Did this not really influence me; because I only met my uncle Jean Philippe later in my career. I knew Jacob Desvarieux with whom I made the title "ma rivale" much better than my uncle, who in fact is my great cousin because he is my mother's first cousin. But like I said above, having a lot of singers in the family influenced me
The craft of the arts is not always easy. As you entered the profession, had you had moments of doubts if so when and why?
Lynnsha: It’s an exciting job but also challenging, because you give a part of you every time. It is a profession that you carry everywhere. There is no fixed working hour. It's not like, your office that once you close it it's over.
When you make an album you go deep, and sometimes when it doesn't work it's pretty heartbreaking. And then you have to make a split between your private life and your professional life. It is true that when we invest in a project that sometimes does not work, we ask ourselves questions, we have doubts. All artists have been there, and what is magical is that sometimes the crossing of the desert ends sometimes unexpectedly. Suddenly you make a title and then it starts again.
This profession is often called into question. Sometimes, we say to ourselves we have had our time sometimes we doubt the industry we doubt everything. But when you meet people who tell you that your music touches them, it feels good to know that we are contributing to the well-being of others. For example, I met a fan who told me that my track “Apres les larmes” (After Tears) allowed him to cope with the grief after losing his sister.
Your first opus Lynnsha, was released in 2004, under the label Issap, of rapper Passi. As this album was being released, what kind of apprehension did you have for this album. Love for the first baby, fear of doing wrong, or even fear of succeeding?
Lynnsha: in fact, the first album comes out with Warner not with Passi. I am very well supervised, very young I am a novice in the profession, I do not ask myself too many questions, because I come out of a success which is "Ma rivale" (my rival) a compilation with Lady Sweety, Jacob Desvarieux and Passi in Dis Heure du Zouk. A very big success. So, at that point I didn't even think it might not work. I was lucky to be surrounded by good people… Passi, my managers… I worked with the Waku brothers, Diam's and many others… I had very good people around me, passionate talented peoples, this which means that I did not ask myself the question. And I should have asked it. Just because you have a great album doesn't mean it's going to work. First You have to overcome the media barrier, which was not easy at the time. Besides, the RnB was very complicated at that time in France; a blogger recently made a relevant video on this era, not long ago.
peoples were trying to compare French RnB singers to Americans, and it was really difficult to find your place. It was a great experience. What is funny, is that, there are titles which did not work in France which became hits elsewhere like for example "Je Veux que tu me mentes" when I sing fans want me to sing "ma rivale " “Je Veux que tu me mentes” (I want that you lie to me) and “ne m’en veux pas” (don't blame me).
To conclude with a sentence, I would say this first album was mostly excitement, a bit stressing, but excitement.
Tandem will be released a year later. Why did you have 2 albums in less than a year because if the album Lynnsha, was released in June 2004, Tandem was released in October 2005 under the Warner label.
How was the transition from Passi's ISSAP production to Warner Music France, which is a major, how this change of record label influenced your career?
Lynnsha: Going to a major is taking responsibility. Go into high profile media. For example, I was on TV all the time. It’s a big machine that requires you to be available full time. It's to be assisted on almost everything. You don't have time to think for yourself because everyone thinks for you. The work is chewed and since I was young, I didn't question anything, I wrote very little, it's true I had very good lyricists. However, moving to a smaller label was more complicated, because I had to wrestle myself somewhere. it was complicated but rewarding.
After it will be “Elle et moi” released in 2008 and then 4 years later you drop off your bags at Aztec Musique for the opus “ile et Moi” which is released in 2012, an album tribute to your island, Martinique. After so many years in music, why did you think you had to do something exclusively for your Caribbean roots?
Lynnsha: What you need to know is that although the public knew me with RnB, I always did Zouk in parallel. Besides, you have to know that at the time it was complicated to tell a major that, I just want to do Zouk.
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Flashmag August 2020 www.flashmag.net