Paris (AFP)

The artist does not consider himself to be a "singer with pussy" and wants us to read a deeper subject in his new album which is released on Friday.

"I was not understood, I was casé as a singer with little girls, who tries to make the hit of the summer. It does not suit me at all. I try to have more finesse", underlines the 35-year-old rapper / singer in an AFP interview.

Rap has exploded in recent years and he is one of those who have accompanied him towards variety, such as Gims, Soprano or Soolking. Leaving from the Bondy MJC (Seine-Saint-Denis), Lartiste has linked the hits with his festive style, his flights of autotune, his collaborations with international artists. "Chocolat" (2017), his "hymn to the black woman" in duet with singer Awa Imani, has exceeded 425 million views on Youtube.

In his new album "Comme avant" (NuDeal / Because), illustrated by a photo of him as a child, he always sings the party, the love stories à la Bonnie & Clyde, but also success and its cost, or violence temptress.

"The messages are not necessarily in the words, they can be in the + featuring + (the collaborations, note), or only in the intro", underlines Lartiste, always smiling, slender and slick. "I never gave a gram of my soul to feed myself," he rapped in "The song". In "Protect me", he talks about the efforts made not to give in to the devil.

From his real name Youssef Akdim, the rapper arrived from Morocco as a child, joining his father, employed in foundries. He was first seen as a footballer before being noticed by his couplets.

- "Animal in studio" -

The artist was inspired by his name by a robber of the film "Heat" by Michael Mann, but also chose it "because in the suburbs people do not dare to call themselves artists. Elsewhere, guys pose monochrome, we are in awe of it. And you have guys who take the lead to write beasts of text and belittle themselves by saying, no it's nothing, it's rap, it's the street ".

Since its beginnings, it plays without limits with the autotune, which it helped to launch in France with Booba. This software which transforms the voice into a "synthesizer", allowing you to always sing just, allows you to "overcome all blockages when you do not have the vocal capacities", explains Lartiste.

After the failure of his previous album in 2019, Lartiste went hunting in the mountains of his Berber grandparents. "I met incredible people there, I gained in humanity," says Lartiste. "I tried to think about what is wrong with us. (...) It's all this competition between artists, brands, ideas, skin colors, religions. To be truly free, there must detach from it. "

He said he no longer looked at the list of top albums and had fun on "Comme avant". He finds there the rapper of Brazilian origin Caroliina, with whom he had recorded the tube "Mafiosa" in 2019, for a sensual title based on a sample of Edith Piaf. He also raps with the Guyanese dancehall star Bamby and offers an unexpected duo with Sofia Mestari, who had represented France at Eurovision in 2000. He finally highlights the proteges of his NuDeal label, like Sheyrine or Mizi.

The artist does not deliver the magic formula to multiply the millions of views, but speaks of his "physical" relationship to his music in his Paris studio. "Like an alchemist, I try to find the formula to make it work. I call it acid peels. I turn like an animal in the studio when I have a good idea, like a feline looking for his prey".

© 2020 AFP