Soprano, singer, rapper and composer, has become in a few years a staple of the urban scene and French variety. The symbol that everything is possible if we keep passion and desire as the only engines.
He is spending this week on franceinfo and talks about his childhood in the northern districts of Marseille, his group Psy 4 de la rime, his meeting with Akhenaton from IAM or his solo career, without ever losing his smile and his benevolent gaze. on the world around him.
More than three million records sold, more than a million spectators during his last tour. A series has even been dedicated to him on Disney + since June 15. Six episodes to better understand who Soprano is, how he grew up and perceive his unbreakable link with the city of Marseille, which played a major role in his creative and writing process.
His last album, star huntercame out increased by three new titles.
franceinfo: Comorian family, your father was the handyman on oil tankers, your mother a cleaning lady. Despite the difficulties, was the family the course?
Soprano: Still. They arrived in a country where they did not speak the language well, with very physical jobs and yet they managed to raise five children. I say to myself: but how did they do it? My parents really have examples and they took a lot on themselves. So, I think I inherited a bit of their strength because it is a strength.
You were born Said M’Roumbaba. You are the eldest of the family… The big brother…
Yep, you don’t see that often. A lot of people think my little brothers are my big brothers. It’s funny.
You grew up in the northern district of Marseille, first in Plan d’Aou, then in Balusters, and you made it a strength!
“It was important for me to be able to show that in neighborhoods you can build great things.”
That’s it. Afterwards, we don’t close our eyes to everything that happens in the neighborhoods, but precisely, that’s what gives us a little fuel to be able to move forward.
Rap came very quickly. It was first a writing to be able to exorcise his demons, to tell things?
The first time I had this contact with writing was in the French variety. Rap came in relation to identity. I looked towards the United States, we saw rap, we saw American series and I recognized myself there. The story of Arnold and Willy was talking to me, I was also watching The prince of Bel-Air. And when we saw the American rappers who came from the neighborhoods and who were building something strong, big and global, that spoke to me a lot. French rap arrived and I came across IAMs, MC Solaar and everything I liked about French variety, with lyrics by Cabrel, Jean-Jacques Goldman or Balavoine brought me into the rap because it was my identity, me who loved the texts.
You have always had this family spirit and you are going to recreate a family with friends, cousins also with the Psy 4 de la rime. Is this where you will learn to tame the microphone?
The first time we did a little gig with my band was in my neighborhood during the final of a basketball tournament. There was a small truck where there was a small stage to give the Prize. We arrived : “Can we sing?“We gave away our little cassettes and it’s true that’s where it started. We did a lot of concerts, there was no internet at the time to make ourselves known. There was no than the concerts and word of mouth that allowed us to be able to do a concert in another neighborhood or in another city.
There is a boy who will believe in you very quickly, it is Akhenaten. He will totally fall for you, so much so that he will allow you to sign your first album under his label. Was it a necessary big brother?
But if there is not Akhenaten, IAM who make this choice to come to us and say to us: “I believe in you, we release a record“, maybe I wouldn’t be there.
Psy 4 de la rime will work very quickly and in parallel, you will still absolutely want to set up a solo career. Why ?
We took the example of IAM. What held their group together were the solos. It allowed them to be able to develop the ideas and styles they wanted. And us, it was the same with the Psy 4. I had many, many songs and my group and my friends said to me: “Vtake them out and as soon as you finish your album, we bring out a group album. Afterwards, each one, each time, will come out with one and that will allow us to be super happy to find each other without hitting each other on seeing each other as old couples.“.
Since you have to live go outside. It’s really the first solo brand where Soprano really appears. You are also inspired by the Soprano series in which the hero confides in a psychoanalyst. More than 200 000 copies sold, you understand at this time that you are on the launch pad?
At the beginning, this album was an album to cure me of my demons, of my depressions. I needed to empty my bag. And suddenly, when I saw that there were a lot of people who were going through the same thing as me, a lot of young people who recognized themselves in my texts, that marked me a little.
“I didn’t expect so much success with ‘Puisqu’il faut vivre’. It was from there and from the song ‘À la bien’ that it started to go beyond the borders of rap.”
It’s funny because Has a well will become a hymn of good humor. In fact, it will become your anthem too and what defines you the most !
Even today, there are people who tell me: Has a well ! While it’s been I don’t know how many years since I did it. But yes, it defines me because there is this Marseille side. This is my city, this is my blood. I love Marseilles. And there is also this slightly cool side, this desire to be able to bring something positive.
And each time, the sentence that people say is precisely: “We want to be part of this positive side that you bring because precisely, everything that surrounds us is very negative or can be anxiety-provoking.“. So with my teams and my friends, it’s a point of honor, even when sometimes it’s going badly, people can see me on the stage, but they don’t feel it. It’s really important to me.
Soprano will be in concert in 2023: February 13 in Epernay, 24 in Toulon, 25 in Montpellier, March 4 in Amnéville, 11 and 12 in Nantes, 17 in Châteauroux, 18 and 19 in Dijon or even on May 6 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.