“My Music is family and militant”: the rapper Médine confides

You have also just released the song “L’4mour” for the musical “La Haine”. You state that “you should not cut the string as long as you can undo the knots”. Is this a way of expressing your optimism in our times?

It is a mantra, both in my family and civic life. We must never break what allows dialogue. As long as it is possible, let's continue to use it. It is from the moment we disqualify ourselves, where we throw anathemas in each other's faces, where we try to criminalize each other, that we cut the string before having tried to undo the knots. I remain optimistic about the possibility of creating bridges and dialogues between different sensibilities, of course, otherwise I would have communitized myself in my music, in my speech. This is not the case. Today, I fraternize well beyond the boundaries of rap. My career is the antithesis of communitarianism. This acoustic tour, close to the theater, proves that I always want to open myself up to other sensibilities. My approach is always optimistic.

This sharing with a larger number of people seems to be more marked in recent years. Do you start from this feeling?

I feel it in the typology of the public today. The people who come to see me come with their families, sometimes with their children, sometimes with their parents. I reach age categories that I did not reach before thanks to a speech, a statement, but also a longevity in this Music.

In the spring of 2023, at the time of the pension reform, your name and your image regularly came up in the news. Has it calmed down?

We are subject to media time, in the sense that the continuous news media provide a rhythm and a slightly distorted sensation of reality. We’re going to hear about someone because it serves a political agenda, and an editorial gap, and we’re going to rush to a subject. Sometimes I am subject to this media timing. But, in reality, if I have been here, for 20 years, filling rooms, having an audible speech, being contacted for a musical comedy “which is well established”, that means that these storms, this “eye of the storm” has no interest other than to feed editorialists and media who fill emptiness with emptiness.

In my city, I am recognized as an associative actor of public utility. I make myself useful in schools, in prisons, with students… I endure this media time but I don’t take it into account. It is not in my calculation and I remain family and activist.

Is this also a way of protecting yourself?

No, I just understood that this phenomenon applies to everyone. Anyone can find themselves in a controversy on a local, national or international scale. Anyone can be subject to this, simply by having a slightly political word and expressing it. Add to this, regarding me, the label of Muslim from immigrant background in working-class neighborhoods and these are words that are quickly, today, “criminalized” in the public space.

Among your labels is that of “Islamo-leftist”…

But please explain to us what an “Islamo-leftist” is! Higher education has even commissioned a study at the CNRS on the issue. The answer: “Islamo-leftism does not exist”. This concept has no scientific or sociological reality, it is a way of disqualifying and cutting off dialogue.

You are very present on social networks, “family” version on Instagram or Facebook, and more virulent on X (Twitter). Aren’t you “bipolar” in networks?

These are the networks that are bipolar! I sum it all up in a song released last year, “Paratonnerre”. I remind you that my music is family and militant, that we must not get lost in one or the other. We must continue to be engaged and incisive when we need to be, and sometimes even terse, but without ever losing sight of love, family, and the hope that can allow us both to move forward and to put things into perspective. I walk on its two supports every day. I don't see bipolarity there but balance.

You also seem to take a certain pleasure in “acting” in your family videos. Would you be tempted by cinema?

It’s true that we’re having fun… I’ve already played small roles in feature films, but as an actor, it’s a real job, which requires time and energy… I don’t under- do not value this profession. It is so hard that if I ever had ambitions to take the plunge, I would have to work first.

Do you share your musical tastes with your children?

I introduce them to older stuff, and they introduce me to current stuff. And we must have 80% of tastes in common, which is quite rare. We are a generation that grew up with rap and continues to listen to it, and our children do the same. It’s pretty funny how we can go and enjoy concerts together.

Have they seen you on stage in an acoustic version?

Not yet, and they are quite critical. For the moment, they’re making fun of me a little by telling me: “That’s it, you’re doing theater, you think you’re Molière.” I take a few shots but it’s their way of telling me “don’t worry, we’re with you, we know what you’re doing and we’ll send two or three shots so your head doesn’t swell” . It’s a good fight!

How did you choose the songs for this tour?

It was quite complicated because I have a repertoire of around 300 titles. Summarizing a 20-year career is quite complex and I first selected pieces that were easily adaptable to acoustic training, without having to “cut up” the piano or guitar parts too much.

Did you rediscover certain pieces during this selection?

I had forgotten certain sentence constructions, I rediscovered my original flow which reflects the era at the end of the 90s, beginning of 2000. Music being quite cyclical, I find some of these constructions in current rap.

You have already started your tour. What are the first sensations?

Already, the audience is sitting in front of me, it’s really new. I had to adapt because I’m used to being in front of pits with a very different energy. On this acoustic tour, you have to capture every person, every moment, because they came to listen and watch. You have to be meticulous, even with moments of silence which are also important… There is no letting go in this training. I even took the time to write texts for the interludes when, usually, I’m more into improvisation. And the sensations are very good, we are satisfied with the result and especially with the feedback from the public.

On this acoustic tour, you have to capture every person, every moment, because they came to listen and watch.

Who accompanies you on stage?

Félix Kaonefy and Guillaume Redzol Zolnierowski, two musicians who have been following me on tour for about two years, and who are working on my next album. We are in a group dynamic.

Many discovered the unique voice of Félix Kaonefy during the session in Le Havre…

This is one of the added values ​​of the show. We use our voice as an instrument, it must be present on three quarters of the songs.

Are you including unreleased tracks in this tour?

This is the big news. Usually, I never do unreleased songs on tour, but sometimes I sometimes release either an unreleased verse or an entire piece. It depends on the energy of the room, to what extent people are there to learn about my career, or if they know it so well that I have to give them a little something extra!

You just mentioned a new album. Can you say more?

I’m still working on a next album. I am never in withdrawal, the end of a cycle opens a new one. In fact, I’m working on new songs but I don’t know yet if they will be released on an album or in another format.

What will this new production look like?

It will be from Médine who has just celebrated his 20-year career on stage and who anchors himself quite well in his era with each album. It will discuss both current topics but also lighter subjects and especially linked to the love of this music, of what rap provides, today, for me and for an entire generation.