Ridsa, city singer – RFI Musique
Ridsa achieved success on YouTube, where he first appeared in 2010 Love is not dead. Since then, he has been churning out galleries as well as hit songs. Stripped of that ego that plagues so many contemporary artists, he finally found his way Ecuador, an eclectic and urban album with flavors of reggaeton, love songs and Latin rhythms. Reeds (an anagram for respect, identity, determination, solidarity, and authenticity) met in a Paris hotel recounts his chaotic journey and artistic redemption.
RFI Musique: How did you start your career?
Reeds : I have been writing since I was 16 years old because I faced family problems. When I came home, the atmosphere was not very good. I didn’t want to bother my parents with my problems, that was enough for them. So I pulled back and wrote a lot. It was 1990. At the age of 19, it was cars and radios. Everyone was rapping, I tried and tried.
Still, you don’t define yourself as a rapper…
I took the Latin turn with Santa Maria. When I’m a singer, they call me a rapper! I don’t understand why they say that. When I started in 2009, I did a couple of raps, but then I changed. Even with H Magnum, my sounds are more afro sounds.
Your first two albums didn’t satisfy you…
I was doing love songs on YouTube, got millions of views and the first label forced me to do it. Until 2015 when I signed up Quiet, an album that suits me better. I just didn’t want to sing about love and made it single He dies there. This is the first title to enter television and radio. As soon as it was released it was number one on Skyrock, NRJ and Fun Radio, all over TV, clubs, it changed a lot. After my YouTube Facebook fan base we went to the general public. I started composing Quiet, I made four noises. My starting tag went on vacation with my advance, I was broke. Bad things happened, I didn’t have a place to stay in Paris, I happened to spend the night outside and I was in the studio every day. I spent all of July/August making this double album, but it was the moment I was most alive. It was hard at the time, but I enjoyed it.
Your latest album, trampReleased in 2019…
If it was just me, I would release two albums a year! But there’s media, an album to defend, a record company with expectations. If you’ve had a track on your playlist for six months, releasing another single breaks that single’s career. But the first reason for this pause, this was to save me. I wasn’t ready for all this light because it wasn’t right at all. I don’t like shiny things, I don’t have confidence in myself. I’m bothered by all the people who film me and ask for my photos. I chained gold and platinum singles from 2015 to 2019 and lost it completely. I actually took a long step back to relearn how to live. I grew up in Orléans, moved to Paris, Marseilles, back to Paris and now I’m in Bordeaux. I’m fine there.
You are now signed up for Play Two…
I searched for myself for a year and a half, I traveled a long distance. I’ve had a lot of offers because I’ve always had a good relationship with radio and TV and record companies are interested in that. I was coming back without singing for three years, so I needed a big car behind me. This was not possible independently. Play Two was the right choice.
Santa Maria did you have a comeback…
We all took it in stride. I was looking for myself during the 18 months I worked. I left a lot of variety, but I didn’t have much fun. Then I went deeper into reggaeton. We had a meeting with the senior manager of Play Two. listened to the model Santa Maria and he told me it was a hit, I should come back with it. I didn’t realize it at the time, and when I saw it was Platinum certified… That’s work, huh! (Laughter) Some people feel everything. For me, it was just a little single to say I’m coming back, and actually, it was a huge success. As good as it gets, it’s the first single from the album Ecuador. It was recorded with Alexandre Juliani, a composer who works at Therapy Taxi, where we have chemistry. We get along very well, he is capable of many things. Being a composer, I come up with my ideas and he manages to put music to all my ideas. 10 of the 16 tracks on the album are with him.
How was the record?
In February 2021, we went to Morocco for a week with Renaud Rebillaud. We made songs, but we weren’t in a good time, we weren’t very productive. We had good titles but no big hits. He was supposed to be the art director and disappeared overnight. So we did anyway. I’m not interested, Port Rico, Lendit was with Renaud, we did great things together, gold records, … I already worked with Alexandre on the album. tramp. In 2015 I was sleeping outside when a man I met years ago at a party asked me what I was doing, I told him I was on the street and he suggested coming to his 14m2 in Saint-Michel. He knew Alexander and we started working together. for Ecuador, he made me special. We would go to the studio, start from scratch or from a melody I recorded on my phone, and he would compose around it. He knows how to produce a production sound, he handles the sounds very well. My music goes from piano/voice to reggaeton so it’s hard to follow and Alexandre does it very well. It was fun.
Come on It was one of the hits of the summer of 2022…
This was not planned! I did it for fun. I sent the model to Play Two and Marine, my project manager read it to me all the time, it didn’t leave his mind. He decided to take it out, and that was it. You don’t want to cry when it’s summer!
Why is the new album called? Ecuador ?
This is the title of the song on the album, I say it all. I’ve never delivered like this, I’m talking for four minutes that I’ve never said. I don’t see shrinking, I don’t talk to anyone, I don’t want to bother people, and it was like a psychoanalysis session there. There’s a little bit of rapping, guitar/vocals in it, going reggaeton, everything that happens on the album I’m putting on the sound. We’re going to make a music video, it’s not a single, it doesn’t have a catchy chorus, but for me this song is stronger than the single.
Reeds Ecuador Available on Play Two on January 27th.
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