No Name 2.0

Albumbeschreibung

Joe Lucazz knows how to take his time. Long an illustrious unknown, a demi-god to some, the forty-something rapper, historically affiliated to the Néochrome clique, is now a mainstay of Parisian rap, active since the days when albums were sold from under coats on the street. Three years on from the already-cult No Name, Lucazz brings out No Name 2.0, a second instant classic eagerly-awaited by lovers of cocky, nonchalant rap, and those who don't go in for the overexposed mainstream hits so much as the work of artisans who know how to make something special (Lucazz has rapped with Le Rat Luciano and Ill from the X-Men and he has nothing to envy in either).

Like all great writers – like Modiano or Prodigy of Mobb Deep – Lucazz always writes the same thing: Paris by night; the rules of honour; money that comes and goes. The musical backing is essentially the work of the duo Pandemik Musik, and it brings to mind some of the golden-age productions by Time Bomb – a natural home for Joe Lucazz's off-beat flow and familiar voice. By inviting his three trusted friends (Cross, Flynt and Express Bavon) and a disciple (the sharp Alpha Wann) and taking up the thread of his stories as if he had first told them only yesterday, Lucazz stays his course, continuing to make his mark on the history of French rap. And when he says "I've been man of the year since last century": there's no disputing that. © Damien Besançon/Qobuz