Six years after the unexpected success of his songGayeFouKi has become a must for our musical landscapeperhaps even the most important male pop star of the hour in Quebec, so much so that thousands of fans await him in April for two ambitious concerts, one at Place Bell, the other at the Videotron Centre. The 26-year-old rapper’s fourth solo album, Zayon, marks in his eyes the beginning of a new chapter in his career. “It’s as if I was turning a page and starting a new stage,” he confides to the Duty. With this album, everything changed in my work ethic, in my musical approach, in my lyrics, which I really worked on. It is the beginning of a new era. »
A new era that he marks from the outset: the first song of the album is called Cowboyit has symbolic value, FouKi articulating in it a reflection preoccupied by the state of the world: “Whoever it is who makes the decisions / Too many people have had permissions / It’s useless to put on a bandage on a bandage / Must first stop the infection, ”he raps before worrying about the health of our planet.
This contrasts with the image that the public has formed of the musician who could be described as the “good guy” of Quebec rap: his jovial side, his colorful expressions, his allusions to gastronomic and psychotropic pleasures, that implacable smile harmonizing with his voice stuffed with a hope that the world is still less ugly than what he says in Cowboy.
Breaking the image of the one who would be “Ricardo’s favorite rapper”, he quips on What it takes, excellent collaboration with the legend Imposs. The gesture is deliberate: “I’ve done songs before hard, but it was never the ones that worked, he comments. It doesn’t matter, I don’t care, I make music first for myself; on the other hand, I like the albums which start with a slap – like with the best high school teachers who tighten the screw at the beginning of the session and unscrew as you go to see the reaction of the class”, adding to have planted some other comments about the company in We And heart of my city.
“Yes, I’m a good guy, but every good guy can also be conscious, says FouKi. Just because I love humor, good food and smoking bats doesn’t mean I don’t have an awareness of what’s going on in the world. These kinds of thoughts inspired me a lot more during the pandemic, especially because I could feel it, on the street, in everyday life. Small details of what is wrong and which deserved songs”, obviously taking care not to appropriate stories that he did not live or to invent a character. “It wouldn’t be authentic if I did. That’s what the funwith rap, authenticity. If you want to rap that you’re in your pajamas eating donuts, people will recognize that it’s true. »
From 1 to 99 years old
Don’t worry, the crazy FouKi is still showcased on Zayonfrom hilarious cover art to optimistic Perspective at the end of the album. The kind and welcoming FouKi, the one who enjoys popularity among 7 to 77 year olds. “More still: from 1 to 99 years old! ” he adds, admitting that he sees no contradiction between the transgenerational appeal of his work and the rigor of rap: “The rap with which I grew up is that of A Tribe Called Quest, of Eminem, Wu-Tang Clan, the whole gang. But afterwards, I have so many other musical influences: my mother who danced samba when I was younger and loves reggae, my father who likes more experimental music, I grew up in the music of Africa, America Latin and Caribbean. »
Rap, he adds, is now a sponge of diverse musical influences, and this is how it has been able to expand its influence in popular music. “Children, adults, grandparents, it doesn’t matter who likes what I do, as long as I like what I do myself. And then, if the children like my music, that means that the children of Quebec are cool ! »
The evolution in his work — or what he calls the beginning of a new era — can be heard, felt. Zayon is his most concise album in terms of ideas and sounds, the best defined in orchestrations and rhythms (FouKi composed several himself, always supported by his faithful DJ Quiet Mike). We will be surprised not to find a collaboration with Jay Scøtt, they who imagined together Copilot, one of the biggest pop hits of recent years. It’s only a postponement, promises FouKi.
We will then be surprised not to detect the influence of reggae, which has contributed so much to define his style and his musical personality. Even allusions to gastronomy and jokes about cannabis went to sit at the back of the bus: “I didn’t do it so much in a conscious way, although I sure am a little, but above all I felt the need not to become a copy of myself. I’ve talked about it so much, weed, can I talk about something else? Even I got tired of talking about it! »
For the listener, he believes, this evolution will seem “subtle to the ear”, he qualifies. “In any case, maybe not everyone will realize it, but we, musically, we have the feeling of having pushed the songs further than we did before. For example, I still do drafts of texts, first drafts, but I rework them more. Sometimes to sing just a word, a comma, saying to myself: “These two stanzas could be even better.” “The songs go straight to the point, FouKi continues. There’s no filler on the album — we’ve left several songs aside, including a reggae tune, a more pop collaboration with Corneille and a “very seventies “With Ariane Moffatt and Pierre Lapointe, confides the rapper. “I didn’t reject them because they were bad, only because they were less in line with the spirit of the album. On Zayon, I wanted every song to spank. I listened to them again as if someone else had recorded them and they made me want to put them on my favorites list right away. »
The next step in the new chapter of his career will be written in a few weeks at the Videotron Center and at Place Bell. “I’m not nervous yet, it will happen later,” he swears, referring to the scenographic possibilities of scenes of this magnitude. Just at Place Bell, he hopes to sell at least 7,000 tickets: “With my team, we imagined that we could have tried to break the concert record at Charlotte Cardin’s MTelus, but that’s not what I want. . What I want is one showbut one show legendary, the show which I will remember all my life, the public too. »
“My goal is to give the show of the year, nothing less” says FouKi in a convinced tone. “There will be a lot of musicians, brass, choirs, dancers, guests, and I’m keeping the rest a secret, but it will come. Hey, I’ve been riding a stationary bike for three months to make sure I arrive in good shape and not feel tired on stage! »