9 minute read
MÉDINE // Interview
Impossible to describe one of the pillars of French Rap and the greatest figures of Conscious Rap without using the word wisdom. Médine has everything of a great thinker. The American journalist of the New York Time, Suzanne Daley, who had come to meet her in his hometown of Le Havre in France, said "If he was an American, he ticks all the boxes for being an American hero" and she is more than right.
Médine is more than a rapper, he's one of the legends of French Rap. In a career spanning more than 20 years, Médine has followed the evolution of Rap in France and instead of clinging to the old codes, the artist has decided to evolve with it without ever losing his grip. Always a lyricist, Médine never ceases to make a lasting impression on people's consciences, much to the delight of his fans.
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The artist took the time to indulge in A Rap & A Cup Of Tea, on his vision of things and his perpetual desire for evolution and progress. More than an simple interview, this one is above all a true hymn to wisdom. As he says in 'FC Grand Médine': "I was already here 10 years ago, I'll be here again in 10 years" and that's all we wish him.
The documentary 'Médine Normandie' of France TV has just been released and it retraces important moments of your career with your own testimony as well as that of your family and friends. It's really poignant because you really give yourself over and we have the opportunity to discover you even more. Where did this idea come from ?
In fact I knew Matthieu Pécot very well at the origin of this idea and he proposed to follow me during the creation of this album. It was more sure moments of life as with my family, my professional and friendly entourage and I found that it gave another look on artistic creation. People seem to like it, so I'm happy.
You say something strong in this documentary, it's that the older you get, the younger you get in the Rap Game. You're like the Benjamin Button of French Rap.
Yes, that's how I feel. I try to keep an open mind to continue making and loving this music. I don't want to be that old has-been uncle who has a negative opinion about what he's doing now and says, "It was better before". Basically, I'm not the type to be resistant to progressive things. So I think it's reflected in my artistic approach, to want to be younger all the time and to remain competitive on the artistic and performance level.
So it has become important for you to adapt to current trends ?
You know, I'm not an old samurai who wants his dojo to survive the times. I want to work on new techniques, and not be alone in my mountain telling myself that I have the best technique in the whole world and affirming it loud and clear. For it to be the best school, it's necessary to confront it with other schools.
In the song 'Grand Paris 2', we find rappers from the old generation like Oxmo Puccino and the new generation like Larry. It was a will on your part to mix styles and eras?
I feel like I'm at the crossroads of these generations and I thought it was a great gymnastics to bring them together on the same project. I'm from the "old school" but I still want to continue to discover today's music. This song is just an illustration of this will to bring together the different actors of Rap regardless of their style and their time.
Throughout your career, there has always been this willingness to "speak the truth" and say the things that are important to you. Yet after so many projects [12 at least] you never repeat yourself and you're constantly innovating. How do you manage to be truthful without being repetitive?
I think it's pretty well summed up in the first track of the album Grand Médine when I say: "For me, changing my flow and my mind as well as my shirt is just a matter of cleanliness". (laughs) You know sometimes it can be seen as a disadvantage to constantly change flow and style, because you destabilize your audience who are used to see you in a certain kind of register. Some people may tend to say: "It changes too much, you don't know what to hold on to". But where some people see the downside, I see the quality of constantly renewing myself. In my eyes, it's not a quality to say: "He hasn't changed, it's still the same". For me, it's elementary to be able to be told: "You have changed on this point", it means that my ideas and my vision of things have evolved.
How could you describe this new album precisely ?
He's "more" than the others. (laughs) More melodious, more featuring, more mixing, more beatmaker. There's more musical will than on previous albums.
Speaking of feats, they were quite unexpected like the one with BigFlo & Oli or Soso Maness, can you tell me more about these encounters?
With Soso Maness, we met directly at the studio and it went directly well. He's a real and sincere person who doesn't play a role. As the feeling was going well we decided to talk about our respective cities of Le Havre and Marseille. On the map of France, we're diametrically opposed but there are many similarities between these port cities. And with BigFlo and Oli it's a piece that we wanted to do already 3/4 years ago because we discuss a lot on the networks but in the end, we never found the right piece to collaborate together. After taking the time to discuss, we were able to agree on what we wanted to do and that's where this featuring about accepting change came from.
Before starting this album, are there any themes you wanted to talk about?
In reality, I'm not really in a process where I say to myself: "I absolutely have to talk about this". I have the impression that it's more the melody that triggers the subjects I want to talk about. Music is the main thread: it triggers emotion in me and this emotion then triggers feelings about a theme. I have also evolved in my way of working because on my previous albums it wasn't like that. But I've learned to work with my time and to work with different beatmakers, topliners, arrangers and so on. You may even have to co-write with people who will advise you on extra words or how to turn phrases for example. It's true that it's a big change, but it's not to displease me in the end. You know, there will always be a part of my public who knew me 20 years ago and who would like me to rap like I did when I first started, but that's not what I want and you have to do with your time. (laughs)
Often we perceive rappers as inaccessible beings, always in a pack and you break this image and you show that you're a dad like everyone else and that your pack is your family. Your family is really at the center of all your projects. In the song 'Imposteur' you explain it a little by saying "I don't want to be a public figure. I just want to be a man among others".
Nowadays, everyone cross-dresses on the networks, whether by putting filters on their photos or by trying to exalt every moment of everyday life. I find that the beauty of life is not in these things but in the normality. I don't think that normality is reductive or boring because I needed to show the beauty of simple things. Showing my family on the networks and the ordinary moments we share together is what I find beautiful. There's too much fantasy around the life of rappers and sometimes people are not ready to see the reality of things.
Do you think that's perturbing for people?
Some people need artists to create a fantasy around an idyllic life but sorry, I've always decided to play the sincerity card since the beginning of my career. (laughs) Before being a rapper with committed lyrics, I'm above all a dad and a husband and it's good to remember that.
Other than the social networks, you also made your children participate on your sounds, you had already done it with 'Papeti' on your previous album Storyteller and now we can hear again your son Massoud on 'Barbapapa'... Is it them who showed their interest ?
Before being a rapper I'm mostly a Rap listener, so I listen to a lot of Rap music at home and we go to concerts together and so on. So they've always been immersed in that culture. In the end, we ended up doing a song together. They thought it was fun to do a studio session with me and we even made a clip together on the track 'Enfants Forts'. We're not creating careers, in their eyes it's just a good time they spend with their father. (laughing)
I would like to come back to the saga "Enfant Du Destin", it's one of the songs that is always one of the most awaited on each of your albums. This time you tell the story of Sarah, a young Uighur girl. How would you explain this saga to those who don't know her yet ?
At the beginning I didn't think I was going to make a saga out of it at all, I just wanted to tell the story as it really is and not the way they want to tell it to us. "Enfant Du Destin" is a kind of running story that depicts the tragic journey of a child of the world propelled into the heart of the conflict.
How did you come up with the idea in the very beginning?
It came from a sense of betrayal of Hollywood cinema and national education to discover a part of history from another angle. For example, when I discovered the truth about the Vietnam War, I was surprised to see that it was much more nuanced than what I had been taught. I don't think it's just one artist's role, it's everyone's role. We have to be supportive and aware that there are dramatic things happening in the world every day while we are in material comfort. Even if I was not an artist, I am convinced that I would have solidarity in my daily life for all these people. If I can use my voice or my notoriety to turn people's eyes to these causes it's important to do so.
One of the most beautiful memories of your career?
I'm going to make a Miss France sentence but I'll tell you that my most beautiful memory is the one that comes. (laughs) I think that I haven't yet experienced my most beautiful memory, it means that I'm still here for a long time.
Instagram: @Medine_Officiel
Words © Fanny Hill Scott // Photography © Fifou
