He celebrates the 10th anniversary of his album Or noir, a turning point in French-speaking rap, and releases the album Day one. Kaaris named him that after the death of his mother, the pillar of his family. “I experienced a tragedy this year, the disappearance of my mother, a very important member of the family, and it’s as if it was a first day again (day one in English),” explains the artist straight away. artist when AFP asked him about this English title of a French record.
This single mother (the father died shortly after Kaaris’ birth) worked multiple jobs to fill the fridge at the end of the 1980s when the family of eight children from Ivory Coast settled in Sevran (Seine-Saint -Denis). “My mother protected us, advised us, she seemed eternal,” continues the rapper. Who became the head of the household? “My big sister has taken over, we all call her, she gives very good advice, including on my career.” The central role of strong women in his private sphere illuminates the discrepancy with the character that Kaaris has created in this rap labeled hardcore, with lyrics irrigated by violence and excesses
Recently, Kaaris was acquitted by the Évry criminal court for acts of domestic violence of which his ex-partner accused him. She was sentenced to two months’ suspended imprisonment for minor damage to the vehicle of the musician’s current partner. Kaaris had already gone to court in the fall of 2018 for facts anchored in memories: a fight involving the rapper and his former mentor-star, Booba, as well as their respective entourage. All in front of the surveillance cameras at Orly airport in August 2018. Result, 18 months suspended prison sentence for Booba and Kaaris. Ancient history for the one who put an end to the bidding war with Booba after this trial, by giving up a plan to fight between the two heavyweights of French rap in a ring.
Kaaris’ double discography, on the other hand, is still bathed in a leaden atmosphere à la “Gomorra” (TV series about Italian thugs), often cited in Day one, which comes out on Friday December 15. But the forty-year-old with the boxer’s chest also cracks the armor with the song The Price of Success. “It’s rare that I talk about myself in my titles, but even if you’re successful, you’re often alone. You don’t know who is really there for you,” he confides.
A melancholy side that he rarely exploits. The cinema also confines him to the roles of big guys like in Braqueurs by Julien Leclercq or Bronx by Olivier Marchal. “With my build, it’s normal that people don’t think of me as the lover in the meadow, but I’m going to give it my all to be better, watch out Omar Sy, we’re coming,” he laughs .
In French-speaking rap, he always plays the leading roles. Kaaris can afford to invite to Day one, signatures from all generations like SCH, Hamza, Koba LaD and Kerchak. He recognizes himself in particular in Kerchak, a newcomer who bursts into French-speaking rap with the jersey, an accelerated tempo that comes, as its name suggests, from New Jersey in the USA. Kaaris made a name for himself ten years ago with drill, a dark current from Chicago, injected into Black Gold. Kaaris will also celebrate, with a slight delay, ten years of mining the vein of this founding record with two dates at Bercy (Accor Arena) in Paris in February.
