Sinik tells his story in the autobiography “A Wonderful Time”

Every day, a personality invites itself into the world of Élodie Suigo. Friday May 3, 2024: rapper and tattoo artist, Sinik. He has just published an autobiographical book, “A wonderful era” with Faceschées Éditions.

Sinik is one of the most notable rappers of the 2000s, discovered through the group L’amalgame, in 1996. His first solo album, The hand on the heart, had the effect of a bomb. Yet without notoriety, it ranked number 1 in sales upon its release. He sold 1,400,000 copies of his solo albums and eventually reached the top of the world by keeping his cool in his so-called “zone”.prohibited“.

Today he publishes A wonderful time at Hidden Faces Éditions. Obviously, for fans, we think of his song, the one he released and which recounted his childhood in Les Ulis. A song and therefore a book based and built on the hope of getting through despite the pitfalls of life.

franceinfo: This autobiographical book is the summary of your journey and what made you the artist and the man you have become?

Sinik: It’s exactly that. I did it musically for many years and what really made me love this project was that it was another way of telling stories. I also had more space to detail certain things. People who have listened to me musically will understand better, perhaps certain songs, certain punchlines, etc. There you go, it was a way of starting from scratch by telling your life story, something that I have always done, in the end.

You give us keys to who you are. You were born Thomas Gérard Idir, in Paris, to a French mother and an Algerian Kabyle father. Your mother was 1.58 m tall, but had a love for others tenfold. Whether it was in prison where you had been several times, whether it was at the bottom of the social ladder or whether it was as a star, she always loved you the same. What did this mom give you the most?

All. Motivation, love, encouragement. I think this is specific to almost all mothers, all mothers in the very noble sense of the word. For me, it was a landmark. I don’t confide a lot because, in my generation, we guys aren’t really the type to call friends to confide, etc. I didn’t listen much and in the end, I realized that I always came back to my mother. I spoke with her for hours on the phone.

“My mother was more than a mother. She was a shoulder, a listener.”

His disappearance is a trauma, you say.

Yes. It was very hard. I still have a little difficulty realizing it today.

You admit that you slipped very quickly towards delinquency. You say it was really the easy way out. There is an episode that you recount where a robbery was actually canceled at the last second. That day, you realized that you had missed something irreparable.

Yes. We tried for the first time. It didn’t work because the manager of the gas station we wanted to rob wasn’t there. We wanted to do it a second time. There was this battery problem, so we said to ourselves: “Well, we’re not going to try it a third time“. And in the meantime, I went to prison for a very short sentence. It was a trigger because I perceived it as a sign. I said to myself: you should have been there for much longer than you I have to stop, it’s a sign I was given a chance and from now on, things have to change.

“I was fed up with this life of delinquency because it’s an exhausting, stressful life. You’re not happy every day. That’s it, this failed robbery was a trigger to stop.”

The starting point is The Amalgam with this group effect but necessary. You needed, not to hide, but we understand that you needed others to be born.

Initially, there is a reassuring side of the group effect. There are several of us, we work together, there is a collective thing, a kind of osmosis between everyone. It’s much simpler to start. Afterwards, I had so much to say that the amount of what I could say in a group was not enough for me. That’s why I quickly went solo.

In 2022, you announced that you wanted to retire. Music takes a back seat today and yet it feels like you can never live without it. Besides, there you go back on stage.

That’s the real pleasure. This is the real fun. When I announce the end of my career, for me, it means making albums. I’ve been around, but I remain passionate about music and performing on stage is the very essence of being an artist. And play A wonderful time, other sounds that marked a generation, it’s always a huge pleasure. It’s something. Seeing this audience again who has always followed me, honestly, it’s a delight. We all grew up together, we find ourselves on stage and it seems like a kind of group of friends who haven’t seen each other for a while. There is this really very family side that I really like.

Hip-hop at the very beginning was a multidisciplinary art, mixing graphics, sound, dance, etc. Graphic design is part of your daily life today since you do tattoos. Likewise, was the love of drawing part of you?

As a kid, it was one of my first passions. I spent hours drawing. And today, I find myself a little in this artistic fiber. I opened salons. For years I managed them and I later learned to tattoo because I wanted to rediscover some of that taste for drawing that I always loved and that I never really let go of.

Sinik will be in concert on June 29 in Nice, August 3 in La-Seyne-sur-Mer and August 16 in Toulouse.