Snubbed by the Victoires de la musique, the kings and queens of rap and its many currents will be crowned Thursday, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, on the occasion of the Flames, the first edition of an event ceremony. "That's what was missing: rap, R'n'B and new pop dominate the charts, festival programming, inspire pop culture as rock has done before, but are not rewarded at their fair value," said Tom Brunet, co-founder of YARD.
This media/communication and event agency is at the initiative of the Flames with Booska-P, media stamped "popular cultures". Not to mention Smile, a consulting agency, nor the support of Spotify, the first music platform in the world.
For this first edition, nearly 135,000 people voted on the social networks of the Flames in the 13 categories (out of 21) open to the ballot of the public, aggregated to that of a jury. And the organizers are overwhelmed by requests for invitations and strategic placements at the Théâtre du Châtelet, in a musical industry that understands the importance of the moment.
The event, which is scheduled to start around 21 p.m. and end around midnight, will be broadcast from 20:30 p.m. on Booska-P's YouTube channel, simultaneously on the 6play platform, on Twitch (on the address of streamer Maxime Biaggi) and delayed from 23 p.m. on W9.
«Rhythm, energy»
Fadily Camara, comedian and actress, will be the mistress of a ceremony that wants to break the codes of the traditional award ceremony, with guests from showbiz, sport or fashion to deliver the trophies.
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Upstream, even before knowing the nominees, we had decided on the shows we would have on stage, an opening performance, unreleased, songs that we do not necessarily expect, with a rhythm and energy in the image of this culture that we want to celebrate, "describes to AFP Hamad (without other surname used), co-founder of Booska-P.
There will be queen categories scrutinized. Like the rap album of the year Dinos Hiver à Paris, Gazo KMT, SDM Liens du 100, the female artist Aya Nakamura, Lala &ce (pronounced Ace as in tennis), Ronisia or the male artist Dinos, Gazo, Tiakola. Whatever happens, Tiakola and Ronisia, both 23, have already won, cited alongside the heavyweights. A rapper from the Paris region, Tiakola has eight nominations in the wake of his first album, Mélo, 9th best selling in France in 2022. Sensation r'n'b, born in Cape Verde and arrived as a baby in the Paris region, Ronisia presents three nominations.
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«In the long term»
But the Flames stand out with an award for best album release strategy or social engagement of the year. The organizers, for educational reasons, also favor the term "new pop" rather than "urban music", a pejorative label, to designate the satellite genres of rap.
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After all these years of waiting for this kind of ceremony, it is good that people with the necessary wisdom and foresight were able to put together this event, "comments for AFP the rapper star Dinos. "The recognition generated by the Flames could change a lot of things in rap in France," he adds.
Enough to repair the oddities of the Victoires, who have never known how to deal with rap, yet present in France for 40 years. As in 1999, when the group Manau, claiming a Celtic variety, receives, embarrassed, the rap trophy that no longer even exists in front of the NTM monument. Aya Nakamura, the most heard French-speaking singer in the world, won only a minor trophy for the most streamed female artist... "We can co-exist with the Victoires, which will have some of the artists present at home and vice versa, because we are here to be part of the long term. There is no question of a "one-shot" (single edition), we are already thinking about the shows of the coming years, "concludes Hamad.
