This Legacy, it is heavy. Opulent texts, deep reflections, a keen eye on society. A long album, too, that we haven’t yet been able to listen to all at once, from the first to the 22e song. We need to stop along the way to catch our breath. “Yeah, I know, everyone talks to me about that,” admits the rapper Lost, who has once again become, with this new album, one of the best feathers in Quebec rap, a feather that today exudes acquired maturity.
There is a corollary in the title: for there to be an inheritance, there is a will, we suggest to Lost. This album, successor to Lostalgik, launched in November 2020, was it imagined as if it was going to be his last? “Maybe,” he mused aloud. I was a little undecided about it all [le rap et l’industrie de la musique], I still am. The first time I entered the studio was in 2009; I’m officially in the game since 2015. I have been making music for several years. However, you realize, over time, that motivations change. I no longer make music today for the same reasons. »
“The goal is different, the stakes are different. THE fun to do that lies elsewhere,” he explains. The goal ? “Expand, go beyond Quebec,” says Lost, who can be reached in Paris by videoconference. “When I started, the international market didn’t even cross my mind. I just wanted to do it right and rap in Montreal. Driving 12 hours to go and give a concert in the provinces, I didn’t even imagine that was possible. Today, my vision of the project is greater and we are giving ourselves the means to achieve our goal. »
Rap, an outlet
And the pleasure of rapping? Because, let’s say it again: Legacy is a heavy disc. The member of the 5Sang14 collective does not have the heart to celebrate. Its rhythms that scrape the bottom of the loudspeakers with a skilful alloy of trap, drill and past references – on the dancing 90’s Baby, for example, which comes at the end of the first third of the album to lighten the mood a bit. ” I had to fun to read messages from fans, which sometimes go a long way, a lot of testimonials, answers Lost. I had to fun with the public in concert — the fun comes more from people than from music as it is. »
“For me, music has become something therapeutic,” he says. I used to be excited about rapping; today is my outlet. Lost, who opens up again about his past which he describes as “tumultuous”, clears his head on Legacy with punchy songs. Starting with the excerpt paranoidfamous collaboration with Loud, which seems even less runny than usual, as if he wanted to stick to the words of his colleague, measuring very well the seriousness of the theme of the song.
In his text, Lost evokes (sur)life in his neighborhood by drawing a parallel with racial discrimination: to nail the point, he samples an extract from the unfortunate declaration of the former Minister of Immigration Jean Boulet during the last provincial electoral race: “80% of immigrants go to Montreal, do not work, do not speak French or do not adhere to the values of Quebec society,” he said.
Still things to say
“I was flabbergasted to hear that,” says the musician with Cameroonian roots. That an Immigration Minister should say that dismayed me: I speak French very well, like the majority of people I know. It’s insulting to everyone, to all those people who work, those parents who break their backs. Then, although it wasn’t thought out, looking back, I think it’s a very good thing that Loud is in the song. So that we don’t get the wrong fight: let’s face it, we must not turn this into a debate between immigrants and Quebecers. It is a social debate with elected officials who must represent all Quebecers, but who still think in these terms today and who have no embarrassment in expressing themselves in this way. It was, I think, a good idea to use my platform to say it, so that we don’t forget it. »
Lost admits to having considered taking a break “or even stopping, but I don’t thinkLegacy will be my last album. I still have things to say”, and he still needs to take the time to say them.
“It’s not a double album, but an old-school album: before, there were a lot more songs on the albums and these were longer,” says Lost. Me, I’m from the school of songs with three verses, whereas today, the format has changed, we’re talking about one or two verses, with or without a chorus. To be different, in my opinion, is precisely to return to longer songs, with lyrics that stay in your head and age better. That’s what I tried to do with this album: something that we will listen to for a long time. »
“The theme of inheritance, he finally specifies, is linked to my personal life. There are the children, the family, my parents who are aging, the age that I am, what I have built over time, what I have invested in my career, things that I think about and that I become more aware. There is a lot of maturity in this project, that’s the vibes : what we leave, the way I made my mark in rap, then what concerns my private life, what I leave to my children. My role as son, father and husband. »