Young Paris

ArtsMusic

Young Paris is a NYC-based rapper and rising voice in the world of fashion. Having recently singed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, we Montrealers are lucky enough to catch him in action this Saturday, October 22nd with No Kliche, as part of the Red Bull Music Academy.

Here is an interview I conducted with Young Paris, discussing his roots, inspiration, and connections to Montreal:

I’m curious about your relationship to music as a child, as you were growing up. Did you learn instruments or sing in groups? Or was music something you came to later on.

My parents were world renown performers so you could imagine music was always around us growing up. From as long as I could remember, I’ve been playing the djembe and dancing. Music to our family has always been second nature and till this day we still perform together.

You draw from so many different areas in your image, your music, and your live show. It’s clear you are inspired by vibrancy and individuality in all its uniqueness. Are there some non-musicians that really shape your aesthetic approach to your image, your music, and the creative process in general?

Yes, I’m inspired by the fashion and the art world as well. I went to college for Fine Arts and my mother was a play writer as well, so I try to translate those references in my art. Artists / Designers like Alexander McQueen, Basquiat, Nick Cave, and Yinka Shonibare, for example, are artists I’ve been super inspired by.

Congo has a much-celebrated history of dance music, some of which comes out in your music – but is there a Congolese rap tradition you feel connected to?

No, my rap history comes from growing up in NY!

What is your musical community like in NYC?

NY has a vibrant range of musicians. In my circle, I know some of the dopest underground and notable artists but I try to stay in my lane. There aren’t many artists creating my type of music and Afrobeats generally is just becoming very popular in the states.

I would love to hear your thoughts on how art can help bridge the gap between cultural traditions without getting sucked into the mainstream media machine of mass representation and stereotyping. You seem to be navigating it very well – but have there been some major challenges? Is Jay-Z someone who understands your vision?

Social media is a great way to see raw talent and I’m always excited for what the people I’m following are coming up with daily. I think the bridge has been created, but it’s important to respect certain symbols and traditions.

Sacred art, for example, is so accessible now I think it’s up to the curators to translate their inspiration with caution and take time to do their research before shining light on the beauty and talents of these artists. For me and my situation at Roc Nation, I have complete creative control and they are open minded to my ideas.

Any plans for a fashion line?

Potentially 😉 but i will be collaborating with brands as a creative director.

Have you been to Montreal before?

Yes i lived here for nearly 2 years.

Also! You can win a free ticket to see Young Paris this Saturday if you answer this question correctly:

Q: What is the name of his new mixtape?

Email your answer to contactdjazia@gmail.com, and see you at the show.

Young Paris plays Théâtre Fairmount, 5240, Avenue du Parc, Saturday, October 22nd, 9:00pm (Doors at 8:00pm). If you don’t win tickets, they are $12 and available through the box office.

ArtsMusic

In this week’s preview we check out a number of interesting artists, the coolest pool party around and a whole bunch of album launches all the while using some rather dated cultural references. There was a lot to choose from this week and so here’s our top picks for a rather full week of music in Montreal.

Young Paris

Saturday night the Théâtre Fairmount will be hosting Young Paris whose music can be best described as hip hop that’s heavily influenced by both African music and EDM. With an artist who really doesn’t fit one specific mold it’s best to listen to some of his tracks to truly understand his style.

This Brooklyn based rapper, who was born in Paris to Congolese parents, is the embodiment of the modern cosmopolitan artist who wears many hats and combines multiple cultural influences in his creations. If you want to know more about him then stay tuned to FTB dial (editors’s note: No one is going to get that saying old man) because we have an exclusive interview with Young Paris set to hit our airwaves real soon! (editor’s note: Seriously airwaves, what world do you live in) 

Young Paris plays Théâtre Fairmount, 5240, Avenue du Parc, Saturday, October 22nd, 9:00pm (Doors at 8:00pm), $12 available through the box office.

The Jessica Stuart Few + Corinna Rose

If you’re looking for something a little different then head on over to Café Resonance on Saturday to check out Vancouver born Toronto based The Jessica Stuart Few whose third album The Passage is a self-proclaimed “musical adventurousness in these somewhat predictable musical times.” Jessica is a singer/songwriter who plays the guitar and the koto, a 13 stringed traditional Japanese instrument that plays a prominent role in her unique sound.

Joining her will be local folk singer/songwriter/banjo player/guitarist Corinna Rose who can deliver some of the most beautifully heartbreaking tunes you will ever hear. Here’s the perfect song to listen to while biking along the canal in the fall (I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re doing at the end of this video).

The Jessica Stuart Few and Corinna Rose play Café Resonance, 5175A Avenue du Parc, Saturday, October 22nd, 9:00pm, $11.34 available through the box office.

Dans les Abysses with Dopplereffekt + DJ Stingray and More

For anyone who likes EDM, free concerts, swimming or all the above this is the show for you. On Sunday Red Bull Music Academy and MUTEK Montreal are hosting what can only be described as a “multi-layered” musical experience where the Olympic pool will be fitted with speakers underwater, at water surface level and at ground level while DJ Stingray, Dopplereffekt, Lorenzo Senni, Joel Cahen, Selfir, Cao, and Sign Libra spin their tunes.

The organizers would like to remind you that in order to access the pool you need to be wearing a bathing suit and either be barefoot or wearing sandals. This seems like a formality since it makes no sense to miss the opportunity to go for the coolest swim of your life!

The show is free but tickets are limited so get yours in advance.

 Dans les Abysses occurs at Parc olympique de Montréal, 4141 Pierre-De Coubertin, Sunday, October 23rd, 10:00pm to 3:00am, free, tickets available through the box office.

Blue Sky Miners + Tim Moxam

On Monday night Canadian artists Blue Sky Miners (who recently put out their self-titled debut EP) and Tim Moxam (whose latest album Soft Summer just came out) will be taking to Le Cagibi’s stage in support of their recent releases. Both acts fall a little into the country genre, a little into folk and with an ever so small dose of indie music.

In a moment of solid logic they’ve decided to team up for a brief tour of the eastern side of our country in order to give fans a full evening of new music. These tunes are so fresh that the promoters have officially promised the bands will play “never before heard songs.”

Blue Sky Miners and Tim Moxam play Le Cagibi, 5490 Boulevard St. Laurent, Monday, October 24th, event time and tickets TBA so check out their event page.

* Featured image of Jessica Stewart

* Know a band or an artist that should be featured in Shows This Week? Maybe a show FTB should cover, too? Let us know at music@forgetthebox.net. We can’t be everywhere and can’t write about everything, but we do our best!

Music

Young Paris is a Congolese artist living in New York — think of the potential for fertile tension in that brief description alone. Add in the fact that he’s from a family that has artistic and cultural connections in both the Congo and America and you can see why Young Paris is interested in blurring the lines between contemporary and traditional cultures.

Young Paris’ father co-created the first Congolese ballets, these ballets were vibrant expressions of the Congolese culture, which included: dancing, drumming, costume and drama. YP related to me over the phone that a key element of these ballets was their efficacy as a forum for exposing governmental hypocrisy.

Although the ballets were largely celebratory and festive, there were elements of social critique embedded in the performance. This is the kind of cultural milieu that Young Paris is coming out of.

Young Paris’ music is beat driven, but beat driven in the way that Rhythm of the Saints is beat driven, by which I mean to say, it is not simply dumb repetition, there is substance. In YP’s new video for his track The Haus there are all kinds of aesthetic hybridizations: harem parts and traditional Congolese face painting, African drumming and synth sounds, and the music video is populated with real African dancers and dancing.

The pop idiom itself is being used as transmitter of traditional culture. This idea is strikingly similar to his father’s idea of couching social critique in the ballets he created.

Now, it’s not as if Young Paris is preaching overtly about social injustice, it’s subtler than that— I feel like Young Paris’s ability to walk that fine line between innovation and appropriation is in itself a huge statement that reverberates beyond the context of pop music. It engenders a respect and a tolerance in me that very few pop artists do.

This was a really dope interview if you haven’t figured that out yet! Young Paris is not your average cat, he’s got bigger visions. Near the end of our conversation he mentioned that his father had passed, then he said something very resonant to me, and I’ll leave you with this line:

“My whole mission is his vision until I’m gone.”

* photo Victoria Wilde Langley

ArtsFestivalsMusic

POP Montreal was just bananas this year. There was so much to see: parties and weird late nights out with the camera. I am only now, after nearly 5 days, keeping anything like normal hours.

The week started off with a party over at POP central— place was packed when I rolled up on the late side of 7. There were bare lights strung above everyone’s heads downstairs, which made it all a little overt. I headed upstairs where the sub 60 bass was coming from. On the top landing it was dark and I turned the corner right into the last tune of the Young Paris set. I was feeling it, so I stuck around at the jam for a minute afterword and talked about RUN NDG t-shirts with some random guy.

I’d gotten the press lanyard by then, and Flynt Flossy was playing later. Had to go connect with my people for the show, right!? (Read a review of the Turquoise Jeep showcase.)

On Thursday night, I went and checked out that LOC-NAR set at Casa del Popolo. I took Chose Bottine with me — his niece (Tess) plays keys in various projects including LOC-NAR. Now having done a preview of the band already based on my interpretations of their recordings, I was very interested in checking out their set. I was intrigued by the lo-fi style and the strange time signatures. Secondly, this band had a bit of a buzz. Lotsa cool people involved.

The place was packed so I cut hard for the front row so I could photo the group, kind of hard to get balanced for a shot, though! I found Chose Bottine again and just sunk into listening as a musician. The band is really tight, and I don’t mean tight in 4/4 time either. Tonally and energetically this band moves from pop to metallic in a single composition very fluidly. I was also struck by how progressive the tunes were. Nothing dull about how these guys proceed.

Chose Bottine and I were quite impressed. Go check out LOC-NAR live.

Woke up for school feeling like that translucent piece of egg in the pan—

Went downtown Friday night to catch Yoni Wolf. Got totally sidetracked by a few tribespeople and ended up somewhere else. I arrived extremely late and somewhat unbalanced! La Vitrola was bumping with that strange Why? hip hop flavour. No one is as weird on the mic as Yoni Wolf. You got to check him out if you’re unaware. Werd.

The week was wild, the parties were lush and surreal. And I for one sacrificed a few brain cells. But yo! What a job, and what a magical time with my friends covering these acts from Montreal and abroad. The Unicorns closed the week and they get their own article. Shabang!

Photo by Susan Moss courtesy of POP Montreal.