Posted at 11:00 a.m.
Florian and Olivio Ordonez have been performing albums and tours since 2015. This hectic lifestyle led the two Toulouse rappers to a media break shortly before the pandemic. They were able to “dig inside” of themselves. Several themes such as identity and origins arose during this introspective period.
Born to an Argentinian father and a Franco-Algerian mother, the two brothers sought to unearth their roots. This desire to assume their cultural heritage manifests itself in songs such as Holy shit and Jose and Amara song that pays tribute to their grandfathers, Argentinian and Algerian.
The climate of our society has pushed us to dissect our identity a little, to ask ourselves certain questions, to raise reflections on our place within it all. I also believe that it is the experience and the legitimacy that we have a little more with our career which allowed us to dig into these more personal themes.
Oli
The pandemic will also have allowed Bigflo to “find the fire and the passion”, as he raps in the piece The life after. The eldest had expressed his fatigue and the pressure he felt in the duo’s documentary almost too much streamed on Netflix.
“We fell in the middle of COVID so, as they say in the song I was not here, we didn’t miss much in the end. Flo has rediscovered this ardor and this desire to reach out to the public, to thank them, so that announces only good things for the future, ”explains the youngest.
An assumed artistic freedom
For some purists of the street music genre, the rap of Bigflo and Oli evokes more a calm river than a raging sea. Rap from good students. They assume it and talk about it in their songs The life after and good students.
“Yes, it’s fragile rap, for sad people, rap for those who cry, for the overly sensitive, for big hearts. We take our emotions to fuel the engine, ”they explain in the album.
Now, we fully assume and I have the impression that the more we assume, the more people accept us. We understood it little by little. In rap, sometimes it was hard to find your place because we were a bit marginal.
Oli
Rap enthusiasts are opening up more and more to “sentimental” rap and rap is also evolving, Oli believes. He has the impression that the rules no longer exist and that people can listen to both Booba, king of provocative rap, Bigflo and Oli.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY UNIVERSAL MUSIC
Bigflo and Oli
An eclectic musical opening
“We are in the process of getting out of these boxes and opening the barriers. We are quite proud at our small level of being part of those who brought rap to people who did not necessarily know it, who opened the minds of some, ”underlines the rapper.
From Francis Cabrel to Russ via Tayc, the album also contains many collaborations. This desire to federate musical genres and to get rid of the conventions of rap is also reflected in the Toulouse Rose Festival, created by the two brothers. Rappers and singers from all musical backgrounds will be there in September.
Quebec nostalgia
The two young artists, who reached the North American continent thanks to their collaboration with the American rapper Russ, wish to collaborate with Quebec artists. “We haven’t had an invitation yet, but we are seriously open to rap from your area. I love Loud,” says Oli.
He remembers his first concerts in Quebec in “small theaters”. And the Bell Center, of course. “Beautiful stories” in a place where they have always felt respected.
The dates of Bigflo and Oli’s tour will soon be announced and Quebec will not be forgotten.
“Sometimes we felt more loved in Quebec than in certain cities in France because I believe that people back home have a benevolent, open mentality in music,” says Oli.