It's not just billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos who want to travel to space.
Rapper Soprano flew aboard a spaceship as he has been telling him on social networks for several months to prepare for his return to earth with a new album "Star Hunter" on September 3.
This summer, the artist, who has sold 500,000 copies of his last two records, is making his first landing in a dozen festivals, such as Nîmes on Tuesday.
Meeting in Nancy where he played two nights in a row this weekend in front of 10,000 people.
How are you ?
Thank you for having us in the Frigate, your spaceship ...
SOPRANO.
Thank you for putting on your cosmonaut outfit.
This is my first interview for a year and a half.
I just released the final version of the album only an hour ago.
With my team, we haven't stopped for a year, between the recording studios, the preparation of a TV show for the start of the school year, the filming of clips.
We are picking up the pace because, with the pandemic, we had eased off like everyone else.
Since I started at 14, this is the first time that I haven't done a concert for so long.
I reconnected to the essentials by taking advantage of my children
(Editor's note: Inaya 14 years old, Lenny 12 years old and Luana 9 years old).
I enjoyed making music at my own pace.
I change my phone every 5 months, so on the new one, there were no emails, few phone calls.
I was able to rest, read, watch nature, simply take the time.
How long have you been in space?
On December 23, 2019, the evening of the last concert in Brest, we flew from the stage at the end of the show to hunt for the stars.
It has always been that way in my career, at the end of an album, I already think about what will happen next.
My engine is to keep my head in the handlebars.
Happiness is not selling 1 million records, although obviously that's very cool.
It's a long-term career, living off what you love as long as possible.
I always keep in mind that anything can stop.
Read also Behind the scenes of a Soprano concert
Is it still an anxiety?
Less with success. Before there was 30% fear and the rest of the fun! Today, there is nothing more than fun. It is in this state of mind, I left this time in a nostalgic delirium of the 1980s for this future album. While working in the studio, we watched the “Magnum” series, the Dorothée club, the manga from my childhood, “X-Or”, “Bioman”, but also films like “Scarface”. We listened to Toto, the old Goldman, Balavoine, which gave color to the new songs. There will be one called "the Boom" with a reference to Sophie Marceau, a slow when it is no longer done at all, a rap song called "Bruce Lee". This is my adolescence. Choosing this period is also making a link with the young generation, like that of my daughter who finds all this fresh and stylish culture.The series "Stranger Things" has done a lot in this trend, but also The Weeknd, Dua Lipa which are a hit with 80s sounds. The idea of going into space came to me while watching the film "The Guardians of the galaxy ”, which allowed us to don looks like Han Solo from“ Star Wars ”. And of course I continue with my texts to get my message across in my first single by singing: “A little closer to the stars / Where dreams have no borders. "And of course I continue with my texts to get my message across in my first single by singing: “A little closer to the stars / Where dreams have no borders. "And of course I continue with my texts to get my message across in my first single by singing: “A little closer to the stars / Where dreams have no borders. "
"The idea to go into space came to me while watching the movie" Guardians of the Galaxy ", which allowed us to put on looks à la Han Solo from" Star Wars ", explains Soprano.
LP / Arnaud Dumontier
Is that a message for neighborhood kids like you were young?
Exactly, I am living proof that it can work, that we can go as far as possible.
You are a child from the northern districts of Marseille, who became a coach of "The Voice" and who now fills stadiums.
Are there people who do not know your background?
Yes, but they realize that I come from the neighborhoods when they hear me speak with my accent, my mistakes in French, my excitement and my Marseille exaggeration. At "The Voice", my mother told me to calm down, but I can't, it's my naturalness, my identity and I'm proud of it. This does not mean that I am not well educated, that I do not work and that I do not know how to start a company. And I'm not the only one, there are plenty of people who come from the same social background as me and who become lawyers, engineers and succeed in all fields. There are still fights to be waged against racism but we are there, we have won: “Cosmopolitania”
(Editor's note: reference to one of his hits where he advocates living together),
it's now.
We are no longer victims, we must prove, do, fight, train.
You shouldn't wait for someone at the Élysée or elsewhere to help you, because they already have too many problems to deal with.
We must move forward, that's all.
You are never better served than by yourself.
Nothing falls from the sky.
Is it this journey that you are going to tell in the documentary that will be devoted to you on Disney +?
Exactly! I would never have accepted that this documentary was only about me, because I am not alone in this story, even if I am more in the front. It is on me, but especially my three friends with whom I put it all together. Mej, left school in 5th year, he was a plumber and trained in music, and found himself a DJ in front of a full Vélodrome stadium during my concerts. Djamali was a salesman in a sports store and now he manages three companies. Matéo is our colleague from the neighborhood and, today, he gives TedX conferences
(Editor's note: international program on the entrepreneurial spirit)
that inspire people.
I want to show that we are successful as a team.
We set up the company OnlyPro which touches everything in Marseille.
We manage the careers of athletes, we manage artists like Alonzo, Louane, l'Algerino, Clément Albertini
(Editor's note: finalist of his team at "The Voice").
We are getting into real estate by setting up two hotels.
We have around 40 employees today.
I still have trouble believing it.
Soprano will be present in ten festivals this summer.
LP / Arnaud Dumontier
You have a stadium tour in 2022. With the context, are you worried?
This summer's concerts were old dates postponed due to the Covid. The public agrees to be tested to return to a normal life, that's why I agreed to land my ship and do these concerts. For the rest, no one knows what will happen. We are still in the dark, even if we are making progress on the scenography of the stadiums and we have planned something that has never been done in Europe. I'm not worried about the filling because we have already sold a lot of tickets for the Stade de France, as for the others.