“Very feminine girl who talks about sex” or “very masculine, almost a neighborhood woman”: the young rapper Leys deplores having to fight against clichés to find a place for herself in the music industry.
“When you’re a girl, it’s hard to listen to you. There are people in this environment who think they have the recipe for everything, when they don’t, ”continues Leys, 25, finalist for the first season of New School, Netflix rap telecrochet. “There are two extremes: either you are going to be asked to be a very feminine girl who talks about sex in her texts, who sexualizes women, or to be very masculine, you almost have to be the neighborhood woman”.
“We can’t allow female artists the same versatility that we totally accept from guys. There are clichés: either hardcore or sentimental, ”confirms Ismaël Mereghetti, host of the Studio 41 program, devoted to rap and its currents, on Mouv ‘radio. However, “Leys, like others, is able to play on all these tables”.
“Rap is a disease. You can’t stop.” Leslie Makiesse fell into it at age 15, in her neighborhood of Reims, where she listened to Kery James or Diam’s. Launched into writing after discovering the American Nicki Minaj, she is spotted on social networks, where she raps her own texts. Leys catches the eye of labels and is selected in 2020 by the Printemps de Bourges, which follows young shoots over time with the Les Inouïs device. “Unknown to the battalion, she had struck everyone’s mind. I was marked by his flow and his presence, ”recalls Rita Sa Rego, patroness of the Inouïs. But his producer and “his teams did not listen to him. We told her: “do it more like this or like that” (…) She had to show her fangs”, says Rita Sa Rego.
The falling out leads to the blocking of Leys’ YouTube channel. “She had no more “prods” (pieces, editor’s note). She had to redo everything,” adds the manager. But, “hard work” and “listening to advice”, the artist won the Inouïs jury prize, awarded by professionals. And she is spotted by Netflix. “I had won with rap and with my texts. It gave me a boost,” says the rapper.
In June 2022, New School, a competition chaired by rappers SCH, Shay and Niska which offers 100,000 euros to the winner, arrives. Leys reaches the final with his Parabellum title, facing Elyon and the winner, Fresh Lapeufra. She is then criticized on the networks for having lost her means. “There were guys crying but we didn’t show it,” she laments. “In season 2 (no woman passed the first test, editor’s note), there were some who missed each other but we didn’t talk about it as much. Some did not tolerate a woman going all the way,” she says. However, the artist “absolutely does not regret” his participation.
Since then, she has released songs but has not had “as much exposure as others who have done New School”, estimates Ismaël Megheretti, who received her on his show in September 2022 for “one of the best performances that we had this year”.
To finally feel heard, Leys surrounded herself with her loved ones. “Them, they know me,” she justifies. After her track Minimum Love with Fresh Lapeufra, released in early June, she is working with former Diam’s producer Masta on several projects and hopes to “reach more people”. “We women still have a lot to say. When you look good, the men, we have gone around a bit, ”ends Leys.
