Marly-Gomont by Kamini Zantoko 1 comment

25 Jan 2007 @ 17:26, by Tlingel KAMINI MARLY-GOMONT Dédicacé à tous ceux qui viennent des petits patelins Ces petits patelins paumés Pour qui personne n'a jamais rappé Même pas un flow Ces petits patelins paumés Que même la France y sait pas qui sont là chez elle Les petits patelins paumés que personne ne connaît Même pas Jean-Pierre Pernaut Je m'appelle Kamini Je viens pas de la té-ci Je viens d'un petit village qui s'appelle Marly Gomont Alors come on sur le beat un, le beat un, le beat un qui fait la tam tam tam A Marly Gomont y'a pas de béton, 65 ans la moyenne d'âge dans les environs Un terrain de tennis, un terrain de basket Trois jeunes dans le village donc pour jouer c'est pas chouette Je viens d'un village paumé dans l'Aisne en Picardie facilement 95 pour cent de vaches, 5 pour cent d'habitants Et parmi eux, une seule famille de Noirs Fallait que ce soit la mienne, putain un vrai cauchemar J'ai dit à mon père, on aurait pu aller s'installer à Moscou non On aurait été pas trop dépaysé par la température ni par les gens Il m'a répondu hé mais comment ça mais tu te moques de moi toi ça va aller Tu parles j'avais 6 ans premier jour d'école et bein j'ai chialé à cause de ces petits cons Tu sais comment ils m'appelaient Hé bamboula, hé pépito hé bamboula hé l'noiraude hé Dans la bouche des enfants réside bien souvent la vérité des parents Refrain x2 Je viens pas de la cité mais le beat est bon Je viens pas de Panam mais de Marly Gomont Y'a pas de bitume là bas, c'est que des patûres Mais cela n'empêche que j'ai croisé pas mal d'ordures A Marly Gomont les gens ils parlent pas verlan Ils parlent à l'endroit com' cha c'est bien suffisant Des fois ils t'aiment bien J'aime pas les Arabes, j'aime pas les Noirs Mais toi je t'aime bien, même si t'es noir De temps en temps ils font de la politique aussi, avec plein de philosophie De toutes façons moi je dis, tous des pourris hein Dans les petits patelins il faut pas être cardiaque Ah ouai sinon t'es mal, il faut traverser 20 villages en tout 50 Bornes pour trouver un hopital que dalle Là bas y'a rien c'est des pâtures, des fois il y a un match de foot le dimanche Le stade c'est une pâture sur lequel les lignes sont tracées, les buts sont montés et les filets Et dans l'équipe du coin il y a toujours un mec qui se fait surnommé Kéké Allez Kéké allez Kéké Et si c'est pas Kéké dans l'équipe d'en face il y a toujours un mec qui s'appelle Biquette Allez Biquette allez Biquette Une journée type dans le coin Le facteur, un tracteur et rien Enfin si une vache de temps en temps (Meuuuh) Refrain x2 A l'école maternelle j'étais le seul Black Et dans ce putain de collège, j'étais le seul Black Et dans le putain de lycée j'étais le seul Black De la maternelle au lycée toujours autant de claques Qui se perdaient dans la nature ou dans la raison Mon papa me disait toujours Faut pas se battre hein fiston Mais moi je voulais me révolter mais là bas il y a rien à cramer Il y a qu'un seul bus pour le lycée, c'est le même pour le cenTre aéré Pas la peine d'aller bruler l'voiture du voisin Déjà ils en ont pas ils ont tous des mobylettes En plus la boulangerie elle est à 8 kilomètres 8 kilomètres, tous les matins à mobylette Il est parti ou Vincent, il est parti en catimini? Ah ben non pas de ça chez nous hein Il est parti à mobylette hein Il est parti en mobylette hein le métro des petits patelins Le beat un le beat un qui fait la tam tam tam tam tam Dédicacé à tous les petits patelins Les petits patelins paumés où c'est la misère Où il y a rien à faire, où il y a tout à faire Ces petits patelins paumés que personne ne connaît Même pas Jean Pierre Pernaut Refrain x4 Marly Gomont, by Kamini Dedicated to all those who come from little towns, These godforsaken little towns that no one ever raps about, Not even a flow, These godforsaken little towns that even France doesn’t know are a part of itself, Godforsaken little towns that nobody knows, not even Jean-Pierre Pernault [a news anchorman]. *sob* My name is Kamini, I don’t come from the city, I come from a little town that is called Marly….Gomont, Where we get on the beat, eh, the beat, eh, which goes Da da Da da In Marly Gomont, there is no concrete around, 65 is the average age around here, 1 tennis court, 1 basketball court, Only 3 young people, so no one to play with, not cool. I come from a godforsaken village in the Aisne, in Picardy, Easily, 95% cows, 5% people, and among them, Only one black family, and it had to be mine, a real f*cking nightmare. I said to my father, “why didn't you move to Moscow, while you were at it? We couldn’t possibly be further away from our climate or people.” He answered: “Hey, and how’s that, you make fun of me, but it’s okay here, eh?” So what? I was six. First day of school. I cried because of these little morons. There, know what they called me? “Hey, bamboula, hey Petito, hey, bamboula, hey Noiraude, hey!” [all negative, racist terms for black people] Out of children's mouth, usually comes their parents’ truth. [a take on the French saying "La vérité sort de la bouche des enfants," "Out of children's mouth comes (undisguised, un-self-conscious) truth." ] Refrain x2 I don’t come from the city, But the beat is good, I don’t come from Paris, But from Marly Gomont. There's no concrete around here, Only pastures, But, even so, I've come across a lot of trash. In Marly Gomont, people don’t speak verlan. [a kind of French slang] [other person speaking]: “They speak this way instead, and that's good enough” At times, I like it well enough. [Other person speaking]: “I don’t like them Arabs, and I don’t like them Blacks, but I like you, even if you're Black.” From time to time, they talk politics, too, with lots of philosophy. [Other person speaking]: “In my opinion, I say, all of them politicians, they are all corrupt, eh?” In the little towns, better have a solid heart if you don't want a stoke, and yeah, if you do, you’re screwed. You have to cross twenty villages and go 50 kilometers to find a hospital. There they have nothing but pastures. At times there’s a soccer match on Sunday. The stadium is a pasture, on which lines are roughly traced, and nets are mounted. And in the local team, there’s always some guy who is nicknamed “Keke,” “Go Keke, Go Keke.” And if it isn’t Kéké, on the opposite team, there’s always some guy who is called “Biquette,” “Go Biquette, Go Biquette.” A typical day around here: the postman, a tractor, and nothing else… except for a cow from time to time. Refrain x2: I don’t come from the city, But the beat is good, I don’t come from Paris, But from Marly Gomont. There's no concrete around here, Only pastures, But, even so, I've come across a lot of trash. And at nursery school, I was only the black, And in the f*cking high school, I was only the black, And in the f*cking college, I was only the black, From nursery school to college, just as much flack. Who’s lost themselves in nature or the reason, Dad always said “it’s okay, it isn’t necessary to fight back, eh, son.” But me I wanted to revolt, but there, there’s nothing to burn. There’s one bus for the high school, it’s the same one for the rec center. It’s not worth burning, the car of my neighbor. People here don’t have them anyway, everyone has mopeds. And more, the bakery, it’s 8 kilometers away, 8 kilometers every morning on the moped! Where has he gone, Vincent, he left on the sly? No, none of that in our house, eh, he left on a moped, eh? Left on a moped, eh, the subway of little towns, It’s the beat, eh, the beat, eh, that goes Da da Da da. Dedicated to all those who come from little towns, Forsaken little towns where it’s miserable, Where there’s nothing to do, and you’re stuck, These godforsaken little towns that no one knows, not even Jean-Pierre Pernault. Refrain x4: I don’t come from the city, But the beat is good, I don’t come from Paris, But from Marly Gomont. There's no concrete around here, Only pastures, But, even so, I've come across a lot of trash.

[< Back] [Floating Bridges]

Category: That which is sung 

7 Feb 2007 @ 18:07 by tlingel : Kamini: Times' article
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570730,00.html

Kamini grew up in a tiny town deep in the French countryside called Marly-Gomont. He stood out, in part because everybody stands out in Marly-Gomont—pop. 432—but partly because Kamini is black. There aren't a lot of black people in Marly-Gomont.

Kamini wanted to be a hip-hop artist. It's a long way from Marly-Gomont to South Central L.A., but he recorded a song and shot a video with a friend. Total budget: 100 euros. The name of the song was Marly-Gomont, and in it Kamini raps about what he knows. "I couldn't rap about 'bitches' and 'hos' and do that whole gangsta thing," he says, "because it's not true. It's not my life."

Instead he raps about cows and tractors and soccer. "In Marly-Gomont," the song goes (it's in French), "there's no concrete/ 65 is the average age around here/ One tennis court, one basketball court." The video shows Kamini raisin' the roof with the village elders, who obviously think he's hilarious. But Kamini also raps about racism and being different: "I wanted to revolt, except that there, there's nothing to burn./ There's just one bus for the high school, same for the community center,/ Not worth going and burning a neighbor's car,/ Cuz they don't have them, they've all got mopeds."

On Aug. 30, Kamini and another friend put the video online and cold e-mailed some record companies to tell them about it. The response wasn't exactly a feeding frenzy. But an intern at one of the companies posted a link to the video on a bulletin board. "It's a site that sells custom-print T shirts," Kamini says, shaking his head. "It doesn't even have anything to do with music!" By the end of the day, nobody on the website was talking about T shirts. Everyone was talking about Kamini.

The video spread to YouTube and its French equivalents, WAT.tv and Dailymotion.com. Thousands of people watched it. Kamini started getting requests to appear on radio shows. In mid-October, without having toured or even played a single gig, Kamini signed a record deal with RCA for Marly-Gomont and two albums. He was a rap star by popular proclamation. He had paid his dues virally. "Everything has happened in two months," says Kamini, who hasn't quit his part-time job as a nurse. "Look at me, sitting here at a luxury hotel being interviewed. How did all this happen?"

The answer is that the people can make their own stars no—no auditions, no promotions. It's like American Idol, but everywhere, all the time. Though it's worth noting that the bands that have broken through online—OK Go, the Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, Gnarls Barkley—are a lot more interesting than the bland standards belters on American Idol.

Some rules haven't changed. People respond to talent and authentic emotion, and Marly-Gomont has them. "I'm not the only one on the Internet with a video," Kamini says. "But Marly-Gomont is different. It shows my real nature, and people respond to that. Materially speaking, it's the Internet that made it popular. But behind that, emotionally speaking, are people."