He may have died in complete anonymity in London, but hundreds of admirers accompanied Lionel D. on his last trip this Thursday to the new cemetery in Vitry-sur-Seine.
A crowd of personalities and former neighbors of the Jean-Cousy city paid tribute to the man who was, in the 1980s, the "first rapper in France to rap in French". These are the words of the highly respected DJ Dee Nasty, his lifelong friend, who opened the emotion-filled ceremony.
Carried away at 58 by a heart attack on February 26 across the Channel, Lionel Eguienta will have achieved two posthumous feats: finally return to his hometown, which he left twenty years ago, and weld the hip-hop community around him . In all its diversity, across generations. Unimaginable for this pioneer of broken rap on the rise, who had chosen exile to change his life.
A missing "big gentleman"
Direct heirs of this disappeared "big man", Vitry's talents would have missed the meeting for nothing in the world: Doudou Masta from the group Timid and uninhibited; AP, Rim'K and Mokobé from 113; Issa and Jean-Michel Émilien (EJM).
Also present, Val-de-Marnais MC Solaar and Sulee B Wax, former Little MC, and then Nekfeu. But at the microphone, no hierarchy. Childhood buddies spoke as loud as the flow pros.
"We lose someone immense," begins Franz, who met Lionel D. at 12 years old. He was 17. We grew up together. "Thank you brother, let go of this other old acquaintance." You brought us together again. The man pauses: "There, he is at home now!" "
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Hands clap before the most striking moment of the funeral: "The first verse of a rap that Lionel wanted to do on the rumors of his death," says Dee Nasty. This is said to have been denied by Lionel D. in an interview in the summer of 2016.
Posthumous words
In the enclosure, these disturbing words: “I hear that I am dead, buried somewhere like the suburbs for decoration. Ceremony, funeral, eternal regret. He improvised well, his name was Lionel. This is what fans would have heard of this unexpected ghost if his album project with Dee Nasty announced in November had been successful.
“Lionel, I met him in June 1984 at the Fête de la Musique, at the Trocadéro, poses Dee Nasty in front of hundreds of faces that were initially closed. I had my post and albums under my arm. At that time, I was trying to sell Paname City Rappin '. He said to me: "Well yeah, I rap too." And he did it super well. We thought we were going to do things together. "
Starting with Deenastyle in 1989, the Sunday evening program on Radio Nova. The one who launched Solaar, I Am, Assassin. "It is thanks to him that we became insomniac", smiles Mokobé. "What happened behind made it all stop," soberly sums up Dee Nasty, "Grand Master" of the Zulu Nation in France.
No need to dwell on the failure of "For you my brother the Beur", shunned by the show biz in full "anti-Arab paranoid" against the backdrop of the Gulf War, after the success of the album " No problem ". "He was a politician," recalls Kader, a resident of Vitry. Lionel D. is the first artist I saw on stage, in a room at Robespierre. A real upheaval. "
Poet without swear word
But the geopolitical context is not on his side. "Lionel had a hard time recovering from all the criticism," says Dee Nasty simply. He also hasn't really recovered from the fact that other generations are coming and don't recognize the importance he may have had, Dee Nasty continues. In our eyes, Lionel D. is still the first to have rap without vulgarity. Poetry, really, avoiding swear words. "
"The legacy of Lionel D. lives on," asserts rapper Issa. The little ones grab it and make it evolve. "It was he who got me started, thank Sulee B. He said to me: You should take this seriously . I did it with my friend Ronald. We set up a group called Les Little. "
“The music for us was just something not to have a hard time outside, continues EJM. But he was already professional. He had great sensitivity. He was really loving… ”
A "big party" in June
"Sweet rappers do not exist, so Jean-Claude Kennedy (PCF), mayor of Vitry-sur-Seine, ventures. But it is the violence of the heart that we heard in his music ", advances the city councilor who worked for the repatriation of the body so that the artist rests" where his legend began ". He announced a "great dedication in June", a "great celebration with all those who will want to be there".
"We are happy that Lionel is back," says Doudou Masta, greeting "a big brother". "He's our old man, he's the legend," Mokobé breathes. Peace to his soul, may the earth be light to him. "