Paris (AFP)

Disappearance of his mother, endemic withdrawal into oneself, weakening of the health system: Akhenaton, leader of IAM, releases a book and a vinyl to ward off intimate pains and excesses of a society in crisis.

"The hunger of their world" therefore includes an 80-page book, which looks like a collection of poetry / pamphlet (which comes out this Thursday by L'Iconopop editions) and a vinyl with two 19-minute river tracks (French version by Akhenaton and in English by Napoleon Da Legend, a rapper in his galaxy).

The title evokes "the disproportionate appetite of some and of a system which brings us to disaster", as Akhenaton told AFP.

It is also a follow-up given to one of his punchy, solo pieces from 2006, "The end of their world".

Vinyl is an expected medium, since "IAM was part of the movement of the return of the object" as the leader of this emblematic group says.

The book might surprise.

"I was very happy when our texts were exhibited at the Institute of the Arab World, to see + I dance the Mia + written on this book of accounts", he recalls.

And to describe his "deep attachment to writing, to paper, to books: even when I didn't have a lot of money, there was always a place for books in my budget".

- "The dead end" -

Akhenaton started with the idea of ​​"poetry, a reflection on life, in a very Japanese style, like little haikus".

But the death of his mother, in the fall of 2020, set another tone.

"There is a bit of my mother's hand on the writing, a legacy of the discussions I had with her".

The "love of the people" of his progenitor, "activist, trade unionist, with a higher tolerance bar than mine" counterbalances the artist's inclinations towards misanthropy: "When I am angry with men, I would come to wish for a collision with an asteroid (laughs) ".

His text, printed and set to music, depicts in a wide shot "the dead end in which we have oriented the world", ignoring for too long an "ecological approach", or still focuses on those who "think I" instead of "think us".

The health crisis is there in places, even if Akhenaton (52 years old) always takes height, as in interview, by denouncing "the rendering of the public hospital by + cost-killers +".

Budget cutters that he also saw happen in the music industry several years ago.

"These + commercial children + who say to artistic directors, + no, but stop the development (of young talents), put everything on this artist (established) +".

- "Opposition rap" -

"Culture is always at the forefront of society, for good things as well as bad".

IAM has also volunteered for a test concert (constantly postponed) in Marseille to help the world of music face the health crisis.

"With masks, adapted gauges, a concert is no more contaminating than the metro, the train, the plane; we took the TGV to Paris, it was a + live + of very stressed people (laughs)" .

The punchline is never far away.

Like when he talks about mini-albums - another project - where he composes for MC Napoleon Da Legend, "The Whole In My Heart" (La Cosca label).

On one track, the two men are joined by the rapper Nefertiti: "Akhenaton, Napoleon, Nefertiti, it's true that we are on the History channel (laughs)".

But this figure of conscious rap never gives in to gratuitous tackle.

No need to drag him into the field of comparisons between his hip-hop and the lighter one that dominates the charts.

“As long as there is a broad, successful rap, part of it goes pop. It doesn't stop me from sleeping and I don't want to be the rap inquisition tribunal. IAM, we were born with an opposition rap, kids today are born with a rap for everyone. "

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