By Gabriel McOgonda
Published July 7, 2020
Idi Asumani whose stage name is DK Balafu has a new bouncy hip-hop track that gives the listener the highly popular Tanzanian Bongo Flava feel on the market.
Titled Boda, this comes hot on the heels of Mambo Vipi single that has stamped the name of this former Congolese refugee in Burundi, Tanzania and Malawi as a major player on Finland’s incredibly exciting emerging hip hop scene.
RELATED: She Uses Sports to Transform Lives and Build Self-Esteem
But DK Balafu’s story begins not in Finland but Uvira war zone in Congo-Kinshasa. He had to cross borders in order to get to school in Tanzania and Burundi, taking close to a decade pursuing secondary education in Malawi.
Despite the fact that he was miles away from home living in another country as a refugee, DK Balafu says he clung onto his dream of becoming the best rapper in the world. Someday.
RELATED: Movie Platform to Focus on Sports, Love and Social Media
Adversity, Asumani says, made him all the more determined to work towards realising his dream.
“Life in the refugee camp was difficult, beset with challenges such as illness and malnutrition,” he says. “But this made me more determined and fixated on achieving my goal. All I wanted was to improve my situation and I was convinced only through a music career could that happen,” DK Balafu says.
RELATED: New African Ambience Music Now Available
DK Balafu says his big break came when, on May 27, 2015, “I got the chance to board a plane to Finland” and that “I have never looked back even for a second because it is all I ever wanted to save my situation.”
So that is how Idi Asumani aka DK Balafu came to be based in Finland from where he continues to work with hip hop producer known as M-Double. With dark edgy production from M-Double, DK Balafu is free to work some serious flow with his silky smooth delivery, and announces himself as a major player on Finland’s incredibly exciting emerging hip hop scene.
