The 29-year-old rapper from Helsinki has been sentenced to unconditional prison terms for acts of violence. Now the man is nominated at the Emma gala.
Jore & Zpoppa collected three Emma nominations. JULIUS KONTINEN
The rap artist Zpoppa, who grabbed Emma nominations, has several violent criminal convictions in his background. According to Iltalehti’s investigation, the 29-year-old Cigalo Ezang-Lubuma has been in prison for assaults.
Most of the acts of violence were committed a decade ago, when Ezang-Lubuma was just on the threshold of adulthood.
The rapper has told the district court himself that his relationship with drugs was strong in 2015. Ezang-Lubuma said that he used drugs and behaved violently. Violence also appears in criminal convictions.
A year in prison
In February 2015, Ezang-Lubuma, then 18 years old, assaulted two people at Ylä-Malmi market. He punched the 27-year-old man in the face, causing him to fall down the stairs. After this, he kicked the 25-year-old woman who was with the man down the stairs.
A few months later, in May 2015, Ezang-Lubuma assaulted a 36-year-old man at Malmi shopping centre. He punched the man in the head. This resulted in injuries that required surgical treatment.
Ezang-Lubuma told the court that he lost his temper with the man’s female friend who had insulted him and his friends. Ezang-Lubuma said he hit the man because he didn’t want to hit the woman.
The punishment for the act was one year and one month of unconditional imprisonment.
Appeared as his little brother
As a young adult, the rapper is guilty of assaults in Ylä-Malmi. Eevi Karvinen
The next time Ezang-Lubuma committed a violent crime was five years later. He assaulted a 43-year-old man on Kaivokatu in the center of Helsinki in October 2020.
One punch to the face caused the man to fall on the steps and lose consciousness. Ezang-Lubuma, who fled the scene, introduced himself as his little brother to the policemen who stopped him.
The matter was discussed at the Helsinki District Court in the fall of 2021. The District Court considered that Ezang-Lubuma’s criminal history shows disregard for the prohibitions and orders of the law. It sentenced the man to three months of unconditional imprisonment for assault and providing false personal information.
Ezang-Lubuma appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal, demanding that the “unreasonably harsh” sentence be suspended or reduced.
According to him, a man in his forties had provoked him by standing in front of him and his partner and blocking the passage. Ezang-Lubuma said that he felt that he had to use force in the situation. The Court of Appeal did not agree and upheld the district judgement.
Three Emma nominations
The Helsinki Court of Appeal has dealt with the rapper’s actions on several occasions. Eevi Karvinen
The most recent criminal sentence was handed down in the Helsinki Court of Appeal in August 2024. Ezang-Lubuma was sentenced to three and a half months of conditional imprisonment and a fine for money laundering. He had helped transfer criminal money for compensation in the summer of 2020.
Ezang-Lubuma makes music together with his younger brother By Jordan Muyima Ezang with. The brother has not been convicted of crimes in the last 10 years.
The Jore & Zpoppa rap duo is nominated at the Emma gala in the band of the year and newcomer of the year categories. The brothers are also nominated for band of the year in the public vote. The Emma gala will take place at Espoo’s Metro Areena on March 7.
Assistant director of the Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland ry responsible for the Emma gala Tommi Kyrä tells Iltalehte that Zpopa’s background has no influence on the Emma nominations.
– The incident has been happening for years and since the person in question has settled the punishments imposed by the court, we have no reason to take further action.
READ ALSO
Jore & Zpoppa
Jore & Zpoppa released their first single in 2018. So far, the band has released four albums, the latest one from the beginning of the year. There are a total of seven songs from the album on Spotify’s Top 50 list, the duo’s highest is number nine.
Last year, Jore & Zpoppa were number nine on the list of the most listened to artists of the year.
In an interview with Yle Jore aka Jordan Muyima, 27, and Zpoppa aka Cigalo Lubuma, 29, said they grew up in Malmi as children of immigrants. In the interview, they said that they encountered violent and racist treatment at Malmi.
The two say in an interview that they drifted into “dark circles” in Northern Helsinki when they were younger. Among other things, they spent time in an apartment with older people, people who use drugs and alcohol heavily.
All judgments mentioned in the case are legally binding.