Choolers Division

Active since 2013, Choolers Division brings together in Belgium five musicians from diverse backgrounds around a hybrid form between experimental hip-hop, DIY electro and noise rock. The project centers notably on the voices of Kostia Botkine and Philippe Marien, whose phrasing alternates between spoken word, deconstructed rap, nervous tension and more frontal eruptions, on compositions shaped by Antoine Boulangé and Jean-Camille Charles. Choolers Division develops a jagged, dense and deliberately unstable sound, where electronic rhythms, abrasive textures and tempo shifts move the codes of rap toward a more abstract and performative terrain. The group first drew attention in underground networks linked to Marseille, notably around La Friche de la Belle de Mai and L’Embobineuse, before playing in several European countries. This circulation between alternative scenes, venues devoted to experimental music and contexts closer to rock concerts clearly illuminates the trajectory of Choolers Division, whose tracks take on a particular dimension live, with a degree of improvisation and reconfiguration. In this dynamic, Choolers Division also crossed paths with Cheveu’s milieu, with David Lemoine having supported the project's promotion from the mid-2010s.