Bob Marley, Antonin Artaud, his mother: JoeyStarr tells about his icons

INTERVIEW

A series of names as varied as the influences of a multi-faceted career: guest of Michel Denisot in

on Europe 1, Saturday, JoeyStarr spoke of the personalities who have marked him since his birth in 1967, in Saint-Denis.

And the list goes on, from the activism of Linton Kwesi Johnson to the shattering inspiration of Antonin Artaud.

>> Find all of Michel Denisot's interviews in podcast and replay here

Antonin Artaud, precisely, is the first name cited by JoeyStarr: "It's the skinned side. I also liked his theater period. The guy was really a spectator of his time", relates the rapper about the writer, playwright and actor.

"He still hung out with Van Gogh, the Callas, among others, while being what he was. He tasted the French jail."

Nina Simone and her "aura"

On the music side, the influences are "vast" for the ex of Supreme NTM with Kool Shen.

"It starts with James Brown, with Bob Marley, Prince, even Eddy Mitchell", lists the rapper, who also quotes "Public Enemy".

There is especially the myth Nina Simone, "for everything, the aura, the words, the human".

“It may be surprising, but I also have Philippe Maneuver as an icon,” continues JoeyStarr.

"He also rocked my adolescence with the show 'Sex Machine'. He has always been there. For me, the first real articles that I could read concerning music were written by Philippe Maneuver. I believe that the first biography that I was able to consult, I believe it was James Brown's, and it was Philippe Maneuver that he had written it. " 

"The head in the handlebars" with Arthaud

And how to ignore the influence of his mother in his career?

“A fantastic woman,” says JoeyStarr.

She carried "an unwavering love for her children, even if I was torn from her (by her violent father,

). She always remained very, very dignified. I look at her all the time with oily eyes. may not always understand everything ", but" she remains kind to me ".

With Florence Arthaud, we took opioids, but we did readings

Two other women had a notable importance in the life of JoeyStarr: Béatrice Dalle and Florence Arthaud.

With the latter, who disappeared in 2015 in a helicopter crash, the rapper "did weird stuff, but very good stuff. We put our heads in the handlebars, we took opioids, but we did readings."

Inmate Marny in memory

With JoeyStarr, politics and commitment are never far away.

For him, Pierre-Just Marny is an icon: "He was the person who was imprisoned the longest in France. He did about 40 years in the closet (48 years old,

). And we have this man who is also an icon, Sarkozy, this bastard, who refused to have him released "during his mandate.

The detainee was found dead in his cell in August 2011.

One of those who find favor with his eyes the most is Linton Kwesi Johnson, at the crossroads of art and ideas: "He was an English Rastafarian singer, who also wrote in the

, in the social and political column . He was also a half-poet, half-philosopher, a bit like Artaud. Yes, I think my icon is always someone who also has an eye on society. "