From Saïan Supa Crew to Diam's, Hatik's youthful tunes

Lulled by rap that he discovered with his parents and his breakdancing uncle, the rapper wrote and composed for a long time alone in his teenage bedroom. He looks back on the musical events that marked his youth.

Where did you spend your childhood and in what environment?
I grew up in Guyancourt, in Yvelines. My mother was a professor of medico-social sciences, my father, a computer engineer. I am the eldest of three boys. We often spent our holidays in Brittany, in always different places. At school, I liked literary subjects, in which I did very well. The rest of the time, I played football with my friends and video games with my father and my brothers. After my baccalaureate, passed as a free candidate at 19, I stopped my studies for a few years. At 22, I went to college, where I obtained a degree in sociology.

Did your parents listen to music?
My parents listened to jazz, soul and hip-hop. Rap was part of their culture and their history. They had friends who were graffiti artists. My father used to breakdance. He played guitar, my mother sang. She also took some piano lessons. On weekends, they spent entire afternoons making music together. Generally, they covered jazz standards. With my hip-hop dancer uncle, seven years my senior, I discovered everything that was new in American rap.

What is your favorite song from your childhood?

When I was 8 years old I loved the song Angela, by Saïan Supa Crew, for the melody, rhythm and alchemy between the different personalities of the group. Each singer had their own vocal identity and their own way of putting words. The mix between zouk and rap may seem ordinary today but, at the time, it was very innovative. As a young teenager, I had a real crush on Busta Rhymes who I had heard on the radio. By looking into his discography, I discovered the song Break Ya Neck which immediately caught my attention. He still remains one of my main references today.

What was the first concert you attended?

When I was 11, my mother and uncle took me to the Busta Rhymes concert at the Zénith in Paris. The room seemed immense to me, the artist tiny, on the stage which seemed to be 300 meters from me. I remember the strong smell of marijuana, which I had never smelled before and which remained on my clothes for weeks!

Did you learn music as a child?

I did not learn to play a musical instrument. I started with poetry. At the age of 13, while listening to Soprano, Diam's, NTM, IAM, I wanted to write rap lyrics.

I created sounds on music software by putting words with a small microphone that was lying around the house. Seeing that I was passionate, my parents gave me a little more elaborate equipment. For a long time, I worked alone in my room. I started collaborating with musicians who composed instrumentals around the age of 16. My meeting with Medeline, when I was 26, was fundamental. For the first time, I recorded my voices in a real studio, I listened to his advice, I learned to be proactive. We were thinking about a global project, we were looking for identity and coherence in the pieces. We worked a lot. This meeting opened doors and opportunities for me that have taken me to where I am today.

Do you remember the first song you wrote?
Her name was Dream of escape. I don't remember the melody or the text. From the start, I made my parents listen to everything. They encouraged me, supported me. My mother was happy to see me flourish in an artistic field, just as she was proud to see my brother play the drums!

Hatik's new album, + 1, was released on November 22, 2024.