"
Getting out of 100% rap allowed me to remain free
": a key figure in the French music scene that he has been going through with hits for 20 years, the rapper Soprano, loved by parents and teenagers alike, has become a bridge between generations.
This is a first for a rapper: at 42, Soprano becomes godfather of the Telethon, which takes place this weekend, and succeeds singers like Pascal Obispo, Garou or Michel Sardou.
“
It's been several years since they called me to be the godfather but each time the timing was bad.
When I told them it was good, I was so proud and happy,
”he told AFP.
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An honor for the artist from the northern districts of Marseille, but not a surprise for the public.
Present every year in the ranking of the favorite personalities of the French, he is also the favorite singer of 7-14 year olds.
A double hat that he assumes: “
I am the father of a family.
For me, it is important to pay attention to what I say in my texts so I understand that I like parents and young people
”.
Rap or variety?
Born Saïd M'Roumbaba in Marseille, in a family from the Comoros, Soprano came to singing thanks to what he called “
Muslim gospel
”, which he practiced from childhood on birthdays and weddings. He launched his career in 2002 with the group Psy4 de la Rime, which he formed with his cousins. The style is rocky, harsh, despite the rather shrill voice of its leader, Soprano.
Five years later, he released his first solo album
Since we must live
, based on the idea of the series
The Sopranos
, where the hero, a mafioso in crisis, confides in his psychoanalyst.
From this album, are taken several hits including
À la bien
- he gives the answer to Eric Cantona in the clip - or
Halla Halla
.
"
I had a period when I was in depression and when this album arrived I said to myself that I had to let go of all my demons because I had to grow up
", he explains.
To read alsoSoprano, the "rhymer of rap", favorite personality of the 7 to 14 years before Bigflo and Oli
Success is there and will never leave him.
Six more albums followed - all of which were huge commercial hits - including
Star Hunter
, released in September.
In addition to the millions of records sold, there are grandiose tours.
As when he filled the Stade Vélodrome (the OM's lair, 55,000 seats) in 2017, becoming the first French-speaking artist to achieve this ... after Johnny Hallyday.
With each album, the same consistency: do not get locked into hard rap and offer airy and dancing songs.
“
I grew up with the French variety, and at the same time I listened to IAM and Eminem.
Why oppose them?
As if we couldn't listen to rap and dance to Gilbert Montagné at a wedding,
”he quipped.
"Always in the fun"
But above all, the artist, who claims the name “
singer-rapper
”, refuses the assignment to urban music alone.
As in 2016, when he appeared in a TV hook show with a cover of Daniel Balavoine.
Or when he accepts to join the cast of “
The Voice
” on TF1, becoming the first rapper to do so.
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At the beginning of September, he announced that he was leaving the junior version of TV hook where he was a judge to devote himself to his future tour. “
We like to put people in boxes but with me it didn't work. Getting out of 100% rap and showing all the facets of my art allowed me to remain free,
”he says.
However, he has never really turned his back on rap and remains a figure appreciated by the biggest headliners of this scene.
It is thus present in two titles of the
organized Classico
project
, released on November 5, and which brings together, under the leadership of Marseillais Jul, 157 artists from Paris and Marseille for a three-hour musical match.
“
Whatever I do, I'm always having fun,
” he says.
And to conclude that his biggest dream would be to end up like Charles Aznavour: “
At 94, he was still on stage.
That is the kif
”.
