Photography © Fifou
Photography © Fifou
"All the hits we made with Nekfeu
were 'accidents', so only songs that
supposedly shouldn't have taken place."
"All the hits we made with Nekfeu
were 'accidents', so only songs
that supposedly shouldn't
have taken place."
How can we best describe one of the most charismatic rappers in French Rap? At the same time, as an artist, fashion muse, artistic director and co-director, we must emphasise the fact that S.Pri Noir undoubtedly has more than one string to his bow. As an artist of many talents, S.Pri Noir remains a humble, simple artist with a lot of modesty regarding his career. The one who grew up in the district of Les Fougères in Paris took the time to answer questions from A Rap & A Cup Of Tea with great sincerity and tact.
While working on many projects, S.Pri remains vague about his age and first name but has talked about his last album, État D'Esprit. Released last April, he worked hard on it to offer his fans an even more glorious album than its predecessor, Masque Blanc. Nothing has been left to chance, from marketing to communication and the choice of coverage. S.Pri Noir proves once again that he has a hand in everything he does and reveals insights into his passion and actual state of mind.
The French Rap scene knows and worships you, and the Francophones salute your talent without a doubt... But how can you describe your style in French Rap to an English-speaking audience who wants to know you?
I would say I’m involved. (laughs) Whether it’s visually or melodically speaking, I’m on all fronts. Even talking about fashion or business... I am everywhere. I work hard to be involved.
Your latest album, État D'Esprit, is a resounding hit. Everyone is unanimous, both on the networks and in the press. This project is lit, and you have left nothing to chance. Did you expect so much excitement from the audience?
No, not at all, it surprises me every time. Even if you work very hard on a project, you still have some humility and wonder how people will perceive the project. As an artist, you worked hard on it, went to the wall with your team, and the people around you who could listen to the album congratulate you... But will this opinion be shared by as many people as possible? That’s the real question. (laughs) You don’t know, maybe you’re entirely off target... so you’re always surprised by people’s enthusiasm. Especially since it was a challenging time to release an album during quarantine, but we overcame those obstacles.
Speaking of containment, I heard you were even advised not to release your project because of COVID-19... What made you change your mind?
I never changed my mind and wanted to release this album at all costs. (laughs) I told myself that it was a rather complicated period for people to manage and that I wanted to offer them some entertainment. In terms of marketing, I was able to seize the opportunity it would be for us. We live in a consumer society where ten others are released simultaneously when your album comes out, and there will be ten more the following week. In the end, people don’t even really have time to listen to your project because there are so many. So, from an artistic and marketing point of view, I thought it was good to say to myself: “There's no more going out at the moment given the current climate, so people will have time to listen to it and enjoy the project properly.” At the moment, our way of consuming music has changed. For example, the fact that people no longer take public transport while listening to music is felt in the streaming services, with a decrease of 30%. People may have enjoyed the album more than they would have done otherwise, and that’s positive.
Was the way to present this new album an integral part of the project?
Yes, quite frankly! It’s ultimately part of the project. I got excited to create 3D animations with my avatar as if it were a video game. My team and I also made an application with questions/answers. For me, it’s essential; it also allows you to guide people on your project. The promo around the release of an album is like a moving train you guide; you have to make people want to be part of the journey and get on board.
Do you value satisfying your audience, or do you not put too much pressure on this side, like "I do what I like, and we’ll see how it goes"?
Yes, satisfying my audience is crucial to me because I see it as an exchange. It’s like I’m a Formula One driver, and they’re Formula One, if you know what I mean? I drive them where I want to drive them without overheating the machine by going too far or accelerating too hard... I also think that now people better understand my musical vision because this is not my first project, and they already know what I like to do with music.
In your interviews, you often discuss the importance of defending a long-term project as an artist and advise listeners to listen to a project several times before they give their opinion. Can you tell me more about that?
Those who criticise without having bothered to listen to it annoy me. (laughs) You can say that a project could be better only if you have heard it from A to Z several times. If you allow yourself to criticise a project without having listened to it, that's because you criticise to criticise. Listening to it under different conditions is also essential, allowing you to understand it better. Albums come out at 00:00 am, and at 00:10 am, people on Twitter are already talking about it... It's mad! Whether positive or negative, you can’t judge an album that fast and say, “It’s so lit” after 10 minutes!
At the same time, your album was barely out, and fans were already asking for it to be reissued. It must be a nice feeling to see that they're never satisfied and always ask for more.
Before, I thought to myself: “Bro, try to enjoy what has just come out. The rest can wait”, but it's true that now I take a step back and tell myself that it's nice to see that my music is constantly arousing interest. Before, I had mixed feelings about it because, with the previous album, people had criticised me for making too many songs at once. With État D'Esprit, I tried to change that, and now people are asking for more... (laughs)
We also see that you worked really hard on this album, and there's an essential storyline. How did you come up with the idea?
It came with the songs. You realise that the more you evolve in the project creation, the more you notice that there are songs that respond to each other. For example, the songs “Pin Code 878” and “Pin Code 778” were not named like that initially, but after thinking about them, you find them in a logical sequence. You realise that the three songs speak of a chick and that the story evolves, and you believe that it would be nice to show it as a storyline by adding interludes to get the message across. It allows you to maintain a common thread in your album, too.
During the album promo, you implied that you already had some lit songs in store for your fans... In your live interview with Fif from Booska-P, Still Fresh - a rapper and friend of yours - suggests that if he's not present on the first opus, it's perhaps because he will be there in the deluxe edition... Also, on the virtual experience of État D'Esprit, there's the question “Where's the feat with Nekfeu?” - because each featuring turned into a real hit. You answered by saying that all the secrets of this album haven't yet been delivered ... What can we expect then?
There are things in the future for sure... After all, you know, it’s still art, and it’s not Cartesian. Between us, we don’t say, “We do a feat on this day, and we launch it out on this day, etc.”. There's a lot of chance, and what we call “accidents,” that can shake everything up. Sometimes, you can end up in the studio with someone; all you’ll do is talk without recording anything. And in the next session, because you’ve been talking a lot and listening to songs together, it will give way to many ideas to record something great.
"Whether it’s visually or melodically,
I’m on all fronts."
"Whether it’s visually or
melodically, I’m on all fronts."
Tell me more about the "accidents"!
To use the example of Nekfeu, all the songs we made together were “accidents”, so only songs that supposedly shouldn't have taken place. The same thing happened to the song 'Mon Crew' with Nemir. I asked him to put his twist on the song to see what it would give, and in the end, I noticed that it was truly lit! I asked him to sing in Arabic on the song, and he said, “I never sang in Arabic like that; it’s not possible, blablabla”. I told him that I didn’t have time to find someone else because I had to give my album the following week, and in the end, it’s one of the songs that worked best on my Masque Blanc album.
I saw names like Ninho, Dinos, Damso, and Vald on Instagram. Can fans keep hoping to see these feats come true?
As we say, God controls all of this, but yes, of course, there’s always a way. Especially since some of them are people I have already collaborated with or know from near or far. Most importantly, I love what they do and their music.
The 'Salades' song differs entirely from the rest of the album. How did you create such a piece?
It all started with Biggie-Jo, the beatmaker I often work with. As soon as I heard the prod, I said, “It's so lit!” I started to lay my voice down on it, and the chorus came to me instinctively. Without lying to you, I just followed the vibe. In truth, I wanted to have fun with this piece, whether technically or vocally; I wanted to do something different. I don’t know if you noticed, but I used three different types of voices, which I'm not used to. It was sort of like a playground, you know. (laughs)
On the album, we also find this idea of universality that seems close to your heart. In the form of a story or through your experience, you pass messages in which everyone can recognise themselves, as you did on Masque Blanc with “La Belle Est La Bête” or here with État D'Esprit. Once again, we can all find ourselves in songs like “911” in feat with Dadju, for example. Is it essential to allow your fans to find themselves in your words?
Yes, it's essential, and I especially like to be able to transcribe different kinds of moods through my album. For example, there are sounds that you listen to during the day as opposed to songs that you’re more prone to listening to at night or on certain occasions, you know... and I like to put that forward. Sometimes, you'll focus on some songs for days, weeks, or even months, depending on your emotions and the period you are going through. In my conception, everyone travels in different moods, whether you are sad or happy. As a listener, I follow that logic, so as an artist, I try to talk about myself while keeping it much more general.
Speaking of universality, one thing that seems even more important to you is to show that the human being in himself is far more important than his skin colour. Once again, you show it in the choice of your cover...
The colour is clearly a mixture of black, white and grey, so it’s not binary. I wanted to show that it was the same for life and human beings. Nothing is ever black or white; no colour predominates over any other; life's a mixture of everything. You don’t judge a person by their skin colour, origins or even their way of speaking; you judge a person by the beneficial things they do and nothing else.
We also saw you as a guest in the series Validé and demonstrated your spy skills in the clip ‘4 litres 2’. After music and fashion, would you like to be in a movie?
Yeah, definitely. It will be a new experience to try and new things to discover. It would be a new challenge for me, but I think it's a lot of work and investment, too.
Speaking of fashion, it’s not a secret that you're a true fashion muse for brands such as Adidas or Cartier. I also heard you have already created clothes for some of your clips. Is that something you would like to develop even more in the future?
Yes, of course, I’m interested! To tell you the truth, I hesitate between developing my own clothing brand or developing my merchandising... or both simultaneously... It's a project for sure! For example, with the album, we created a box in which there's a shirt, and it’s not much for sure, but at least it remains a first project. I think this one is different because no big logo makes it merchandising, you know? It stays subtle, and you can wear it with everything. Anyone who buys my shirt remains a supporter because my name is written on it, but it can be worn daily without being seen as a hardcore fan. Do you know what I mean?
And how do you balance all these projects that you lead, whether it’s music, fashion, acting, the production of your clips on which you are co-director, etc.?
You sleep little... (laughs). On average, I’d say it’s only 4 to 5 hours of sleep a day if you want to be active on all fronts. Every day, I work on my projects, and I take the time to refine and develop them. There are a lot of appointments and obligations, too. The secret is a lot of work and little sleep. (laughs)
How do you define your priorities?
My personal development defines my priorities. I change my priorities according to where my happiness will be. The advantage of my current life is that I’m lucky enough to run my boat as I see fit. For example, I can say, “Today I’m going to make some songs". And I will do that all day long, and then my priority will be music. Of course, I always have to make phone calls or manage obligations, but it doesn't prevent me from having the opportunity to manage my projects quite freely.
Returning to your clips, they’re all fantastic visually, and we can see all the work behind them. From ‘Skylander’ to ‘Highlander,’ you recently went even further with ‘T'as Capté’. The clip is ultra-heavy with crazy landscapes. Are you the artistic director of all these?
Yes, I'm the artistic director and sometimes even the co-director. I need to get involved in everything I do. Often, I come up with my basic idea and explain to the director what I'd like to do, and we see what's possible. Of course, there's always a budget story that comes into play. I think this resourceful side of me always comes out in all my clips. I always try to hijack things to get the desired results without spending astronomical amounts, you know? Often, it’s the trickle-down: “You want a helicopter, but it's unrealistic with your budget? Well, this guy knows someone who can do this for you.” In the end, you have the impression that the clip is expensive, whereas it's not, thanks to your resourceful side
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