Orelsan: diamond disc, instructions for use

Best-selling album of the year 2021, diamond disc obtained the fastest in the history of French rap and gold disc even before its release… Civilization, the latest creation from Orelsan, has had a titanic commercial success. His little brother, Clément Cotentin, is no stranger to it. To accompany the release of the disc, he produced, for Prime Video, a documentary series on the story of Orelsan and his friends, to whom he has an unfailing admiration. A year later, he presents to the public the second part of never show that to anyone. The first part of the series had conquered a large audience, which discovered the extraordinary trajectory of these young people from Caen, linked by a solid friendship and whose all projects seemed doomed to resounding failure. A story made possible by the devotion of Clément, who begins, without really knowing why, to collect images while he is still a teenager.

Questions and Inspiration Picks

The second part of the documentary series begins on the first day of confinement, in March 2020. At the time, Orelsan returned near Caen, to his new home equipped with a brand new studio. There, with his partner, his brother, his nephews and his cat Moumou, he began to work on a new album, which would later become Civilization. “I wonder what he can still do after twenty years of rapping. I must admit that, for the first time, I have doubts.narrates Clément Cotentin, who left his « taff » of sports journalist to follow the adventure. Finally, the announced two weeks of confinement turn into two long months during which the rapper works relentlessly, alternating questioning and peaks of inspiration. But, in the end, doubt prevails: » I can not do it anymore. I’m at the stage where I wonder why I’m making an album again! » he asserts. It is finally the lifting of the confinement and his reunion with Ablaye and Skread, his acolytes of always, which allow him to move forward on the album. Orelsan makes them listen to the first models, sometimes whimsical, that he produced in his studio. « It’s the pinnacle of the most rotten thing he could do », judges Skread, his friend and producer, listening to one of the tracks. But, in three, they write, travel, record and finally build the architecture of the project. And this, despite a few hiccups such as the loss of all of Orelsan’s notes, after a computer bug.

Missed date with Angèle

Imbued with a maturity and a seriousness that contrasts with the madness of its first part, the documentary meticulously details the process of creating the album. At the cost, sometimes, of a few lengths. He tells of the failure of the collaboration between the rapper and the singer Angèle, for lack of inspiration. Then the successful one but tinged with disappointment with his American idols Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams, of the Neptunes. Until the reunion with Gringe, with whom Orelsan formed the duo Casseurs Flowters, and the successful release of the disc. To the Caen rapper to conclude, shortly before the end of the series: “Afterwards, I stop rapping. »