J.P. Bimeni a.k.a. Mudibu (

né The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Jean Patrick Bimenyimana Serukamba; born December, 1976) is a Burundian-British singer, songwriter, and musician.

Early life

J.P. Bimeni was born in December 1976, in

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

an capital

Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's political capital. In la ...

. His father was in the military and his mother was a descendant of the royal family. Bimeni was raised by his mother, alongside his three brothers. Bimeni was sent to convent school in the countryside. At the start of the Burundian civil war, in October 1993, he was 16 and survived a massacre at his school. Soon after he was shot in the chest and at the hospital was given medication that caused a dangerous reaction resulting in him losing half of his body weight. He was airlifted to

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

's Aga Khan hospital where they managed to save his life despite doctors having little hope and a priest coming to read his last rites.J.P. Bimeni, la soul libératoire d’un survivant burundais

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...

, February 04, 2022 He registered as a refugee and applied for a scholarship program run by the Hugh Pilkington Trust. In 1995, he earned a scholarship to

Atlantic College UWC Atlantic (formally the United World College of the Atlantic, and often referred to by its original name, Atlantic College) is an Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent boarding school in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. Fo ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

even though he spoke little English. He earned an

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and a degree in politics from the

University of Central Lancashire The University of Lancashire (previously abbreviated UCLan) is a public university based in the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. It has its roots in ''The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge'', founded in 1828. Previously k ...

in Preston.Jazz Bonus : J.P. Bimeni & The Black Belts - Free Me

Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...

, October 24, 2018 In 2001, Bimeni moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where his music career began. As a child, he had always dreamed of being an artist and performer ("I'd choreograph Michael Jackson dances with my friends"). The first records he collected included

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

. He taught himself to play guitar alone and began to sing his songs at open mics and

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

s, meeting artists like

Roots Manuva Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva (born 9 September 1972), is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial succ ...

, Adele, Amy Winehouse and

Shingai Shoniwa Shingai Elizabeth Maria Shoniwa ( ; born 1 September 1981), known professionally as Shingai is a British singer, songwriter, musician, and actress, best known as the vocalist and bassist for the English indie rock band Noisettes. In 2017, she l ...

along the way.

Career

For several years, he performed with different bands: Mantilla, covering

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (1935–2025) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", " ...

; Jezebel Sextet, covering

. In 2017, he sang with a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

group, Speedometer, in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The Tucxone Records

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

spotted Bimeni and offered him a chance to tour with the Spanish band The Black Belts. In 2018, the album ''Free Me'' was released to wide acclaim.

Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2 ...

from

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

said "very few people have a soul story to compare and from all the trauma has emerged one of the very best soul voices we've heard for a very long time." To

Bimeni's voice, recalling tones of Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye earned him the nickname 'the Burundian Otis Redding.' This album, with classic 60s-sounding,

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

and

Stax Stax can refer to: * StAX, (Computer Programming) Streaming API for reading and writing XML in Java * Stax Ltd, a Japanese brand of electrostatic headphones * Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, ...

inspired

grooves Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station * ...

, was written by musical director Eduardo Martínez and songwriter Marc Ibarz. Bimeni imbued these tales with his tragic experiences making ‘Free Me’ a deep soul soundtrack to his life: "When I sing I feel like I'm cleansing myself: music is a way for me to forget." In 2022, the second album ''Give Me Hope'' was released and on it he paid tribute to James Stern and

Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his a ...

. In 2021, Bimeni returned to Burundi for the first time in 10 years. He performed for the first time in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

in 2023 under his childhood nickname Mudibu.Burundian star JP Bimeni jets in ahead of Saturday concert
The New Times, November 09, 2023 Bimeni released two albums under th
Mudibu
moniker, and that is how his people know him. In 2024, Bimeni was invited by

Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...

to work on his new album '' Always Centered at Night'' with the title ''Should Sleep''. He declared :

Discography

Albums

* ''Slow Me (2015)'' under Mudibu * ''Inzatsa (2015)'' under Mudibu * ''Free Me'' (2018) * ''Give Me Hope'' (2022)

Collaboration

* "Should Sleep" with

(2023)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bimeni, J.P. 1976 births 21st-century British male singers 21st-century English singers Singers from London English soul singers English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters Living people Burundian male singers People from Bujumbura Alumni of the University of Central Lancashire Refugees in the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Burundian emigrants to the United Kingdom British people of Burundian descent