In a concert hall in Courbevoie, in the Hauts-de-Seine, this March 2, SDM applies. In a few days, the rapper is going on tour with a pianist and a DJ and, unlike some of his colleagues, he does not neglect rehearsals. The giant over 1.90 meters wants to put the odds on his side. He notably rehearsed with a scenic coach, Vicelow, a former member of the Saïan Supa Crew collective, who, in the early 2000s, had achieved great success with the albums KLR et X Reasons. Most of his concerts are sold out, like his Olympia on April 8. The one who has just been certified platinum – more than a hundred thousand copies sold – with his second album, Links of the 100, released in December 2022, is not resting on its laurels.
He knows he has to “go get [s]on public » so that at least his spectators let go of their phone screen during his shows, where he refuses to play in playback. ” Today, he observes, as soon as you put rap concert tickets on sale, they go like hotcakes, but I’m not sure everyone understands the spirit of a live. Once people are in the room, instead of enjoying, they make videos to show their friends. If they could put their cell phones away and live in the moment, that would be better. »
To do dance, Booba’s new protege has the right pieces: the egotrip Ragnar, the very “street rap” If you knew or german racing car, or the melodic come back down, tinged with Congolese rumba. This music is also the first love of an artist who became known thanks to his free-styles in his car during confinement.
Leonard Beni Mosabu grew up in Clamart (Hauts-de-Seine), in the western suburbs of Paris, the youngest of three siblings. His mother, a caregiver, sends him every summer to Kinshasa with his maternal grandmother, wants him to speak the local languages, Lingala and Swahili, and learn their history, from Thomas Sankara to Patrice Lumumba.
“More savvy in rumba”
Bob Masua, his father, is a recognized and respected Congolese rumba and seben music producer. At home, nobody listens to rap, not even his big brothers: “Our father didn’t take us to the recording studio or to concerts, he says. On the other hand, there were all his CDs and ses DVDs at home. And that’s the only music we listened to. I only discovered rap when I went to college, I even think I’m more into rumba than French rap. And, even today, I listen to all types of music. »
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