With the album “L’Arme de Paix,” released on March 23, rapper-poet Oxmo Puccino celebrates ten years of his career. Oxmo Puccino is a true artist, one who is passionate about words, music, and attentive to others, their lives, their concerns, their dreams. Last December, Oxmo wrote on his website:
“Overwhelmed by images, videos, music of all kinds, we are no longer touched. I simply think that we have forgotten to dream, to imagine.” This is the starting premise of this fifth album, which expresses a desire to share feelings, emotions, without artifice. Oxmo especially wants “L’Arme de Paix” to be “naturally hip-hop, obviously musical, imperatively positive.” With Oxmo, rap escapes into jazz to give his texts a rare depth: unlike the commonplace, Oxmo does not address a group of people but the individual…
Oxmo Puccino: Black Desperado of French rap
Rapper, singer born in Mali, Oxmo Puccino made his debut in 1997 with the Time Bomb crew (DJ Mars, DJ Sek). His first success came in 1998. Opéra Puccino, a masterpiece crowned with a gold record, established the reign of a unique author and rapper apart from the mainstream. Following this velvet album, filmmaker Jacques Doillon, not typically associated with urban writing, found the music from “L’Enfant Seul” the perfect fit for his film “Petit frère.” This institutional cultural spotlight took Oxmo to another dimension, as he was already predicted to be too “broad” to be content with just the hip-hop microcosm.
The second success, “L’Amour est Mort,” in 2001. Oxmo began the century with a black-and-white album, again displaying a mastery in the handling of language and song concepts. His unique way of resonating vocabulary was recognized again. The critics were charmed once more, but the public, devoted to the fierce anthems emerging from the streets setting the trend, somewhat shunned this exceptional record.
“Cactus de Sibérie” (2004), a third subtly charming album, confirmed that Oxmo Puccino is capable of delighting rap aficionados as well as charming those who know nothing about the genre, or even reject it. The album explores uncharted waters, where impressionist rhymes tell stories that add up, forming a shifting landscape. In 2006, he released an album at Blue Note, the famous jazz label, in collaboration with the group The Jazzbastards called “Lipopette Bar.” Very inspired by film noir, the album narrates the story of the Lipopette Bar, its crew, and its regulars: a diva, Billie, who disappears before her big show, Tito, a life-long gangster wanting to retire, Kali, an aspiring singer, and the bouncer Black Popaye. For this record, Oxmo Puccino was actually inspired by the life of jazz singer Billie Holiday, aiming to pay tribute to her.
In 2007, he contributed to the new album by Alizée, “Psychédélices”; in October of the same year, he went to Bogota, Colombia, with DJ Cream, to undertake an artistic residency with the Colombian group Choc Quib Town. From this collaboration, a true dialogue of cultures, a 4-track CD, “Paris-Bogota,” was born. Finally, in 2008, he appeared on the album “Mesrine” with the track “Les chemins de la gloire.”
Current news: Album “L’Arme de Paix” (released March 23, 2009) available [Cinq7]
Visit: [www.myspace.com/oxmopuccino](https://www.myspace.com/oxmopuccino) | [www.oxmo.net](https://www.oxmo.net)
