Albums Reviews

Fame / LEFA

10/2019 © 2L Music

Wow, what an achievement! We’ve been looking forward to it since his last album 3 Du Mat and we’re clearly not disappointed by this triumphant comeback!

There's one thing that we can't deny with Lefa is the richness of his pen and the beauty of his texts. It's rare to see so many texts worked to perfection always with a subliminal message or a story to tell. It’s a real nofault writing level.

Lefa has set up the bar very high from the first notes of his return single 'Fame' by saying: "All those people who called themselves 'best friend' and act as if they knew you forever... They're only here for the fame..." Lefa - from his real name Karim Fall - took a step back from the music scene allowing us to see the reverse of success. He directly gave the tone of his future album: it will be honest and realistic. This is a quality that is often attributed to the rapper: his extreme honesty in his texts.

As a real musical treasure, we must admit that this 33 years old Parisian rapper made an impression with his track 'Mauvais' and the spectacular clip that goes with it, not to mention 'Bitch' featuring with Vald. There are also truly moving tunes such as 'T'y Arrivais Pas' which is surely one of the most beautiful breakup songs of this year 2019 with a bittersweet taste.

In brief, we congratulate the talent of this artist whose reputation is no longer to be made. Lefa hasn’t said everything yet and we’re still asking for more. To be continued...

© Fanny Hill Scott

Heavy Is The Head / STORMZY

12/2019 © Hashtag Merky Music

Stormzy - originally from Croydon in South London - is a rapper on the cusp of greatness. He released his sophomore album the day after the UK has its most important election in a century, and he knew exactly what he was doing.

Heavy Is The Crown is a fantastical mix of grime, pop, and even the occasional slow song. It’s a continuation of his freshman release Gang Signs & Prayer which also hit the top spot on the album charts in 2017 when it was released.

He's also been very clever by putting his number one single 'Vossi Bop' as the last track, everything is just a lead up to it. Stormzy is on the brink of world domination, and this is the perfect album to take him there. He has the type of talent some rappers only dream of, and at 54 minutes long, it’s time well spent listening.

In my opinion, it’s been worth the two-year wait. Stand out tracks for me include the slower, atmospheric 'Crown', and opener 'Big Michael' making reference to his real name Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. And with guest appearances from Ed Sheeran with 'Own It' and Aitch with 'Pop Boy', there’s something for everyone on this brilliant second release from the dazzling London rapper aged of 26.

© Emma Lawrence

Rooftop / SCH

11/2019 © Rec.118 / Warner Music France

SCH made a massive comeback at the end of 2019 with his new album Rooftop and it's perfectly what we needed to finish the decade.

It has already been a few years since SCH - whose real name is Julien Schwarzer - came out on the list of the most listened rappers in France. Born on 6 April 1993 in Marseille in the south of France, he became known with his song ‘Champs-Elysée’. His musical identity is characterized by a deep voice, with many references to horror movies and gangsters or even Trap and banger's instrumentals.

Rooftop consists of 17 tracks of unexpected collaborations and surprising novelties. Contrary to his previous album JVLIVS, powerful and very personal, SCH offers us here a very flawless album presenting a quite apocalyptic world with differents beats between Pop, Rap and Electro. A number of topics were discussed, including violence, a statement on his life and the anguish of passing time as with the song ‘Ah Gars’.

With five featuring on Rooftop, this album becomes the one with the most guests of his discography with Rim'k, Heuss L'Enfoiré, Capo Plaza & Soolking, Gims, and Ninho. After only a week of release, the album is already in the third position in the top albums sale. At the same time, SCH announced his signature in his own label Maison Baron Rouge. I guess that we’ll keep hearing about this artist in the coming months.

© Gloria Dominiak

Iona / KLASHNEKOFF

11/2019 © 2019 S.O.N

In November, Klashnekoff released his long-awaited album entitled Iona. The album is a true masterpiece that tracks the emotional ups and downs of Klashnekoff’s life along with his classic social commentary woven throughout.

Listening to the entire album traces Klashnekoff’s life in terms of emotional turbulence and growth it becomes obvious that this album is a piece of emotional catharsis and healing for him as it almost punches the listener with its depth of emotion particularly in its discussion of his experience dealing with the deterioration of his mother’s health and losing her. This is most notable within the eerie melancholy and echoing vocals that run through the sampling and production of certain tracks such as 'Worth It', 'Angels', 'Freedom', and even the speech heavy tracks 'Outro' and 'Uncle Derek Says'…

This album certainly doesn't fall short of Klashnekoff’s musical talent and the layering on the production of this album rises to the caliber of Klashnekoff’s potent lyricism complimenting it perfectly. The album features lots of speech and real-life sounds which creates a more peripheral narrative of the rapper’s life and his emotional struggles which tap into sounds that almost trigger certain emotions and linger within the listener such as sounds of traumatic phone conversations.

This album is a heavy listen but a true testament to the processing of emotional trauma through music, all framed within the most well-constructed verses and sound production.

© Gugundeep Kaur

Taciturne / DINOS

11/2019 © SPKTAQLR

After a first album named Imany released in 2018 and praised by the critics, the talented Dinos returns this year with a new album called Taciturne and we can say that he smashed it.

Nicknamed Dinos Punchlinovic during the Rap Contenders era in 2011 thanks to his legendary freestyles, Dinos - from his real name Jules Jomby - is a 26 years old rapper from Cameroon. Recognized as one of the best lyricist of our generation, he returns today with an album composed of 15 titles for the classic edition and 19 titles for the special edition called 'night' and 'day'.

The first album's track is called 'On Meurt Bientôt' - which means "we'll die soon" - and finished with 'En Revoir' - "goodbye" - and we can translate here the results of his last years. He evokes several times, the life in the surbubs, the lack of money and the fear of loving as he said in the song 'Arob@se': "I didn’t want your heart, I just wanted your arobase".

From melancholic melodies to heart-touching lyrics, Dinos that we interviewed last June for the magazine, offers us moving songs such as 'Mack Le Bizz', 'Quand Les Cailleras Prient' and 'Les Garçons Ne Pleurent Pas'. By addressing themes such as the fear of his future in Rap, his past failures, his childhood or death, the rapper who grew up in La Courneuve in the Parisian suburbs in 93, was able to draw inspiration from the depths of his soul. It's impossible not to fell under his spell with the lyrical and melodic prowess performed by the artist.

© Gloria Dominiak