Born and raised in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, Oko Ebombo is a multi-talented performer whose storytelling unfolds through music, dance, sound design, and film directing. We met in his flat in the 19th arrondissement, near the canal, on a sunny Monday afternoon. One of the white walls is covered by a large photograph – a close-up of his father in a building, with Paris in the background. It’s a striking, powerful image, and it’s the cover of his album Naked Life.
[ Kersti ]
His music videos have taken him to Morocco, Japan, and Congo, but the very first one he directed, Naked Life, was filmed in Paris. He directed it himself, and it’s really about his Paris, following him as he moves from the 10th arrondissement to the 19th. It is a portrait of his rhythm and presence – his dance.
[ OKO ]
“It’s my swag, it’s my walk,” he says.
He describes it as not only his life seen through his own eyes, but also his father’s path.
“He came from Congo, travelled many places, and had several wives and children. He married my mother when she was very young and brought her to Paris in 1981. They were from the same village.”
The love story between them shaped Oko’s and his sister’s understanding of their family history and everyday life in Paris.
“Whatever we didn’t have – they stayed together for real, until the end. That’s something so beautiful.”
His parents taught him a lot about hard work. Not having money or a big house shaped him early on, helping him understand his limits – what he could take and how far he could push himself.
“Look, now, after all of this, my father is a real Parisian – buried just five minutes from where I live.”
Oko’s first passion was dance – he was already teaching at Collège Guillaume Apollinaire at just 12 years old. In his early twenties, he felt the need to expand this practice toward image, moving into photography and video performance alongside dance. He went on to photograph bands such as Soil & Pimp Sessions, Tahiti 80, Architecture in Helsinki, Beirut, Chromatics, and Glass Candy.
“One day they told me, ‘Come on stage and dance.’ At the same time, I was meeting people from Japan, and that’s how the song Iro started to come into my mind. I began to write.”
He travels a lot, and it has become one of his biggest sources of inspiration for writing songs.
“I love stories. I write and I help the people around me, but I didn’t know that I wanted to write about myself.”
From expressing himself visually and physically through dance, he eventually felt the need to write himself into the work as well.
He is now preparing to release his third album, and this time it is fully centered on himself. The first album was rooted in his father’s story, the second in the image of his mother, but this one is different. It’s about him, fully and directly.
“I started to sing and produce late. I didn’t know anything – I learned it all myself. And now, for this one, I’m the executive producer.”
He’s excited to release it. He’s beginning to open up about his life – his struggles with mental health, social norms, and understanding who people really are.
“When we’re younger, we tend to hide things instead of addressing everyday struggles, but that ‘fake it till you make it’ mentality isn’t working anymore. I don’t want to hide,”
he says.
“People are impatient, but my parents always taught me to do the right things at the right time. This album is about all the good things and the hard work that nobody sees.”
He speaks fondly about the youth around him and how well they care for their mental health. He has seen this shift across different places, from New York to Tallinn.
“The people who really help me are the kids around me – they give me a push. And of course, our mothers and fathers know what they are talking about.”
In the spring of 2024, Oko performed in Paris at the Bourse de Commerce with a live band, joined on stage by Antoine Drye, Myron Walden, and Mustafa Ahmed. He selected the musicians himself – meeting them along the way, often winning them over through his energy and dance.
“It’s funny how I choose people – I just know when someone is right for me. And they’re everywhere: New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Amsterdam, Tokyo.”
His live performances carry a striking, almost electrifying intensity. In 2021, he was invited to perform in Estonia at the Mägede Hääl festival alongside his longtime friend DJ Cinnamon, one of his earliest collaborators from the Netherlands. During this period, on his way back from the festival, he also encountered one of his key inspirational figures, Arvo Pärt, at his centre.
“The first time I listened to Arvo Pärt was in Los Angeles in 2013. I locked myself in a hotel room, so meeting him felt like a real step for my music.”
He’s a deeply visual thinker. His home reflects that – the walls are painted white now, but underneath there are layers, traces of thoughts, song ideas, and titles.
“My walls are white, but they’re not empty. Whoever comes next and starts peeling the paint away will find everything.”
His sense of fashion is impossible to ignore. Effortless and instinctive, he can pull off a look as if nothing matters. On stage, it feels as though it was never meant to be noticed, and yet you can’t look away. Whether he’s dressed in Dior or standing there with nothing on, there’s a perfect balance.
“That’s my roots – it comes from my father. I’m Congolese, not extravagant, but detailed. We always dressed simply, but well. We grew up with nothing, but we made sure to look good – nice trousers, a good bow tie. It was more important to present yourself well than to eat.”
He was street-cast when he was young, stepping into modelling while also dancing, at a time when the industry looked very different. He went on to model for brands such as Bali Barret, Cerruti, Hermès, and Yamamoto.
“There were not many Black male models then, so it felt quite punk and very different.”
Experiencing both sides of the camera has shaped who he is today. Being in front gave him an understanding of what it means to be seen, while working behind allows him to be fully himself.
Oko’s constant companion has been Josephine – his JBL speaker. Anyone who knows him knows her too. She travels with him everywhere. His instinct for choosing the right music, and the right volume at any moment, is almost uncanny. Strangers dance, taxi drivers enjoy it, and kids laugh.
“This baby is never going to cheat on me – it’s my meditation. It’s always by my side, it keeps me grounded.”
Looking back at his career, it seems like he has been playing the right notes with the right people.
“I’m self-taught, and I surround myself with great musicians who help write down what I have in mind, what I imagine, while also contributing their own compositions. I’m like a conductor, in a very contemporary sense. In the end, it’s still my music, my creation, my world.”
[ Kersti ] In the coming months, life will take Oko to Congo, where he will cast new talent and musicians to record songs. On this album, he sings more, moving away from the raw punk energy of his earlier work. He plans to return to directing his own videos and films, keep exploring whatever comes next, and never stop dancing.
Credits:Art Direction & Interview by Kersti PohlakPhotography by Paul-Clément Vincent