BEN PLG // Interview

What can we say about this rising star of French Rap, except that he's a big a big music enthusiast? The rapper from Lille in Northern France has a passion for Rap in his blood and he clearly honors him in his first album Dans Nos Yeux. The one who describes this project as "a hymn to non-pudeur" is a true lyricist far from the misogynistic ideas sometimes lent to Rap.

The one who puts his passion at the service of others, took the time to talk to A Rap & A Cup Of Tea before going to give a Rap class in prison. Mature, honest and true, Ben looks back on his promising career in the French Rap Game and his creative process. As he approaches his thirties, Ben reminds us of the importance he gives to the emotions conveyed in his texts and we can say that his pen has something to seduce you.

Can you tell me about your background in music?

My first steps in music were as a listener already when I was a teenager. I was very curious about what was going on in music and I listened to a lot of sound. As I grew up, I started to meet people who rapped, but I had never tried it before. One day, I went to a party with some guys who were rapping and they told me to write a lyric and so I did it. It's as if I'd accumulated years of lyrics in my head and I was waiting to put them to music.

You'd say it came as a click?

It's not really a click I think, because Rap is the thing I'm most passionate about in the world. I really love it! Before I never really knew if I was capable of doing it because I've always been concerned about legitimacy. I had the impression that it was not for me... In my music I don't make up characters, I just tell what I'm going through and what I see. And when I understood that this is exactly what could touch people, that's when I felt legitimate and I think that the real trigger happened at that moment.

In the song 'Ton âme' you say "Child of the French middle-class who knows too much the taste of Lidl" [Low cost supermarket] and in 'Quitter la fête' you say "I lie in carpools when they asked my job" and I think that all these little details of "real life" hidden throughout the album show how much you are a guy like everyone else who simply tells his stories through a message that can be universalized. Is it something you wanted to highlight ?

In reality, there's no strategy, I never thought "Is this going to please people?". It's just full of little details of life that you don't necessarily notice and that I took the time to analyze. I find that too often we trivialize things that should not be trivialized. For example, a woman who decides to have an abortion will be told: "It's okay, I've had an abortion too" even though it can be dramatic for her psyche. The same goes for parents who get divorced, they'll say to their kids: "Don't worry, your friends' parents are divorced too". You see this kind of subject echoes in many people, but we don't really talk about it.

This album has moreover marked the spirits for its texts. There are sounds that you wrote with your guts and we really feels... Was it a kind of outlet for you?

Yeah, it makes me feel good to write. I admit that there are things that I find difficult to say and that I express better in the song but I also find that this album is a "hymn to non-shame". It's true that sometimes it's good to be modest, but it's also good to give oneself up, it's important. I know that with some members of my family, we're really modest, but I want to tell everything to those I love, you know? What's crazy is that when you say shameless things, that's when everyone recognizes each other... (Laughs) In this album I talked a lot about my father and the relationship I have with him, and in the end, it allowed me to have a discussion with him.

There's no featuring on this album, what pushed you to make this choice?

I think that the featurings must be done at the right time. Things have changed now, people know a minimum of my name and it has become easier to collaborate with an artist. On this project, the most important thing was to introduce myself and I don't think there was any real interest in doing a feat. But on the other hand, I'm already announcing that there will be feats on the next project...

Do you already have names in mind?

I'll just tell you that at the moment there's a hype around rappers from the North of France that I'm really happy about... It's important to me to do a feat with one of them if you wanna know. (laughing)

In my music I don't make up characters, I just tell what I'm going through and what I see.

You don't really resort to vulgarity in your lyrics, and in your own way you break the clichés of Rap. Was that a desire?

In fact, I start from the principle that if there's vulgarity in my texts, it must have a role and an interest. In reality, there are 2 types of vulgarity. I don't mind saying things like "Motherfucker" but misogynistic vulgarity is not something that I like. I listened to an album earlier or from the first track, it directly insults women saying "Your girl is a bitch because she sucked me off" I find it horrible and inaudible. To me, it's just a message from a fat asshole using a vulgarity of moron. On top of that, it doesn't convey any tolerance. You can't insult a woman and belittle her for this kind of practice, it's typically the thing I would never do and it's totally unlike me.

Can you tell me about the creative process of this album?

With my team and my beatmaker Murer, we always meet in the morning because we're not "bat rappers" working at night. (laughs) So we have a coffee at 8am and we start listening to sounds together. As soon as I feel we're getting something, we start composing at the same time, which means that I write while he's doing the production. Over time I've learned to understand my way of working. For example, next week I have a recording session and I know that before I go there I'll really try to be aware of my emotions. I'm going to make sure I keep them in mind so I can express them on the instrument.

Do you conceptualize what you want to share?

Yes, exactly! I am so sensitive to the things around me, that it makes me a real sponge. When I'm in the studio, all I have to do is "wring out" on the production.

How do you see your career in 5 years?

I have no idea... I just hope that my audience will be much larger. I'd like to evolve artistically in an interesting way, to be happy to make the music I make without telling myself that I'm doing "déjà vu". I want to make "ambitious music". I'm not talking about making a complicated album with jazz musicians or that kind of thing, I just want to be able to create what I want to. It's still art, I want to make crazy stuff, you know. (laughs)

Insagram: @Ben_plg

Words © Fanny Hill Scott // Photography © 1 - Kaluu Prod - 2 - Anastasia Salomé