Soprano, you rap a lot on this album. But do you feel like you rap differently today, using different words than when you were young?
Yes. In fact, the words are more controlled and weighed than before. Before, it was impulsiveness because there was urgency. But today, I have several responsibilities. Of course, there is my family, there are a lot of people who listen to me, including a lot of young people, so the responsibilities are multiplied. Also, I want to avoid amalgamations, misunderstandings, because today I am being analyzed under a magnifying glass. 20 years ago, I could say things because I was impulsive and I wouldn’t agree with that today because experience has made me think differently. I like this sentence from Mohamed Ali who says that if at 40 you have the same ideas as at 20, that means you have lost 20 years of your life! And he’s right. In 20 years, I have had slaps, disappointments, joys, disillusionments,… But that’s life. Today, with hindsight, with maturity, I’m a little freer – that’s why the album is called “Freedom” – and I just enjoy it. I don’t run after money or fame, I put my values in my music with the accuracy of the words that I have at 45 years old.
You also sing it: “I show off my values, not my income”. It’s the complete opposite of the image that is widely conveyed today of the bling bling rapper. Was that never you?
No, you said the right word, it’s not me. So, I had to be in harmony with myself. I’ve tried to wear designer things, to be bling bling, but I’m not comfortable with it. The most important thing for me is that I be as “me” as possible, that you recognize the same person when you listen to my songs and when you pass me in the street. It’s too important for me to hide behind a posture. And that, unfortunately, the more the years have passed in rap, the more it has changed. I came across some 12 year olds who I asked what rap was for them. They told me: “It’s being angry, talking badly and showing off.” I said to myself “shit, I don’t have the codes!” (laughs). Whereas basically, when I started, rap for me was about sending a positive message, trying to change consciousness and being fun. Peace, love, fun and unity, that’s what got me into rap. Today, it’s not the same thing at all.
When did it change?
It changed like society. We may differentiate between music and society, but no, the two are the same. Today, people need something right away. In music, before we made 8 minute songs and when it now exceeds 2 minutes 30, your brain wants to move on to another song. Society is like that. It has become more violent, people love scandal. So, many of the artists have become violent in their songs, because that’s what sells. When we see the results of the European elections, we are all shocked, but that’s how society is. It shouldn’t shock you if you saw how things were developing and saw that we were getting there. I really think that music is in agreement, unfortunately, with society. It’s me who doesn’t agree… (smile)
When we listen to you draw up observations on an optimistic note, we would say that you are a thwarted idealist… Is society worse than 20 years ago when you sang about it?
Yes, it’s worse. I remember a song by Diam’s “Fuck the National Front”, but since then, it hasn’t changed, society has even gotten worse. On lots of subjects. When NTM sang “the neighborhoods are going to blow up”, we’ve been there for a long time! You see extremism rising in Europe and there you say to yourself: “I, who am very positive, cosmopolitan, who tries to bring people together, in fact, everything leads us in a single direction which is this negative thing where we are going to go to conflict “. I continue to fight not to go to conflict, because I have young people who listen to me and I don’t want that when they grow up, they tell us “it’s your fault, you left us to fall!”. So, I continue to be positive, but without turning a blind eye.
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Do you therefore believe in the role of the artist who has an influence on society?
Very good question…(he thinks). A year ago, I would have said “yes” to you. I’ll give you an example: today, an artist who is going to send a positive or committed message is an old one, a “has-been”. On the other hand, someone else who puts drugs and weapons in his clips will be a “real” one. The problem with this thing is that, indirectly, saying something good has become bad. Everything has been reversed, the values have been reversed. And today it’s difficult for an artist to express himself because, when he does, he receives all the blasts. It’s complicated to answer your question. Can artists have an influence like Coluche at the time with the Restos du Coeur? I don’t know.
>> Discover the full interview with Soprano this Saturday in your Max magazine available in bookstores in Sudinfo newspapers or by clicking here.
