Dinos // Interview

It was at the Parisian Chorus festival that we went to meet Dinos, a French rapper who is admired and adulated in France. A few hours before going on stage to perform his greatest hits such as 'Les Pleurs Du Mal', and his legendary single 'Helsinki', perceived by critics as one of the most excellent songs of its type of our generation. Dinos agreed to to share with us all the wisdom that he has with a certain serenity. Although, he remained mysterious about his upcoming album Taciturne, which should see the light of day in 2019. Dinos was expressive when it came to talking about music and inspiration. The one who seduced the lovers of the French-speaking Rap with his song 'Namek', responded with a lot of sincerity on what makes him who he is and what he thinks of our generation.

Can you describe your music to an Anglophobic public on the sidelines to know you? What I do is pretty lyrical, it's a rap that takes different forms - whether conscious or not. I would say that it is a mix between the old and the new generation.

One of your first EPs, released in 2013, was called L'Alchimiste and was referring to the book by Paulo Coelho. You also released a song called 'Spleen' - once again we think of Baudelaire. There are a lot of references to literature throughout your career; Montesquieu, Cyrano, etc. Literature seems to be an important part of your Rap? It's true that I like literature a lot - at one time I read a lot. In my lyrics, I am inspired by what I see and what I live. If, for example, my new hobby is to go to the theater, I'll talk about Tartuffe, Sganarelle and all those things. Same if I watch a series or something else. Right now, I'm watching 'Oz' and I want to talk about his characters. It's really my environment that inspires me.

And your inspiration, in its entirety, where does it come from? From everything. Every person has a special relationship with what's going on in their life. I can make a song about this interview as well as about my day or something else. Right now it's my life that inspires me. In truth, I am more inspired by personalities such as Tesla who imposes respect than by writers. In my eyes it is more important to speak of those who have brought something to humanity.

What age did you start writing your first lyrics ? I was 12 years old when I started Rap. I lied in my lyrics - I said that I sold drugs and all that you know (laughs).

You did a lot of featuring with rappers such as Youssoupha, Disiz, Sadek, Nekfeu ... It is not difficult to meet your respective worlds? What makes the strength of a featuring is to meet his pen with that of another person. Sometimes it is even the encounter between two opposing worlds that makes the beauty of the thing such as the feat. of Medine and Booba on 'Kyll', or Public Enemy and AC / DC, or even the collaboration between Jay-Z and Linkin Park. Mixing cultures this way is something good I think.

There is a collaboration that you have preferred and for which you keep a particular memory? There are several, but I especially remember the one with Youssoupha and Nekfeu. For the feat. with Youssoupha, we went to the studio at 11pm and we went out at 8am. With Nekfeu, we met before our respective careers grew. We recorded this in a small room, it was our "home studio" of the time - even if it was a little precarious. I keep a special memory of these two collaborations there, because it was live, we did this together, it was not a case of "send me your verse and I send you mine".

Speaking of featuring, during your concert at La Cigale in Paris, you invited PLK, Maes and Dosseh to join you on stage. I imagine that they are rappers with whom you have a particular link ... Can we hope to see a featuring with one of them for your new album Taciturne? Yeah why not, that would be cool indeed. It's a business to follow ...

In many of your songs you often talk about money and love as being related as for example in your song 'Rue Sans Nom' where you say "Mom was telling us that true wealth is having something that money cannot buy" and in 'Placebo' you add "I want gold for my mother, I want love for myself "... Assimilated love and money is impossible in your eyes? No, it's the opposite. You see, if you have a long relationship with someone and you start with financial or other lack at the beginning of your collaboration and then over time you earn money together, you realize that everything is much better . It helps to realize how you developed and how you grew up together. For me, the two go hand in hand.

Artistic flourishing seems to be something really important to you ... Yes completely. I greatly prefer quality over quantity. It is true that I took three years before returning with Imany but if you make good music, people don’t forget you. And in any case, the success is not eternal. I'm sure there are artists who have rocked you as a teenager and now you do not pay attention to them. It's life. There are people with whom you share a lot of things. For example, being younger, and yet now if you meet them in the street, you barely say hello to them. It's the human brain that's like that - it's a fixation on something or someone for a while and it fades. People forget you but that does not mean they hate you.

Nothing is ever acquired in your eyes? Not at all. You can be worshipped today and forgotten tomorrow or in 10 years. As I said, it's life. You can't control these kind of stuff...it's out od your desicion.

And you think that Rap has changed your dating? Whatever your socio-professional setting, it will always change your relationship with other. In truth, I have a problem with friendships. I can not make new friends, I have always been with the same people since I was young. I meet lots of new people but that does not mean that I become friends with them. I assume that if you want to be friends with me, we have to be able to trust each other. We must have gone through situations where I realized that we could count on one another. For me, friendship is something that is built over the long term, unlike love where you can fall in love with someone after only two or three dates.

Can you talk to me about the song 'Parle-Moi' that you composed for the soundtrack of the film Black Snake? What inspired you? In truth, I stood in front of the microphone and I said what I had in my heart without thinking. I did not even pre-write this song, everything was written through freestyle. (laughs) That's what also happened with Taciturne, my next album. At the moment, I'm working on it and I do almost everything in freestyle without even writing. I can not sit myself down at home and write. There are people who have particular ways of writing, but not in my case. Right now, I do everything on instinct.

When asked if Rap is a fad in your interview for the Inrokuptibles, you answer that "Rap is a hybrid being that can not die". Can you imagine how French Rap will look in 10 years? It's a hard question. Imagine it in just 6 months! I think we are part of a generation that has to move forward with its time. There are people, whether rappers or not, who say "The Rap was better before", but it is precisely these rappers from older generations who have helped Rap evolve as we know it now. So, if you want Rap to be different from before, it's up to you to change things. I agree that we are "losing" the Hip-Hop culture and I feel sorry for it. But this is a generational problem; we lose more and more the notion of culture to replace it with the culture of "showing off".

Is there a feature you would like to do with an English artist? I already made a sound with Kojey Radical but I have not released it yet - I keep it in reserve for the moment. I love English music too much! I really like Jacob Banks, J.Hus, Skepta, and Dave too. Giggs is an artist that I love to death too. In terms of female artists, I will say Mabel and Mahalia and, of course, Jorja Smith.

PunchyDinos

Words © Fanny Hill Scott Photography © Fifou