Orelsan, “Prévert du rap”, arrives at the Zénith de Toulouse
Orelsan will be sold out on Thursday March 31 at the Zénith de Toulouse, a room where he will be back on November 20. Beyond the hits, the singer is a man of books and words.
The ink in which Orelsan, who will be completely displayed this Thursday, March 31 at the Zénith de Toulouse, will dip his pen does not have the darkness or even the grayness of concrete cities. Aurélien Contentin (his name in the civil status), grew up in Caen, in a “middle class, middle class” family, as he wrote, where reading was encouraged by a college director father and a teacher mother. . We will be grateful to Orelsan for never having wanted to play the kingpin that he is not. On the contrary, the rapper often recalls how books – all books, from manga to Despentes – forged his desire to write, to tell his story through words.
Admittedly, starting a career with a title like “Sale whore” is not the wisest choice, but his televised explanations quickly swept away the controversies and France discovered a king of the punchline, with an irresistible flow and disarming humor.
Social criticism and the art of provocation
Four albums later, Orelsan has everyone – or almost – in agreement. His incisive texts, perfect reflections of part of his generation, delight his many fans, who appropriate the famous “Simple / Basic” and other unstoppable formulas.
Throughout his book “Orelsan, the Rimbaud of rap” (Archipel editions), Alain Wodrascka strives to prove the filiation affirmed by the title. Initiatory journey from the provinces to the capital, bohemian and rebellious appearance, social criticism and the art of provocation: numerous and disturbing are the connections (already noted by Frédéric Mitterrand during the “Sale Pute” affair) between the rapper and the poet.
Ambitious, workaholic – far from his image of eternal idler – Orelsan is also an actor, screenwriter, director and avid reader, able to read several books at the same time and to pass “Jaws” by Peter Benchley to “Vernon Subutex” by Virginie Despentes whose evolution he notes “but keeping this touch of irreverence and hatred”. He reads everything, including what he calls “personal development books”: “They present a lot of psychology, more or less fine, it’s practical for the characters or to find inspiration for lyrics. It’s kitsch, but I like it: self-development speaks to me,” he confided in the webzine ActuaLitté in 2016. Although he admits never having had the strength to finish a few Hugo classics, the native of Alençon declares that he prefers “Prévert to Baudelaire and Rimbaud” and pleads for a free approach to reading at school: “It’s is super important, as for many passions, to learn the taste of pleasure. The school puts too much emphasis on the reading sheet and literature side, but, I find, not enough on this dimension “Do it for you, because it’s pleasant”.
Let the children start reading manga, and when they’re done, they’ll want to move on,” he added in the same interview. From Jul to Orelsan, for example.