9 minute read
LIMSA D'AULNAY // Interview
Known as a killer name in the Rap scene, Limsa is truly a rapper with great skills. Whether through his lyrics, his flow or his production choices, Salim - his real name - has always known how to delight his fans throughout his career with songs like "4 Décembre", "Starting Block" ft Isha and "Avec Moi".
Born in the Parisian suburb of Aulnay-Sous-Bois (93), Limsa confessed that he was greatly inspired by this neighborhood where he started his first freestyles. Cool, funny and warm but also talented, the rapper with a sharp pen took the time to answer with sincerity and spontaneity the questions of A Rap & A Cup Of Tea.
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The one who claims to "rap like he talks" recalls his journey from his encounter with 75e Session to his trilogy of EPs named Logique. The one that PLK quoted "As Limsa would say, humor is the frankness of cowards, I think we're getting closer to the truth" in the track "Dans les clips" also knew how to tell us his truths with a lot of frankness.
How would you describe your unique style in the French Rap scene?
I don't really feel like I'm that different from anyone else. I feel like we all rap a little bit the same way, and that we all talk about the same thing in the end. Maybe what sets me apart is just the human being I am.
Indeed, during your interview with Grünt, you said something very interesting about your featurings with Isha and JeanJass, that you are rappers who are very true to themselves.
For me, as a rapper, it's important to be genuine about the person I am but I would never demand it from other rappers. I listen to a lot of Rap fiction with guys saying they jump off the 8th floor and shoot people. (laughs) Everyone does what they want, and I like it when it's done the right way. But I think that with Isha and JeanJass we allow ourselves to be ourselves as rappers without worrying about whether people will like it or not. For example, JeanJass allows himself to make "funny" sounds despite the clichés of Rap where you have to be a gangster in order to breakthrough. He doesn't care about that, he does what he wants to do and when I listen to his music, I can see the same person he's in real life.
Was Rap always an obvious choice for you?
Actually, I think it's the first music I ever found myself in it. Quite cliché, but in my hood everyone listened to Rap music. And when I saw some of my friends rapping, I was really excited about it and I wanted to do the same. I guess it's all started from there.
Can you tell me about the importance of 75e Session in your career?
I think that meeting Georgio at first and the others of the 75e, is what really changed everything for me in Rap. I really think that without them I would never have taken Rap in such a "serious" way. I don't know if we can talk about being professional because I'm still a huge wanker, but I learned a lot from them. When you surround yourself with good rappers, you automatically improve. It was a great chance to meet them because they became my motivators and people who always pushed me in the music. They are all passionate about their own vision of Rap and it's really fulfilling to be around them.
Do you think that without them you would never have released a project?
To be honest with you, no I'd never have gone this far. I'd have just kept rapping in the hood with my small reputation of "Limsa is a bad ass" and that's it. You know, at the time, we used to go to the studio to record our music and put it on a USB stick, then we listened to it with our mates in a Clio 2. (laughs) There were 4 people who liked it and it was good, we were happy you know.
Aulnay-Sous-Bois is very important to you, it shows in your tracks like "ASB" and especially in your name. Can you tell me more about how important Aulnay is to you?
For outsiders, they see it as one of the worst hoods in France but for me it's a special place. I know that growing up in a certain hood has an impact on you. If I grew up in another part of France I would be a different person. It wouldn't have changed who I am, but I'd be different for sure. The hood is a real culture, a way of life, a way of speaking and so on. I love my city as much as I hate it but it's still very important to me. I learned a lot of things that I'd never have learned anywhere else, it's shaped me in a way.
You often talk about the fact that Aulnay isn't DisneyLand and yet there's a lot of sensitivity in some of your songs, whether it's when you talk about your grandmother for example, or through your chosen prods like the one for "Le Ptit Limsa". Are you aware of the fact that you make a great impact on your audience by showing your vulnerability like that?
I don't really realize it in real life... You know my writing style is not very complex, I write like I speak. (laughs) So basically, if I'm sad I'll write something sad without asking myself too many questions, same thing if I'm happy.
I think you're quite gifted when it comes to writing, you use a lot of figures of speech, assonance, alliteration...
I must say that I take my time with the rhymes, I'd be lying to say otherwise. I feel like if I write a rhyme of less than 3 syllables, it's not a rhyme. (laughs) Actually when I write something, I know why I write it. But when it comes to word choice etc., I always try to keep it simple. For example, my buddy Georgio, his lyrics are very literary and I think it could even be taught in school. With my lyrics I don't think it's possible. (laughs)
Do you think your writing style has evolved over the years?
When you're young you want to rap like your favorite rapper and I think that gave me the foundation. Even if I'm not really a "hard worker" because I'd be lying to say that compared to those who really work non-stop on their lyrics, I ended up developing automatisms and getting better at it. I'm glad I'm a better rapper now than I was 7 years ago. (laughs) I'm much more comfortable talking about myself. I always try to be transparent so people can feel it in my songs while keeping a certain sense of secrecy about my life.
You said back then that "you could say something you didn't mean if you thought the rhyme was neat" and that now you couldn't do that. In retrospect, are there any songs that you regret?
Yeah, there are a lot of songs that I deleted from YouTube. (laughs) Some of them were just because I couldn't listen to them anymore and some of them I thought "Wow I was really stupid". For me it's more important to be at peace with what I'm saying than to make money from streaming. You know, I've always liked to make people laugh. When I was younger, if in order to make three people laugh I had to make one person cry, I'd say, "It's okay, it was just a joke" now I can't do that. With rhymes it's kind of the same. I used to say "It's okay if I said something stupid if it rhymes well" but now I can't do that kind of thing.
Did you ever experience a "click"?
One day I was watching an interview with my mate Sheldon, about a rapper who I thought was basically a moron. And when he started speaking, he was saying intelligible things and he seemed to be a good guy, but when you listen to his music, he's quite obnoxious. I admit, it clicked immediately and I thought to myself "Ow, does that mean I can sound like that?" You can listen to my songs and think of me in a way that I'm not and that bothers me. I said to myself that I had to fix that because the most important thing is to be yourself.
In "Seul Two" you also say "Rappers don't want to share me like I'm their girl / They want to be the only ones to love me like I'm their sister". Can you tell me more about that?
The truth is, I'm not the worst case scenario. There must be a lot of guys who live in remote areas or in the provinces and, because they have no connections in the Rap scene, they find it hard to make a name for themselves. I can't play the victim and say that I'm boycotted but for a long time I heard "Limsa is lit" from more or less known rappers but still didn't take the time to share my music or anything else. In fact, rappers know each other pretty well. More than we think, anyway. And I noticed for a long time that people complimented me off the record but as soon as it was time to say it in public, there was nobody left. It's okay, it's the game and I don't ask anything from anyone. At least it inspired me these punchlines. (laughs)
By the way, we often see you with big artists like Georgio, PLK, Sopico...
Yeah, I'm lucky to have some really good guys as brothers. It's true that featurings are often mentioned by the fans. (laughs) Doing featurings with artists like Georgio and PLK isn't impossible at all. But really, they are brothers and when we meet, we don't necessarily talk about it because making music together isn't something "out of the ordinary" since we have already done it. You know what I mean?
I heard you already started working on Logique part.3...
Yeah I already have several tracks ready and honestly I think I only need one or two more tracks before it's all good. But it won't be released now because it has to be mixed, mastered etc.... You know the drill. (laughs) Maybe it will be out before the summer... Who knows? Everything's possible.
