There were sparks at QUB radio on Monday: Sophie Durocher and Pierre-Yves Lord engaged in a verbal battle on the state of French among Quebec artists. At the heart of this storm: Jay Scøtt, alias Pier-Luc Jean Papineau.
For neophytes, remember that the artist cheerfully mixes French and English. For example, in his song Take me Homethe artist sings “Lost in my dark thoughts / When I get stoned they become multicolored / For regarding 20 minutes / So I get up / Wake up / Bake like a cake / Pu d’cub fuck off / J ‘call sick at work’.
“Rendered there, it’s more French, pleads Sophie Durocher. It’s sad if that’s how he talks in everyday life.”
But beware ! For Mr. Lord, the facilitator is on the wrong track.
“He speaks modern French, but I don’t think he’s turning his back on French,” said the new ambassador for the La Francofête 2023 event.
Whether we are on one side or the other, the two delivered a well-felt plea in the language of Molière, raising the question very clearly: should artists adopt the language of the street, or express in good French? After all, some say it’s a beautiful language with great words, while for others, French is cool because it’s hot when you speak it well. It’s up to you to make up your mind…