From the first notes of his new album, V, published Friday, February 4, Vald gives all the elements of the style that has established him as one of the best French rappers of his generation. To illustrate the flow of information on the pandemic, he delivers a sound mush from which only key words emerge: We are at war ” Where ” sanitary pass “. In a few bars, he depicts the current climate on a funky rhythm, like one of his previous hits, out of tune, mixing biographical elements – “ I did 6 months of Covid, I lost 15 lokis –, the slogan of Adidas – “ Nothing is impossible anymore – to provocations – “I am a conspirator” – all in a burlesque, funny, quirky tone.
When he was younger, this obsession to never be right-thinking, to always make fun of everything, played tricks on him, in particular the use in a clip of nauseating references such as the quenelle of Dieudonné. Now more mature, Vald strips away what was toxic in his speech, the nasty tackles to his fellow rappers meant to create buzz on the internet. He keeps just enough insolence not to be completely smooth.
Rimes multisyllabiques
For this new disc on the cover of which there is a simple QR code, Vald did not make fun of his fans, whom he calls his “ien-cli” (“customers” in verlan). They, on their social networks – Youtube, Tweeter, Instagram – nicknamed themselves “Vald FC”. The rapper from Seine-Saint-Denis has indeed many supporters, as diligent and hysterical as those of a football team. Playing on transparency, he recounts in detail the frenetic life of a successful rapper, his shoddy marketing plans, his management errors for the title. On a new album. In this song, he promises not to abuse the trust of his fans, remembering the “ien-cli” that he himself was.
His rap, Vald considers it a sport where you have to be the strongest. He multiplies multisyllabic rhymes, tries out several flows on music essentially composed by his faithful beatmaker, Seezy. On Pandemic or Papoose, where he grooves in a remarkable way, he shows the extent of his American rapological references. He slows down his flow to A word and on the title Who is listening? continues on an electronic music composed among others by Danny Synthé for Look at you. With Orelsan, he performs in duet Peon, invites the Belgian rapper Hamza and the rookie Suikon Blaze AD, with whom he had already recorded Who says better, in collaboration with Casseurs Flowteurs.
Vald can be as casual as he is profound, modest as he is eccentric. In Anunnaki, in reference to Mesopotamian mythology, it turns out to be more depressive than ever, undermined by the absurdity of life but from the following title, Drop it, he pulled himself together.
With this new album, Vald will delight his Vald FC. He affirms his style there, critical of society without pushing open doors as he tells in conscious rapper. However, he remains in his comfort zone, not yet mature enough to write a real love song – he tries it with Damn -, he who, however, had once thought of recording a sentimental album.
V, 1 CD Echelon Records/Sony Music.