Lous and The Yakuza

Known for her cosmopolitan melange of trap, R&B, and pop music, Lous and the Yakuza (born Marie-Pierra Kakoma on May 27, 1996) is a Congolese-Belgian singer, rapper, and model. Kakoma’s family fled to Belgium during the Second Congo War in 2000, then relocated to Rwanda before finally settling down in Brussels in 2011. A precocious songwriter, she was heavily influenced by her father’s love for classical music and started writing her own material at the age of 7. Despite having found her true calling early in life, her decision to become a musician did not sit well with her parents, who kicked her out of the family home when she was just 19. A period of homelessness ensued, in which she had to sleep at several music studios and work odd jobs to support herself. Kakoma seized this opportunity to hone her craft, recording a handful of EPs and becoming a household name at Brussels’ underground circuit before being signed by Sony Music in 2018. She teamed up with El Guincho (mostly known for his work with Spanish flamenco-trap diva Rosalía) for her 2019 official debut, “Dilemme,” which quickly amassed millions of plays across streaming platforms and went viral in Italy. The single’s success earned Kakoma a silver medal on the ‘Fresh on the Scene’ category at Red Bull’s Elektropedia Awards and paved the way for “Tout est gore” and “Solo,” the other two singles off of Gore (2020), her highly-anticipated first full-length.