Suspect 95 confirms its status as a spearhead of Ivory rap with its new project Alchemistreleased on November 1st under his label Le Syndicat. In 10 titles, he addresses social subjects with humor, but maturity, such as drug addiction, but also intimate subjects, the side effects of success and fatherhood… Meeting.
RFI Musique: One year after a first album, Suspicious companyacclaimed by critics and the public, what do you still have to prove?
Suspect 95: Ah, we have everything to prove! Music, showbiz, the music industry, it’s about renewing itself every time, it’s about reproving itself every time. You can’t sit on your achievements and say to yourself “Yeah, it’s okay, I accomplished it. » There are rooms that I want to fill, there are events that I want to do, there are stadiums that I want to reach. In other African countries, in France, in Europe, on non-French speaking stages… So there is still everything to prove!
The first title of the project is called “Artist’s Life”. Now that you have found success, what is the life of an artist like?
It’s a title that I wanted to write to show people behind the scenes. Between the start of the career and the first notable achievements, what most people think on social media is very different from what is happening in reality. Popularity comes before money, that’s showbiz. You make yourself known, you appear in the media, and people imagine extraordinary profitability. I wanted to encourage indulgence in the public towards the artists, to show the reality behind the media success.
Was this your case?
Totally! When I appeared on television, for my family, my friends, my audience, I had become rich overnight. When in reality, I won absolutely nothing! When I released the title that revealed me, “Enfant de boss”, I was still living with my mother. And then showbiz is up and down. When it goes up, we are told that we are the best, and when it goes down a little, we are quickly abandoned and we are vomited everywhere. Those who remain loyal are often fans from the start.
However, your music has evolved a lot, especially in this latest project…
Yes, at the beginning I was much more ego tripmuch more convincing. Much more… street. But as my career evolved, I began to have new realities. I started to have a family, children… My reality changed.
Is that what you talk about in the song “What’s waiting for you”?
This is what I call my “contraceptive piece” (laugh). It’s to tell people: if you want to have children, you have to be ready for what awaits you! It’s done with humor, but it’s a theme that I wouldn’t have sung about before. I was more into the classic themes of Ivory rap, “I’m the best”, all that. The same goes for the title “Holyghost”, which is aimed at people who have addictions. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have bothered to sing this kind of song. Now that I have entered showbiz, where addictions are legion and where I have witnessed many things, I am better able to approach the subject.
So you evolved towards deeper texts?
Deeper, yes, more sensitive too. Alchemist is a sort of mixture of what I basically do, what people have known me for, that is to say the ego trip, and what I want to offer now. Even though I have evolved, I still have that in me. And so I wanted to do this little mix to create this alchemy between everything that I am.
Precisely, the title “Alchemist” comes from the book by Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist ?
Yes, it’s a book which… I wouldn’t say which changed my life, but which marked me personally, through this story of quest, of “personal legend”. And so I wanted to draw a parallel with the title of the project. If it were up to me, I would have included 50 interludes of passages that touched me! But I was only able to include two, those which had a link with the pieces. Like this one: “A quest begins with the beginner’s luck, and ends with the conqueror’s trial. »
What is your state of mind when releasing this new project?
For my first album, Suspicious companyI had done a lot of calculations, I had started the promotion six months before. But Alchemistit’s a spontaneous project. I announced the project two weeks before, I released a music video a week before… It’s a different approach. Before, I really liked mystery, enigmas… I left all that behind.
When will you perform these new songs on stage?
We’re preparing a big concert at the Parc des Expositions, I’m not going to give the date. We are also planning a concert in France in 2025. But it is a two-part project, and the rest will arrive very quickly.
With international collaborations?
Yes, more than for “Alchemist” where I stayed at home. I sang with Roseline Layo on “Explanations”, who is already a star, but I also wanted to highlight artists like Kawid, Lord Samosa, Toto le Banzou and Arii, who are less known, but of whom I enjoys the work. I entered the light thanks to the help of certain people, like Bebi Philip who invited me in 2012 on her single “Tomorrow belongs to you”. I told myself it was time to give back.
A favorite title in the project?
I don’t like this question! (laughs) Because it will influence people. I really like the whole project. It’s not my favorite title, but I like “What awaits you”, because it reminds me of the reality I experienced with my daughter, it’s sentimental. She is six years old. And her, on the other hand, her favorite title is “Holyghost”! When I take her to school in the morning, it’s always “Holyghost” that she asks for, even if she doesn’t understand what it means. I come from a Christian family and we listen to a lot of religious songs, so it particularly touches her. But she doesn’t understand at all “What awaits you”, and that’s good! Otherwise, she’ll start asking me questions, and there are things I’m not ready to explain at the moment (laughing).
Suspect 95 Alchemist (the Union) 2024