On stage underground, the Laval trio Planet Giza had already earned their epaulettes, since their very debut, about ten years ago. Tony Stone, DoomX and Rami B., three little geniuses of rap production, studio rats connected to current trends, it was already obvious on their first mini-album Road 2 Pharaonself-published in 2016. They have talent, we know, but it would be lying to say that we expected to be so overwhelmed by the quality of their third album, Ready When You Area cohesive alloy of soul, rap, jazz and broken beat that will earn them worldwide recognition, if the world is ready to hear it.
We catch them on the Toronto-Montreal train where, last Wednesday evening, the guys gave a private concert at the Soho House in front of the members of their team and the curious of the music industry. DoomX is already apologizing, voice hollow: “Sorry, man, I just woke up from a little nap. The concert ended at 11 p.m., but the party continued late into the night.
There is something to celebrate. Ready When You Are is so far the best Quebec album of the year, and its release last week marks a pivotal moment in the journey of Planet Giza, in concert this evening at the Fairmount Theater, with the full orchestra of five musicians.
Before the release of the album last Friday, the trio was confined to the four walls of their studio and the esteem of their peers, composer-producers and rappers. Ready When You Are the fate of the home studio, it’s hatching! The early futuristic trap influence fades away in favor of broken beat rhythms that taste good of soul and jazz — the catchy and luminous title track at the start of the album sets the tone for the rest of the album. The soft electro touch gives spring to the verse of the guest Mick Jenkins, MC of Chicago, from where is also born Femdot, whose prosody flows on the groove soul-jazz de Northern Playalistic.
We hear, in the sound of Planet Giza, the soul-pop genius of a Pharrell Williams, the rap-jazz sophistication of the Soulquarians collective —? Questlove of The Roots, the late and so influential composer J Dilla, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Q-Tip, Mos Def… we forget some — and the influence of the fusional genres of theunderground Londoner. “At the beginning of our career, we did it knowingly — we absolutely wanted to mix everything”: trap, soul, house and electronic music, explains Rami B. “Now, this fusion happens unconsciously, it happens automatically, and it is the product of all the music we like to listen to. »
” Exactly ! agrees Tony Stone, emphasizing the cosmopolitan dimension of their work by the presence of guest collaborators on the album, “from London, Paris, Chicago, Los Angeles”. There is even the friend Kaytranada who patches up the rhythm of Sometimes, he whose now global success served as an inspiration to the guys from Planet Giza. “These are all people we met on Instagram, who hung on our music, abounds Stone. All these collaborations happened organically. »
“The first EP we launched, we did it in a week, remembers Rami B. In comparison, this new album, we thought about it, we worked on it, with a concept, a coherence, A feeling from start to finish”, avoiding sound samples as much as possible to rely on the work of real instrumentalists whose recorded tracks have been assembled and sequenced in the studio. Planet Giza used to make great beats; they are now composing famous songs, with melodies that will remain in mind at least until the end of the summer.
But the other difference between this new album and the previous releases is that the versatile singer and rapper Tony Stone finally occupies the place that belongs to him. That of a leader, no longer of a collective of beatmakersbut from a real neo-soul/R&B band.
“Since the beginning of the project, the guys have not stopped pushing me to take this place, telling me that I was really a singer, says Tony. I hesitated for a long time to do it because I saw myself primarily as a composer-director. Today, I feel much more comfortable in the role of frontman, and that makes sense, since it’s me who sings and raps during the concerts. Moreover, I have always felt comfortable in front of the public: we gave a concert at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in 2019, I think that really helped me to enter into my role as a performer. »
“When I was younger, I really wanted to rap like Jay-Z, but then I was influenced by voices like D’Angelo and André 3000. [du duo Outkast], adds Tony, who also writes the texts of the songs. These love stories happened to me — all I’m telling is my life, my experiences. »
What’s next? Planet Giza is self-producing for the moment, launches its new album without the help of record companies. The group has an agreement with a distributor, its manager Jugga takes care of day-to-day business, but the guys are looking for a tour agent. Everything is still to be put in place around the small team. “Find a label? We have been receiving offers for a few years, but we have always refrained from signing, specifies Rami B. Previously, we did not need a record company. We are waiting for the right proposal. Above all, I don’t think our album would have sounded like this if we already had an agreement with a record company. A way of saying that total creative freedom will be written in large print on their possible record contract.
A tour is being set up, notably in Europe, where Planet Giza is already enjoying the beginnings of recognition. “It’s even there, in Europe and the United States, that we receive the most love from the public, not even in Montreal or Quebec,” says Tony. That was our intention with this album: to prove to the public that we are here, that we are ready for the next step. That’s the title of the album: we are ready. Now it’s up to you. »
