It all started with a simple meeting in the street between Damso and a fan last summer. Without this impromptu conversation, one of those that the rapper cherishes, the album “I lied” would never have existed. Crossed during a walk by the artist, this devotee asks him to write new songs, complaining about his rarity since the release of his last solo songs “Qalf infinity”, a reissue in 2021 of the album “Qalf” released in 2020.
An exchange that makes the artist think, he who is never far from the studios and who now works independently, understand without a record company. This freedom allows him to release an album whenever he wants without having to submit to any marketing plan or any validation from the music industry. Three months after this unexpected discussion, the album was released on November 15.
“I felt like I still had energy”
So before going into the details of this fifth opus, let's first focus on its name, “I lied”. This title sounds like a bit of humor. Unlike the titles of these previous albums, from “Ipséité” to “Lithopédion”, no hidden meaning, but rather a confession. “I lied” because Damso announced on several occasions that he was stopping his career in music, having, according to him, covered the issue.
He repeats it to anyone who will listen, he wants to try other fields, like fashion or design. In this state of mind, the 33-year-old rapper then announced to his community, in the spring, that his latest album would be called “Beyah”, and that it would be released on May 30, 2025. Which still left one year to to wait for. And it's this date that fans have been talking about constantly since. “Seriously, we’re going to wait that long,” many of them say, especially on social networks.
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Damso then returned to the ICP studio in Brussels (Belgium), “his home” without really knowing what was going to come out of it, but without having an actual album in mind. “After a while, I said to myself that maybe I had too many sounds for an EP of just three tracks (a mini-album). I already had five, six, seven pieces… And I felt like I still had the energy to do more. And finally, I realized it was an album. But I announced that Beyah would be the last then, I said, You know what, I'll call it I lied. Here it is, like this: I liedit's an album. »
The entire palette of the rapper: pop, hip-hop, electro and lyricism
Contrary to his habits, the conception of this record was lightning for Damso. One month for recording, another to finalize it and that was it. In the shadows, the faithful artist surrounds himself with his close collaborators Jules Fradet, his sound engineer, Paco Del Rosso, his producer. Here they create eleven punchy titles, with a total duration of 34 minutes.
In the credits, Damso shows four collaborations, in four different styles. With Angèle first, he sings “Everything to try”, an ultra-effective love song, one of the strongest pieces on this album. With Kalash, he offers a ragga nugget, while with Kalash Criminel, he delivers a demonstration of force in terms of rap and flow through “Limbisa I” (reinforce me in Lingala, a language mainly spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo).
Finally, Damso invites Michkavie, his brother who reveals himself, with a deep and suave voice, on “Mony”. The sum of these pieces between pop, hip-hop, electro and lyricism, highlights the rapper's palette. Everyone will find what they like about the Belgian. This versatility makes “I lied”, one of his most intimate projects, in which the artist gives himself up as in “Damsautiste” where he evokes his personality which many compare to autistic syndrome.
The cover, a tight portrait of his face, his gaze fixed on the lens, attests to this. Looking at this image, we hear him say as at the end of the album: “Welcome to my madness”.
by Damso
