French rapper OrelSan calls himself ‘the opposite of CNews’ in surprise single XXX

French rapper OrelSan has put out ‘XXX’, a surprise single produced by his longtime collaborator Skread, and its hook leaves little room for interpretation. “En gros, j’suis le contraire de CNews,” he raps, roughly “basically, I’m the opposite of CNews”, aiming the track at France’s far right and at the rolling-news channel owned by Vincent Bolloré’s media group.

The timing is what makes it more than a provocation. OrelSan is one of the few French rappers who fills arenas across generations, and he is weeks away from the largest run of shows of his career. Dropping an openly political single at that point means addressing a crowd that does not vote as one, and he has chosen to do it anyway.

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Another line goes further: “J’veux pas que les fachos m’écoutent”, or “I don’t want fascists listening to me”. He mocks the people who want to “manger du porc et chanter du Sardou” at family gatherings, eating pork and singing Michel Sardou as a badge of French identity. According to Le Tribunal du Net, he also says he is glad to pay 50% tax, a line that drew its own share of replies on social media.

The video, directed by Raphaël De Albuquerque and Gabriel Cantal, was shot mostly at night in and around Caen, the Normandy city OrelSan grew up in and has staged in his work since his first records. It strings together rollerbladers and an early-2000s skate look, a knight in full armour, a Chaplin-like figure and a character credited simply as the Tax Man. On his YouTube channel it passed 600,000 views within its first days online.

None of this is new ground for him. “L’odeur de l’essence”, from the album Civilisation, already painted a fractured and anxious France, and earlier this year his “Boss Cypher” took aim at the far right over events held in Caen. Chic Radio Hits described ‘XXX’ as a return to his fundamentals: socially engaged lyrics, self-mockery and an up-tempo beat.

That is also the limit of the song. A protest track from an artist whose audience largely shares his views changes few minds, and telling fascists not to listen is a statement rather than a filter once a show reaches arena scale. Online reactions split along predictable lines. No response from CNews has been reported. The single is not tied to any announced album either, so for now it stands alone as a tour-season statement, with La Fuite en avant still his most recent record.

Fans in Bordeaux heard ‘XXX’ first, when OrelSan played it at the Arkéa Arena on October 27, as 20 Minutes reported. Clips filmed in the crowd circulated until the official video went up on October 30. Next comes Paris: 15 nights at the Accor Arena between December 9 and 28, the most any rapper has booked at the venue, though still short of the 23 shows Jacques Higelin played there in 1985. The tour is built around French arenas, with no North American or Latin American dates announced.

Tags: Hip-Hop, french rap, Accor Arena, Orelsan, Skread

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