The concept is simple but brilliant: play a symphony orchestra on French rap songs. It is the idea of Symphonic Hip Hop, concert organized by Radio France, the seventh edition of which is broadcast this Wednesday, January 11, 2023 at 9:10 p.m. on Canal+. The event has proven itself but almost never existed.
Soprano, Fianso, Bianca Costa, Kalash… Never Symphonic Hip Hop had not afforded the luxury of such extensive musical programming. Because in addition to the fourteen rappers and rappers and musicians from the Orchester Philharmonique de Radio France, this seventh edition was enriched by the presence of dancers including a star dancer, a beatbox group and even the exceptional participation of Jean-Pascal Zadi. On November 16, the Grand Auditorium gave an appointment to 1,200 lucky people for an exceptional concert but also opened its doors to the cameras, since the event is to be found this Wednesday January 11, 2023 at 9:10 p.m. Canal+. Proof that the meeting has become unavoidable. But do you know that it almost never existed?
The great artistic gap
It must be said that the concept of Symphonic Hip Hop is surprising: rare are the occasions for hip-hop artists to perform in the presence of such a group of classical musicians. “Noble” art on the one hand, “popular” on the other, these are two genres that we like to oppose, by betting on what they have most incompatible in their history, their codes or their references to the way of the very popular movies sexy dancing Where street dancing. And if, however, these supposedly antagonistic forms had more in common than we think? This is what Issam Krimi, the man behind the event, wanted to believe. This music lover learned the piano at the Conservatory, while cultivating his interest in rap. Having become a conductor, he seeks to put on a show by betting on the decompartmentalization of artistic borders and the mixing of cultures. A project that will turn out to be very complex…
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“There were even people who tried to slow down the project”
Because the conductor and organizer of the event does not immediately meet the support of his colleagues. In an interview with the media the Abcdr of soundhe acknowledges that the first edition, produced in 2016, “was really forced” : “It was hard, we had to convince until the end of the concert. There were even people who tried to slow down the project.” Issam Krimi even had to face the contempt of some, convinced of the musical poverty of rap: “I even had some condescending remarks from the people I was with at the Conservatory, hand on shoulder saying to me: ‘This is not music.'” But he assures that since the first concert, “the mindset has completely changed.“A few years later, the project is a unanimous success.
