Musical Love

"My first idea was more rap and more singing,” Féfé, born Samuel Adebyi, explains his approach to making his second solo album, Le Charme Des Premiers Jours.

“I wanted a mix where you can't say anymore, 'Oh, he's started rapping, oh, he's started singing' – just something that flows. I like the songwriting process and I like the rapping process too, and I'm always trying to make a mix of both. And I brought in a little bit of English,” he confesses. “I'm trying! I'm not that good but I need it because in my head – I come from Nigeria and I have an album in my head I want to do that is African and I think I would like to say something in English, just to speak to my people.”

Born and raised in the suburbs of Paris, Féfé's decade fronting Saian Supa Crew earned him not only a solid fanbase throughout France but also a Victoire de la Musique, a platinum French music award. Even so, Féfé realised that for all of its energy and immediacy, hip hop had its limitations in terms of songwriting. All that changed when he was given a guitar by French singer Patrice. Once he'd managed the rudimentary chords, the melodies began to flow, and his 2009 solo debut, Jeune A La Retraite, reflected a broader musical canvas. His penchant for “awareness” rapping, however, remained. “It was the bad atmosphere in France at that moment. Sarkozy was the president [Nicolas Sarkozy was the French president from 2007 until 2012] and you could feel the right wing was getting a little more extreme and that was cool for everyone, so I needed love, I needed something to reassure me – that's why it's called The Songs Of The First Day. It's reminding of all of the charm of the first music I listen to when I was small, and mostly black music [his father's musical hero was activist Fela Kuti], and trying to do a mix of that and of French songwriting. It has to be statements that can stay forever and ever.”

Hence songs like Sans Aucune Tenue Exigée (No Dress Code), in which Féfé tells us he's “revisiting rap, pop, reggae, blues, rock and soul”, La Somme (The Sum), addressed to his children, and most obviously 3 Words.

“Exactly – it's just I mean, and the song for my children is a statement I'm doing for them. The meaning of the chorus is like I'm speaking to my children and I'm telling them 'Before anything else, I love you' and 'It's not lessons I'm giving you, it's the sum'. I don't know if you know that word in French, but it's the total of all I've been through. I like that song a lot. It's a rap song that doesn't look like a rap song.”