Author, songwriter, singer, rapper, producer and TV host for more than two decades, Marieme released her third album last Friday, entitled Mario. “Because it’s my alter ego, my nickname since I was little,” she clarifies at the end of the cell phone, between Quebec, where she lives, and Ottawa, where she is going for a shoot.
“I was improvising when I was younger, they called me Mario; I played basketball with the guys, on the court they called me Mario. This title fits well with the spirit of the album, as if to ask that I be called what I want. “
“It looks like they always want to put me in a box,” continues Marieme Ndiaye, full of energy on this gray Monday morning in November. “Like: Aren’t you the girl who sings and does TV?” Or the girl from the TV who sings? “La Noire” here in Quebec, “la Blanche” over there in Senegal … Always these stories of labels. So I said to myself: Mario has always been me. This is what I claim on my album. “
Mario, the album that she had never been able to make, that is to say “assumed, without complexes or compromises. Casually, I’m getting old – it seems I still look young, but I’ve been here for a long time! -, so I assume. It has a hip-hop energy, even though it’s a pop album; my director calls it “street pop”, I don’t hate it at all. And I believe the timing is good for throwing it, since it looks like there are more ears for this sound, and more radiance given to this music. “
His third solo album in ten years, preceded by the success, to say the least, of the R & B / soul / pop project CEA. The list of collaborators invited to Mario shows the respect that the community has for the host and musician: Lost and White-B from the 5Sang14 collective, Izzy-S, the veterans Imposs, Sans Pression and Barnev, the sisters Sarahmée and Shah Frank, her brother Webster and the old accomplice Souldia. “Music is never very far from me, like a latent desire, if I may say so. “
The return
Mario marks her comeback in music, after having developed projects with the St Laurent TV box, which she co-founded. On screen, we saw her recently on Télé-Québec’s Web platform (La Fabrique culturelle) with her concept Le cœur sur le flow, a series of interviews with local rappers (Sarahmée, Calamine, Rymz, Imposs, Dramatik, among others). At the time of our interview, she was going to continue filming episodes for the next season of General tour with its co-hosts Bryan Audet and Olivier Nadon, a look at the realities of Francophone communities in Canada broadcast on TV5 / UnisTV.
Marieme will also spend part of the summer in the Canadian capital for the summer magazine All inclusive, broadcast throughout the network. “Obviously, Ottawa wants me! She laughs.
It was high time. “I have always been a underdog, but I believe that slowly, we begin to recognize my value, so to speak. Because I often had the impression of being “the difference” because I did not represent Quebec. I had disappointments with it, even in television, and yet, I studied in it, I worked in it, if I turned to television, it is precisely because I do not didn’t recognize it. “
A collective awakening
The wind is finally turning, perceives Marieme. “In any case, I think there is a will for things to evolve. [À la suite de la mort de George Floyd et avec l’émergence du mouvement Black Lives Matter], we have witnessed a collective awakening, the awareness of a reality that I have lived every day since I was born. I’ve been fighting for this for years, a Quebec that also looks like us on TV. We must highlight artists who reach everyone, including cultural communities, since they also deserve a place. I am optimistic that this is changing, but we are starting from afar. “
These themes are obviously addressed in the mixed pop of reggae, rap and R&B that the musician offers us on her new album. “I’m a black woman who works in hip-hop, and I’m proud to say that there are ears for that today. »Time for revenge for Marieme? ” The payback. I like that, that word! “