heavy-K & Sir Trill, the concert of New Jit Wave from Bantu Spaceship, custodians of an urban synth-wave emblematic of Zimbabwe or from Octopizzo, a huge trap sensation from Nairobi.
ACCES – Music In AfricaKigali, Rwanda from November 14 to 16, 2024.
