Oli, from French duo Bigflo & Oli, points out a common point between Toulouse and Quebec; The accent of its citizens is perceived as something special in the ears of residents of the French capital Paris.
In his opinion it is not a handicap. On the contrary, the youngest of the brother duo from Toulouse, who has more than three million subscribers on his YouTube channel, affirms that it is a strength.
“We grew up with the askance of cities like Paris, but [comme au Québec]“We know what it’s like to have the accent and we know what it’s like to have the accent and then make songs out of it,” explains Oli in an interview with the Journal on the sidelines of the Bigflo & Oli Montreal concerts and Quebec, at the end of the month.
With nearly two million monthly listeners on Spotify and five wins at the NRJ Music Awards in the French-Speaking Group/Duo of the Year category since 2017, the two MCs know full well that the pronunciation of words has nothing to do with their power.
“In the end, a beautiful text is a beautiful text, regardless of whether you are Parisian, Toulouse or Quebecer,” emphasizes Oli, who was raised with his brother by an Argentine father and a French mother of Algerian origin.
The accents found in southern France, such as Toulouse, may have similarities to those of Quebec. This is particularly the case with words ending in “ain,” with the final syllable being pronounced more tersely in both cases; In Paris we say “a slice of bread”, but in Toulouse we say “a slice of pine”. We can also see this peculiarity when Bigflo & Oli use words like “autre”, “fault” or “côte”, where “au” and “ô” are simply pronounced “o”.
A collaboration with Loud?
Oli makes no secret of it, the duo he completes with Bigflo has a crush on the music of Montreal rapper Loud. The one who just won the Félix for rap album of the year was also a spectator at the tandem’s last visit to Quebec.
“We were touched that he came to us,” admits Oli. “We really like what he’s doing and what he’s brought to the table [en France]», continues the MC, referring to the anglicisms and the Quebec accent.
Judge at The voice
After being judges on The Voice Belgium in 2017, the two brothers, who have sold a total of 1.3 million albums in four attempts, returned to their places in 2023, this time on The Voice France. This major step forward for rap will not have been easy, Oli admits.
“The return [du public] wasn’t obvious; We often questioned our place on the show,” recalls the 27-year-old lyricist, who started writing at the age of six.
“We had to demonstrate our musical precision and our connection to words and then to the audience [français] “I was able to appreciate this aspect of our work,” says the rapper happily.
Bigflo & Oli will be at the Bell Center and Videotron Center on November 24th and 25th as part of the “Others c’est nous” tour.