Little known in Quebec, the young Montreal rapper Rowjay fills his venues in France and elsewhere in Europe. Its web listening statistics are also among the highest in its music category. What seemed to have started as a joke in the realm of “ignorant rap” is becoming an exploding popular phenomenon.
This “ignorant rap” is a musical form with an often atonal or arrhythmic flow, whose text content is “ignorant”, in opposition to “conscious” rap. Deliberately, these rappers address superficial subjects, such as money or gangsterism, on a flow who does not always follow the tempo and often without concern for the rhyme. In Quebec — and even in the French-speaking world — the Web phenomenon Roi Heenok was one of the pioneers of the style. More recently, Jeune Loup was one of the torchbearers, until his assassination in 2021.
Since then, Rowjay has clearly been the “ big dog » of this niche, which he forges and adapts to his creative universe. Born in Saint-Léonard, with Italian roots, the 28-year-old has been active musically since 2014. This journey has led him to the status of rap star throughout the French-speaking world, culminating this fall with a 12-date European tour. On September 19, Rowjay launched this trip to La Cigale, where he had a full house, chanting with his fans: “Montreal, I’m in this shit / Saint-Léonard, I’m in this shit / In Paris, I ‘m in this shit / In Brussels, I’m in this shit / In Geneva, I’m in this shit / Barcelona, I’m in this shit / Fast life, I’m in this shit. »
A few days before flying to Europe, in mid-September, the rapper made an appointment with Duty at the Olimpico café in Mile-End. He takes a seat on a bench outside the Italian café, among the colorful and lively crowd on the corner of Saint-Viateur and Waverly. This is not at all the setting in which we would place a rapper, but he fits perfectly into the panorama. He sips an iced coffee, rolls a joint, regularly stops to greet friends and fans who shake hands with him, discusses vigorously about his career, his new album Fast life (published in June 2024) and is surprised by the global reach that his music is taking on. “I have guys who want me booker to Reunion Island! It is fucking far. It’s really international, my thing. In Ivory Coast, I am starting to bump. It’s a phenomenon. This is the Internet. »
He speaks with pride about the impressive results his music garners across various streaming platforms. On Spotify, he is one of the most streamed rappers in Quebec. According to statistics recently published by the xtend platform, it is located somewhere in the top-20 with nearly 140,000 monthly listeners.
I have guys who want to book me on Reunion Island! That’s “fucking” far. It’s really international, my thing. In Ivory Coast, I’m starting to “bump”. It’s a phenomenon.
Local rap is exported
In February 2024, Loud headlined a major concert at the Olympia in Paris, supported by seven other local rappers. The major Quebec media were enthusiastic about this success, and with good reason. But why wasn’t Rowjay part of it, when it’s working really well for him there? “I think that, musically, I don’t fittais not on this line-up“there,” he says, without bitterness. For him, this show was more of a showcase for Quebec rap, the objective of which was to develop an audience there with a bang.
In his case, his audience is already waiting for him. Its tours serve to meet demand. And Paris isn’t the only place where things are a hit for him. He will end his journey with a date in Switzerland before returning to Europe in January 2025 for a Belgian tour. The observation is obvious, Fast life by Rowjay appeals to European audiences. But the Quebec media interest in his successes is in no way comparable to that shown towards Loud.
The one we also call “Young Finesseur” has a lot to say about the music industry in Quebec, but, once again, we don’t feel bitter. His focus is on his goals. “Don’t worry that I don’t care about your siblings / I’m not waiting for him co-sign of my homeland,” he raps in his piece Fast life explained. In the same song, he gives his angle of attack: “I’m taking the TGV First Class, unheard of / Don’t worry, Europe is being invaded”.
Finisher and entrepreneur
His strategy for making himself known there? First, he goes there often, and for a long time. As part of this tour, “I will spend 70 days in France,” he says. Year in, year out, he spends around 40% of his time in Europe. Secondhis business partner and DJ for European tours lives on the east side of the big pond. But, apart from this team member, it is completely independent that he leads his boat, and it is not a small boat. Rowjay is at the helm of a luxurious little Ferretti yacht with a transatlantic reach.
The rapper completely assumes his role as an entrepreneur. “I went to ESG at UQAM, then I left school to do what I learned there,” he says. Everything lights up. Rowjay knows how to run a business. Its success is not a miracle, but a matter of know-how. Behind the ignorant or arrogant character, it depends, there is truly a strategist. The in-depth knowledge of his market and his listening statistics comes from this facet of his personality.
His business acumen also allowed him to seize golden artistic opportunities. His multiple collaborations (which we call featin the jargon) opened doors for him. “I must be 10 or 15 feats with European rappers,” he believes. Caballero & JeanJass, Bon Gamin, Hamza, Alpha Wann, Mister V and La Fève are among them. And these collaborations, he specifies, he did not go and beg them from the artists. “I adapted my strategy after they came for me,” he adds. There are rappers from there who have been listening to me since 2015.”
A born “showman”
Truth be told, the rapper is inseparable from the persona he presents on his social media. Its contents, often humorous, allow us to better understand it. He has a strong influence on X, he used Twitch particularly during the pandemic and his Instagram account is the main place where he is active with lives and publications, but also with the use of an account for his alter ego “Jeune finisseur”.
Thus, Rowjay’s true finesse is perhaps found in his ease in handling contrasts: entrepreneur and artist, Italian and Quebecois, strategist and ignorant.
After Europe, he will return to Quebec to tour the province. “In France, I don’t think I have reached my ceiling. I still have room to grow there. But if there is a place where I can really develop a market, we will say it, it is in Quebec. Here, I certainly haven’t reached my ceiling! »