Rapper Meryl releases her mixtape "Day before caviar". - Ojoz

  • After some initial successes such as "Blessed" or "Ah Lala", Meryl launches out with its first mixtape "Day before caviar".
  • Originally from the Saint-Esprit in Martinique, the rapper notably made her weapons as a “topliner” and hides behind large rap tubes.

Meryl sets off to attack the French "rap game". Originally from the Holy Spirit in Martinique, the rapper is releasing her first mixtape titled Jour avant caviar this Friday. A “business card” before the album, specifies the 24-year-old artist who does not want to skip the steps. "We arrive unpretentious and we must also mark an evolution," she said.

If his name is still little known (but deserves to be), it's a safe bet that his music has already resounded in your head. For good reason, beyond the first few big hits to his credit (notably Ah Lala which has more than 6 million views on YouTube), Meryl is hiding behind other great successes and big names in hexagonal rap… Because before take off, the artist made his weapons as a "topliner".

A bath of cultures

At first glance, Meryl seems to have a relatively “classic” career. Passionate about music since she was very young - especially thanks to her father who encouraged her to develop her musical ear -, the young woman launched into rap at the dawn of adulthood. She collaborates in particular with Specta, a rapper from the Martinican underground, with whom she signs the title Agression textuelle .

She then forges a world very marked rap, but not only. "When you grow up in the Antilles, you grow up with the hip-hop movement, the compa, the zouk, the socca, the dance hall ... I didn't necessarily listen to rap every day, but I was bathed in a lot of cultures different, ”she explains. It is with an edgy and heady rap, mixing French and Creole that the young woman finds her audience. She exploded with the title Béni in early 2019, and performed on several stages of overseas festivals, in Martinique or even in Guadeloupe.

A shadow woman?

So far, nothing very original, except for one detail. After obtaining her baccalaureate, going to Montpellier, studying economic and social administration and then in real estate, Meryl decided to put her talent at the service of others. She then launched out as a lyricist and “topliner”. Topliner? "Structure a melody so that the sound is optimized, accessible as much as possible," she explains. In general, we call topliners when looking for bangers or sounds that affect everyone. In other words, give birth to large tubes that stay well in the head. This is the case of Niska and her title From Monday to Monday , which she composes with the beatmaker Pyroman. She also hides behind The SCH code , Ninja by Soprano or Liquid by rapper Shay.

A shadow woman? “We are not ghostwriters , we are not there to be hidden. It is a profession and we are credited. The artist is already a topliner, he sings, he writes his texts, calling on others is just to optimize the chances of being bankable, ”she adds. And this is now the objective that Meryl aims for herself: “The topliner side was a door to enter the industry. I seized the opportunities that presented themselves to me and voila ”.

A mixtape that does not lack ambition

Here is the mixtape Jour avant caviar , his first solo project behind which we find his companions Le Motif (author / director) or Pyroman and Junior Alaprod. "The best of beatmakers in France right now," she says. An “unpretentious” project that does not lack ambition: “Caviar is the food of a certain class in society, and when you are not in that class, you dream of it. I don't know what it tastes like but the day it does, I can say if it's good or if it was better before. ” Desires of caviar which accompany dreams of fortune, a theme very present in his texts. "Like anyone who lives in modest environments, on the verge of precariousness and who is fed up, she answers this. We are not made to live like that, to survive. Yes I dream of having money, lots of money. But it's like caviar, I don't know what it really brings. I want to be rich, but I don't know what will become of me, and that's what scares you a little. ”

In the meantime, she takes advantage of her growing notoriety to give a helping hand to others, as during her week Rap Planet on Skyrock, where she invited artists like Jahyanai, Bamby or Tiitof: "I wanted to have these guests, and nobody else. I invited all the gratin of what is done at home, in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti ... There we are not necessarily recognized, the media do not necessarily want to play the game so I took advantage to change mentalities. At the start I admit that I did it naturally but it took on such a scale ... Me, it seemed normal to do it. "

Like caviar, success could not be long in coming for Meryl, as well as a first album planned for the year, and concert dates in the spring.

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  • Caviar
  • Album
  • Culture
  • Rap
  • Martinique