The pandemic bothered us a lot because we were on tour a lot of concert dates were canceled . Me in Martinique , I was happy to stay there for a while . I was thinking this Pandemic . it will help me get some holidays . And besides , I took the opportunity to continue writing the book that was on hold since 2015 . For me it was a good thing that allowed me to think … in fact I never stopped working I never got bored … now the news in the world were quite di cult ; nobody wants a pandemic when we know the number of deaths that the previous ones have created . Since we couldn ' t go out , social networks have become very important for better or for worse , with a society where people no longer listen to each other , where the like is the sesame for which some are ready for anything , some exist simply because they have likes . The good thing is that artistically talking , pretty things were created .
With Jacob in 2019 we had talked about the suppression of tropical music at the Victoire de la Musique Awards in France , he was really not happy with this decision of the French government . Why do you think we got here ? and what solution do Africans and Afro descendants have ?
In the West Indies , you may be French , but many end up feeling first and foremost Martinican or Guadeloupean . We are not considered by France . Same thing for African artists . It is absurd that overnight we are told that our music is no longer part of France and its show business . It ' s absurd ... but it doesn ' t bother me ... Since there are enough of us , it ' s time to create our own business for ourselves . Why should we always wait for the recognition of the other who does not want us and does not seem ready to want anything from us ? We have to learn to do it together . Besides , we also have question ourselves from time to time instead of wasting energy looking for a culprit .
Africa and Kassav is an unprecedented love story in your opinion why do Africans love you so much ? ere is a whole museum dedicated to Zouk in Angola ?
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Flashmag ! Issue 129 May 2022
Africans recognized themselves in our music , we inherited the rhythms of our African ancestors who arrived in the West Indies . They might not understand our lyrics but they felt the music and even made local versions of our songs in French or in their languages . And you , the first time you went there , how did you feel ? What does Africa represent for you ?
It was a dream at first , we only knew of Africa the images that France sent us . That is to say the huts with the women who pounded the cereals , and the men in their canoes , even if that still exists it ' s not only that . Me when I went to Africa the first time it was with Gibson Brothers , I went to the Congo . And with Dave to Djibouti . In Nairobi in Kenya , in Yamoussoukro or Abidjan , my surprise was considerable , these are cities that have nothing to envy to other metropolises in the world . What does Africa represent for you ?
Ah ! the land of my ancestors . Africa is so huge , rich and beautiful ... we can understand why people have organized themselves to reduce it to a third world state as they say , to take advantage of it . It is for me a magical and majestic land . When you look at your career and that of Kassav if you had to redo the path what would you change ? If something had to be changed , I would perhaps have liked us to have help with the staging , to have a press team sooner , to have a manager sooner too . Because we stammered at the beginning to supervise everything ourselves . Apart from Kassav you have a few solo albums and collaborations including the one with Phillipe Lavil Kolé séré which was a real hit . Were you tempted to leave Kassav ? Yeah , being in a group of guys there were days when I had rants saying I ' m going to leave , but hey I loved them too much to leave them . Let ' s say that my life I gave it to Kassav . I also have a lot of responsibility within the group . I love it .
Kassav has become a major group in the West Indies alongside others like Tabou Combo , or Malavoi , what were your relationships with these other groups ?