Unusual commotion on Saturday in front of the Michel-d’Ornano stadium in Caen: a long queue winds along the square. A banner streaked with green, blue and red overlooks the crowd, next to the coat of arms of the Stade Malherbe de Caen (SMC). The reason for this funny spectacle, the arrival of the rapper and native child, Orelsan.
His fourth album, Civilization, unveiled on November 19 and whose cover flag flies above the stadium, explodes all the counters. The pre-orders of the disc in limited editions snapped up in a few minutes. Some very rare CDs, limited to 500 copies, are already selling for a high price.
That’s a lot there no pic.twitter.com/sl1ze37eFc
– Interlude (@interludefrance) October 29, 2021
His incendiary clip The smell of gasoline is close to 5 million views, just five days after it was posted on YouTube. Without forgetting the success of the documentary series retracing the life of the rapper, Never show that to anyone, broadcast on the Amazon Prime platform.
Dizzying numbers that explain this strong crowd to meet the rapper and get a photo or a dedication. “I come from Lille, I took a BlaBlaCar at 4 a.m., I’m very motivated“, explains Sarah, a young fan. “I’ve known him for more than 10 years and seeing him in person is something. I think his songs have been something quite important in my life“, adds a second young woman, very moved.
The rapper is the first surprised when some explain to him having made the trip from Avignon to see him. “It’s crazy! I didn’t expect that at all, it’s nice“, smiles the singer.
The Caen artist has never denied his origins and his attachment to the city of Caen, especially through his pieces (The rain, Alone with people around). A loyal supporter of SM Caen, he chose the club’s official store for this first signing session. Followed by a performance before the SMC-Paris FC match, the rapper even kicked off the match. Unfortunately, OrelSan did not bring luck to the club, which lost 1-0 to the Parisian team.
The defeated supporters did not lose their sense of humor, however, parodying the rapper’s song The earth is round, to make fun of the poor results of the Caen club.
“Deep down, I like Stade Malherbe, I don’t know for what reason. Not only do we only lose, but we also lose at home. “
That’s it, @Orel_san has his song of the supporters of @SMCaen ! #SMCPFC @WeAreMalherbe #MNK pic.twitter.com/Z4Nkmh8w7d– Jean-Baptiste Marie (@jeanbatmarie) November 20, 2021