Don’t miss the next concert of the French rap group IAM on July 20 at the Carcassonne Festival.
I AM will be at the Jean-Deschamps Theater as part of the Carcassonne Festival on July 20. Places are available. In the meantime, a look back at the interview given by Akhenaton and Shurik’n for the reissue of the album The school of micro money.
With its social criticism without caricature and always relevant, writing anchored in reality, progressive values and humanism tinged with fantasy and poetry, The school of micro money by IAM has had a profound impact on several generations of rappers and audiences. For the 25th anniversary of the album, a reissue in Dolby Atmos packed with bonuses and previously unreleased material, offers a new vision of the best-selling French rap album. Meeting with Akhenaten and Shurik’n.
“The silver microphone school as you’ve never heard it” is the promise of this reissue in Dolby Atmos for the 25th anniversary of the album. Tell us about this project.
AKH : Dolby Atmos reissues can be a bit of a “gimmick” because many artists start from their stereo tapes to give a false Dolby. With this project, our label started from the right base, multi-track masters and that makes all the difference in the end. It’s both funny and magnificent that it’s an old album of the group which brings this opening towards a new way of listening, towards the future. When we switch back to the stereo afterwards, we have the impression of falling back into a sort of listening antiquity.
SHURIK’N : This also highlights work that we usually do in mastering which consists of placing each element in space. When we listen on a more standard medium, we don’t get this result. With these new versions, we’re really in the middle of the sound, it’s coming from all sides!
AKH : We almost want to compose an album expressly for this method of mixing! It’s great to see platforms like Tidal or Apple Music offering this format and with decent headphones, you can really enjoy it. You know my deep aversion to streaming platforms! Maybe this can allow me to partially reconcile with them (laughs).
Which title do you find the most successful in this new version?
AKH : “The tempo frees my imagination”. It’s not a classic album but rather a second knife which suddenly becomes very cinematic and immersive.
SHURIK’N : I felt the same thing with the title “Dangerous”.
With the Dolby Atmos versions, we rediscover the lyrics and your flows are more impactful…
AKH : Yes, it’s as if I asked you to arrange items on a flat board hung on the wall and in the end I gave you the possibility of arranging them in a room. Obviously, after a while the voice will be able to be located in a certain place where frequencies which usually parasitized it no longer do so.
The reissue finally offers tracks that you made for the American version of the album which was never released…
AKH : Our ambition at the time was to be recognized as beatmakers/producers. We wanted to make an American version and release it in the USA. It worked quite well initially because we received the Producer Award at the Source Awards. But then we were caught in such a spiral of success that we could no longer put one foot in front of the other and we kept this American version under our belt. Unfortunately, from label changes to moves, contracts were lost, we lost contacts. We hope that one day our label will be able to release it.
Why also release demos now?
AKH : Because it was time. Releasing these songs, 25 years later, is okay. We’ve made ten albums since then. The problem with the demo if you release it straight away is that the public may think that you don’t have much under your belt and that you’re recycling a little, that you’re trying to make a mess in a pot where you have cooked before.
SHURIK’N : Even if these are demos for us it must still remain listenable and it is not only because the titles are not good that they are not released, it can be a question of timing, of desire, consistency…
Alma Rota
Find this IAM interview in full in Rolling Stone l’Hebdo n°102, available on our online store.
The anniversary edition of the school of micro money is available
