Album review

Kery James

Ma vérité

Paris 

06/05/2005 - 

From provocative rapper to Muslim convert, Kery James has finally managed to find a balance between the two. His second solo album, Ma vérité, is a high-wire act of linguistic virtuosity and corrosively relevant lyrics.

French hip hop in 2005 has too often been a cult of the outlaw hoodlum, with hardcore lyrics replete with bimbo style caricatures and stereotypical violence. It has descended into a morass of cliché, perpetrated by the artists themselves in an act of self-destruction. Now 26, Kery James casts a socially aware and compassionate eye over our era. "One thing is certain: not everyone in France starts off with the same advantages. But not everyone has the maturity to deal with the fact and not to use it as a pretext for violence." From La vie est brutale, his first album with Idéal J in 1992, to his latest effort Ma Vérité, Kery James has gone from acid-tongued juvenile delinquent to a serene yet militant rapper. He has found the happy medium between his gangsta past in the Paris suburb of Orly and his radical turn towards Islam.

In 1999, Kery changed his name to Ali, converting to Islam after the violent death of his friend Las Montana, a leading light of the La Mafia Kainfri crew. He also left his group Idéal J, which no longer reflected his aspirations. Often censured, the group was a figurehead of underground hip hop and acted as spokesman for a disaffected generation, with a rapid-fire flow driven by DJ Mehdi's instrumental work. But the lyrics were too trashy for Kery, who chose to draw a line under a past that had been fuelled by hate. In Le combat continue, Idéal J's second album which propelled Kery James to the big league with his killer rhymes, he was already rapping about not wanting to die before he found his faith. Convinced that he should recount his life as a lesson for others, he released in 2001 Si c’était à refaire, his first solo album in which wind and string instruments give way to an array of percussion. He recounts his wanderings, the absurd idealisation of violence, and above all his new sense of realisation through religion. It was a concept album, which the rapper convert initially claimed would be his last.

Form and content

But over four years, Kery James further matured his art and returned with Ma vérité, a finely crafted, sincere work. "At the time of  Si c’était à refaire, I was most concerned about individual responsibility, and putting myself into question. Today, I'm once again interested in performance, I want to focus on both form and content, to work with different flows, to be a contender." The return marks the start of a cycle where a committed stance and a more polished rap style balance each other out. "If you choose to be a rapper, you're going to have influence over people, so it had better be good influence! In spite of everything I am on a mission to educate, to defend the truth, fight against injustice, and try to right the wrongs I've committed in the past." Kery James fights against ignorance and violence in all their forms. In C’est votre choix, he describes in detail the dumbing-down effects of TV, while in Jusqu’à quand et jusqu’où ?, Kery denounces disinformation about the Iraq war. "They showed the whole world that force can be used against truth." And the consequences of 9/11 he sings about over a reggae backing are an allusion to his appearance on the first MC Solaar album: "I don't want to do military service…"; aficionados will appreciate the reference. Kery James frees himself from all the clichés and banalities of the genre, at the risk of disconcerting some hip hop fans. "In Je revendique – an adaptation of Public Enemy's famous Rebel Without A Pause by DJ Mehdi – I say that some cops are trigger-happy but also some young kids insult the police for no reason and act like vandals in the street." The album opens with the striking J’aurais pu dire, a freestyle track he performs with well-oiled technique, rapid-fire delivery and a biting tone – all handled masterfully. This explosive, astonishing album pumps new life into hip hop and the new generation, with its corrosive critique of the prejudices of gangsta rap and the idolisation of the "bad boy". To crown this impressive achievement, Kery James reprises his famous Hardcore, released in 1998 at the time of Idéal J, to declare his new stance. Having turned the full circle, Kery James is as powerfully good as he ever was.

Kery James Ma vérité (Up Music/Universal) 2005

Margot  Seban

Translation : Hugo  Wilcken