Reviews

QALF // DAMSO

09/2020 © Trente-quatre Centimes

After 3 years of absence and the line "the album of the year will not be released this year" written in 2019 in his song "God Bless" with Hamza, Damso is back with his new project QALF in 2020, just in time to cheer us up!

With 45 min of music, 14 tracks and featuring special guests such as Lous And The Yakuza or Fally Ipupa the rapper managed to delight our ears. Damso talks about William "the persona behind the artist" who is calmer than Damso "the actual artist" and we can sense him for example in "911" or "Sentimental". Overall, the album sounds calmer than his previous opus in spite of big bangers such as "BXL ZOO" with Hamza or "D'ja Roulé".

We also uncover a touching side of William who talks a lot about his mother who was seriously ill and stayed in hospital for several months, which delayed the release of the project. He even dedicated a song to her on "Rose Marthe's Love" with striking lines such as "You have few friends in the hospital" or "Mom I love you, even if I've never said it". He also recorded a track called "Deux Toiles De Mer" on which you can hear the voice of his son Lior who won the hearts of his fans.

He also talks about Africa, his old life and what made him leave his hometown in his songs "Coeur En Miettes" and "Pour L'argent". He even ventures to talk about politics as he did on "Kin La Belle". So many reasons that once again lead to a standing ovation for Damso's talent.

Words © Samson Gorski

Stamina, // DINOS

11/2020 © SPKTAQLR

While Dinos’ last album Taciturne made 7,800 sales through his first week, Stamina surprised the whole Rap game with 23,200 sales for the same time period. The French-Cameroonian struggled for 7 years to get a global recognition, which requires patience and tireless efforts, which explains the project’s title "Stamina,".

The surprising aspect is that this album was his shortest to produce. Indeed, he worked on it for 3 months only while in lockdown. After 7 years of desire to make the most complex rhythmic patterns possible, he wanted to keep it simple to offer people an album that softens this complicated year. His evolution has allowed him to go from recognition among Rap fans to commercial success, without losing his identity.

The affinity he has to nostalgia and romantic relationships as well as doubts he’s suffering from are recurring themes in his discography. He also expressed the Africa’s pain that has been bleeding for too long now and needs to restore. One track that sums up all those melancholy – and which is already acclaimed as one of his best song and probably even a future classic of him – is "93 mesures". On a piano melody, Dinos talks, with technicality, about social subjects such as police violence by saying “Each police checking brings me closer to my feat with 2Pac”.

At first, the album was presented with one featuring only but in fact, lots of them were hiding. The guests’ name were not even written on the streaming platform and it was truly successful and brings a controlled diversity. I’m not going to spoil the surprise for those who have not listened yet... Good listening!

Words © Miguel Neves Da Costa

LMF // FREEZE CORLEONE

09/2020 © Mangemort Squad

It was undoubtedly one of the most eagerly awaited French Rap albums of 2020, and Freeze Corleone really made a big impression. A gloomier album than the last Blue Beam Project with a total of 17 tracks and no less than 11 featuring! The project includes many collaborations with Ashe 22, Kaki Santana, Despo Rutti, Stavo, Alpha 5.20... And above all the most awaited: "Rap Catéchisme" with Alpha Wann.

King Heenok was very inspired by anglicisms and it seems that Freeze did the same in "Chen Laden", "Hors Ligne" and obviously "Rap Catéchisme". And you can't talk about this album without mentioning the two "spam" words that he used a good hundred times throughout the album: "Ekip" (Squad) and "s/o" and I must say that it gets stuck easily in your head.

The rapper from District 93 in the Parisian suburbs also showcases his skills in "PDM" with the line "Black power like Marcus / I can hit it like Marcus / Get rich or die tryin' like Marcus". In one line, he managed to mix a historical reference by referring to Marcus Ravey, then by talking soccer with Marcus Rashford and finally referring to pop culture with 50 Cent's character in his film Get rich or die tryin'. In short, Freeze hit hard with LMF and cheers for this French drill maestro.

Words © Samson Gorski

Fleur Froide // TAYC

12/2020 © H24 Music / Play Two

The new R&B/ Soul phenomenon is gaining more and more prominence on the French Urban music scene, as proved by his nomination to the NRJ Music Award 2020. Tayc, an artist from the city of Marseille in South of France, has just broken the internet with his new album called Fleur Froide.

After having released a trilogy of mixtapes respectively named NYXIA Tome I, Tome II and Tome III, the project was long-awaited, but it was worth it. A melodious voice with various jingles and his own style. In his album, Tayc remained true to himself by evoking in his songs love and women, passing through more melancholy and rhythmic phrases.

The project includes 18 tracks featuring with Leto on song "Ride"; Tiwa Savage on "African Sugar"; Camille Lellouche on "Et Si" and Christine and the Queens on "Haine Colorée". We can say that the young artist has just given us a great insight into his potential and we are already asking for more!

Words © Firdaous Ab

Cercle Vertueux // DEEN BURBIGO

11/2020 © Saboteur Records

After more than 3 years of absence, Deen Burbigo is back with this new opus revealing more about himself, or rather about the person he has become.

When you first listen to the album, you will hear a Deen Burbigo still as thorough as ever in his writing style, in his production choices as well as his musical flow. The beginning of the album vaguely reminded me of the Grand Cru (his first album, Raw) theme, which was rather pleasant. Not surprisingly in terms of the featurings we find his great friend of all time: Eff Gee also a member of the group L'entourage. On the track "Vroom!" the 2 artists give us a raw taste of Rap music and it's quite satisfying! We also find Alpha Wann on "Immunité Diplomatique" (and yes still one of L'entourage) for a great song with raw and very well written lyrics as we always expect from both artists. In short the album's 5 featurings are clearly a success!

"Papy" as his fans like to call him, offers us diverse and melodic sounds while still keeping the Rap touch. As for me I am very fond of the track "Savoir-Faire" where he sums up his life before his Rap career and what it became later on. He also mentions his encounter with Nekfeu and Alpha Wann on a parking lot during the famous Rap contenders leading them to fame. The outro of the album entitled "Jeu D'échecs" is just amazing, simply put. You want to know how to end an album in style? Ask Papy!

Words © Van's

Briques Rouges BEKAR

09/2020 © North Face Records / Panenka Music

As a young rapper from Roubaix, Bekar has been one of the rising stars of French Rap for more than a year now. After releasing an outstanding project entitled Boréal in March 2019, he's back this year with Briques Rouges (Red Bricks) inspired by the landscape of his hometown, the Nord Pas-de-Calais department, where red bricks are everywhere.

There are 18 tracks on this mixtape and... no featuring at all ! He explained the reasons for this decision in an Instagram video where he stated "I really wanted to come up with something truly personal". For me personally, his choice was a brave and daring one and I was looking forward to listen to these 18 solo tracks to see if they wouldn't be redundant. After listening over and over again and especially after spending much time focusing on his lyrics, the project is everything but redundant. Quite the opposite, it's really innovative and shows that Bekar has a huge range of skills. Some people say that his music is very similar to Nekfeu's but I think he has his own musical identity and we can't compare him to other artists.

This project is very personal and we can feel that the artist offered a piece of his soul and took us into his universe by blending exquisitely melodies and rap punch. The songs "Destinée" and "Tiekar" (District in french backslang) are a good example of what I've just said: both songs are well executed and you can really feel his honesty and genuineness. One of the most memorable songs is "Briques Rouges" where we the artist tells us about his life and his childhood memories. Keep a close eye on this artist, he still has a lot of surprises in store for us and he will surely make a greater impact in the future!

Words © Van's

S/O Le Flem // DJANGO

11/2020 © Django

Django is a truly accomplished artist - no doubt about it! By continuing to test himself with different Rap horizon and trying out Drill or Pop Urban sounds, Django proves that he’s elusive and impossible to categorize. It’s therefore impossible to associate the artist with a particular musical genre.

With a lot of inspiration and diverse sounds, Django makes quite a bit references on all kinds of topics in his sounds which makes him unique. The one who disappeared from the radar for a while often shows us melancholy and pain in most of his works. Being back with his new EP titled S/O le Flem, this brand-new creation is composed of 10 tracks featuring rappers such as Freeze Corleone, Roi Heenok, Osirus Jack, Black Jack OBS, Gazo and Bawbaw 31. Would the rapper be part of the 667 collective? This is the question I leave in suspense...

Some of the songs really deserve attention, such as "S/O le Flem" featuring Freeze and Roi Heenok, "L'œuvre Au Noir" and "Coupable" reflecting the artist’s vast talents. Tell me what you think!

Words © Samson Gorski