In the early 2000s, the boy band Linkup revealed by the show pop stars unleashed passions. The trio made up of Lionel Tim, Otis and Matt Pokora has multiplied hits and awards. But very quickly, the darling of Christina Milian wanted to continue his career on his side to the chagrin of his comrades. A decision that was extremely hard to accept for Lionel Tim.
“I will remember it all my life, it was in our managers’ office. And he said to me: ‘I grit my teeth, I can’t stand what I’m doing anymore, I want to leave, to make my career solo.’ And I said to him: ‘Come on, let’s make a second album, you’re still young’ – he was 19 at the time – and I said to him: ‘Listen, if it doesn’t work, you’ll leave, I’ll understand it .’ And then I had to deal with that, respect his choice and go in another direction, which was variety. But I quickly understood that I was not the priority of the record company, it was necessary that I’m off to do something else.” regretted the comedian facing Jordan De Luxe.
At the time, music professionals would have preferred to bet on the rise of Mr. Pokora rather than his own. “I suffered from the injustice that was done to the record company, I don’t blame him. It was the record company that wanted to put all its energy on him, and I didn’t have the same promotional budget that Matt could have had. They were betting on him. A record company is made to make money and promote artists who are going to work. I was in a variety phase/ pop which was not the movement of the moment”, analyzed Lionel Tim, bitter.
In turmoil, the artist had long had suicidal thoughts after the failure of his musical projects. Over time, Lionel Tim has understood certain things with hindsight and he feels no animosity towards Mr. Pokora. “Every two years, we contact each other, we meet each other, we have benevolent contacts but it doesn’t go any further than that. Already he no longer lives in France, he shares his life between Los Angeles and here and above all he is very busy. Today I understand his choice”. added Lionel Tim and to conclude with philosophy: “If he had stayed with us, he might not have had the same career and when you see where he is, I think he made the right choice. It didn’t help us, but it’s not up to him to help us, it’s up to us to help ourselves.”
NB