BIM (Benin International Music) - Benin

The story of BIM begins with a large-scale search for musical talent in voodoo convents, evangelical churches, and trendy clubs in Cotonou. The goal was to find musicians and voices capable of breathing new life into the essence of Beninese music—a music with a rich history that only opened up to the world under the pressure of slavery and colonization.

The slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries contributed to the spread of voodoo culture and its rituals. From this, modern musical genres emerged in the Americas: from the complex rhythms of northeastern Brazil and the voodoo swings of Cuba (for the rituals of Santería), to blues and jazz in Louisiana, USA.

The Dahomey region, now known as Benin, was at the heart of these musical branches, partly due to the intensive slave trade in the port city of Ouidah. It was also there that BIM gave its very first concert in early 2018.

BIM was founded by Hervé Riesen, Jérôme Ettinger, and from Benin: Denis Akobebakou and Aristide Agondanou. Artists such as Arcade Fire, Franz Ferdinand, Talking Heads, and Gorillaz consider Beninese music a major source of inspiration—a musical style that deserves to be heard, played, and recorded all around the world!

Between 2016 and 2018, the band gradually came together, made up of singers, rappers, guitarists, percussionists, and a bassist. Some were already professional musicians, others amateurs—although in this context, that distinction may not be all that relevant. What unites them is a shared desire to promote a positive voodoo culture: one rooted in land and people, and clearly opposed to any form of fundamentalism.

Their debut album, BIM#1, was recorded in Cotonou and released in 2018. Tracks like the gospel trance of “Téoun Téoun,” the funk groove of “Destiny,” and the afrobeat of “Allons danser” (“Let’s Dance”) each tell a story of a Benin that is open to the world—a place where bodies and voices are both powerful and skilled, delivering messages to the sick, the imprisoned, and nations at war.

With support from Radio France, the Institut français of Benin, and TV5 Monde—which documented their journey in the film BIM Experience—BIM gained recognition through radio. This was followed by performances in France, Morocco, England, and eventually at Carnegie Hall in New York. This prestigious venue marked the grand finale of their first tour, through which they broke programming boundaries and laid the groundwork for a future educational project.

BIM's first connection with New York already took place in 2018, through initial conversations with the Performing Arts Center. In October 2019, BIM participated in a new series of workshops with students from the Purchase College Conservatory of Dance and Music, as well as with youth from the Bronx.

In that same spirit of expansion, the Bim Club in Cotonou is developing. A studio for training in audio, video, and photography will soon be established. Plans are also in place for a web TV (BIM TV) and a web radio (Radio BIM)—all aimed at showcasing Benin’s rich musical heritage and its vibrant, dynamic music scene.