Poet, slammer, Higelin Mutomb is a young artist from Lubumbashi present in almost all the major events in the city. His very thematic texts are both the expression of a commitment to defending the rights of vulnerable people and a questioning on social, health and even ecological issues. If he conquered the city of Lubumbashi and part of the DRC, Higelin Mutomb is now targeting Africa. Denise Maheho went to meet him.
It is in the garden of a private residence on Avenue de la Révolution in Lubumbashi that Higelin Mutomb often finds inspiration. He goes there every afternoon to rehearse, accompanied by Michael Kilupro, his guitarist.
” We have our way of writing texts. We start with a melody, we get inspired, we go deep and then, we take out a text. As soon as we realize that it is finished, we put it in a file because we have the project of a collection of poems. So, Michael is there, he’s the one who designs all the sounds… »
And the text, there is one still in the works. His title ? The DRC, a paradise. Beyond the image often conveyed of the DRC as a country at war, where misery and violence are experienced, Higelin praises the beauty of the Congo with optimism.
” If you look at the text, you will realize that it is a text of love for his country. And that which is lacking in the majority of Congolese. We are in an environment where we insult the authorities at all times. They say the country is dead… But we sing of love for the society that God has given us »
Protecting the environment is also close to his heart. Recently, he launched a project supported by the town hall of Lubumbashi entitled Kuloka (Bewitch). For him, polluting the environment with waste means destroying this land that feeds us.
” First, we start by not throwing waste anywhere on our tracks. And it starts from our kitchen where we have a trash can in a corner. Afterwards, at school, at church, we have the same reflexes of always throwing waste in a trash can. Finally when we realize that even the public road is clean, we can then speak of the DRC as a country-solution in terms of the environment. »
In 2020, her career took a national turn with the Kin Connexion Festival in Kinshasa. The young artist won the prize for best performer there thanks to a text adapted from the book entitled Will by Tchicaya U Tam’si, one of the great African poets.
“ My trip to Kinshasa allowed me to be in contact with great authors. You have someone like Sinzo Anza, one of the great authors who inspires all young people. When you want to write, you write like Sinzo. You have a person like Fiston Mwanza, who corrects your text. Then they come to your show and tell you: ‘Higelin, you don’t deserve to stay in Lubumbashi, you have to leave’… »
Traveling is the dream of this young poet who hopes by the end of the year to have a few dates to perform in Africa.