INTERVIEW
Interview by : Alexandre Tonus
on Wednesday, March 17th 2004 - 12 357 views
Having just crossed the threshold of thirty, Difanga, a French singer originally from Ivory Coast, has for more than ten years made a place for himself on the reggae scene. Through hard work and taking part in a multitude of different projects, the lad has built up solid experience. That experience now allows him to release his first album, "Le Voyageur", which the latest news says will come out in early May. Anticipating this event, Reggaefrance went to meet Difanga to find out a little more about this new project, but also to take stock with him and finally shed some light on an artist who has too often stayed in the shadows until now.
Reggaefrance / Could you start by introducing yourself, for those who don't know you yet, tell us where you come from, explain the character Difanga in a few words, what your name means, all that?
Difanga / Difanga in a few words? First of all, he's a singer, a singer who made his appearance in '93 in the sound systems, a singer with soul tendencies, who would like, through this music, to get across a message, which is love... There you go, in a few words, Difanga.
And what does Difanga mean?
Difanga, in fact, given that I'm of mixed heritage, means that I come from two cultures, so I took a bit from both cultures to build my name. I took Fanga, which in my ethnic group, in Dioula, means Strength, and I took the D of Droiture (Righteousness), which makes the strength of righteousness; it's a bit like a concept: the more upright you are, the stronger you are.
You mentioned your beginnings in sound systems in the 90s, notably with a sound called Blues Party. Can you shed some light on that?
Yes! Blues Party... Actually, it's a bit the evolution of things... Nono, Blues Party's selecta, lived in the 19th arrondissement, right next to my place, and that's how we checked each other; he told me to come to a dance, he offered me the mic, I took it. I big him up, by the way, because it's an initiative, and one that isn't done much these days, that is, giving a chance to the young guy who comes from nowhere and wants to say something. And then, little by little, I carried on playing with them. But well, I've always been very... "4x4", I don't belong to any one sound in particular, I play a bit everywhere. But I often mention Blues Party, because they are indeed the origin of it all.
Then your first recorded appearance, I believe, was with a band called Les Daltons, is that right? What exactly was that project?
Les Daltons, yeah, a band from the West Indies... Actually, they were youngsters I didn't necessarily know, who had called me, saying they liked the vibe and wanted us to do something together. And I told them: "OK, as soon as you have something solid, call me." And maybe, I don't know, 6 months later, they called me, they said: "It's solid, we're going to the studio." We recorded, and it worked, no worries.
Around that time, we can also mention that you did a duet with Doudou Masta. Good experience?
Yeah, good experience too. Doudou Masta is a guy I didn't know personally, I knew the persona more, actually... I met him in the studio as well; he was recording the track in question, "Même les plus fous", and he told me he was looking for a chorus. So I played along and we did the tune.
And did you like it?
Yeah, especially as it wasn't necessarily meant to be released or to get a video, you see, and it went beyond my expectations, so it was bad.
Since then you've clocked up quite a few countries... I daren't list all the projects, there are so many. The most recent are the famous "Clean Vibes" compilation, where you do a duet with Mad Killah, who does mash-ups, and there's also a mixtape, I think, called "Street Side", which came out not long ago. And a compilation called "Mission locale (Own mission)"?
"Own mission" is another mixtape. It's a project by young guys who had called on me too, who were making riddims, and they called me to give them a bit of strength, to boost the thing. So I laid a vocal.
Then you took part in a hip-hop project, I believe?
Yeah, "L'Hip-hop'ée", it was a hip-hop project.
Was that a long time ago?
It was about two, three years ago... The concept, and it was pretty bad, to be fair, was to cover French classics. They were French songs as seen by young people from the street, so hip-hop, R&B, reggae...
A great mix of lots of good things...
Yeah, yeah! So I found the idea interesting and straight away, we did it.
And what about your Ivorian side, with the "Ivoir Sound System" project?
"Ivoir Sound System", yeah! That's a project that made me happy because, since I'm based in France, I don't really have time to work the Ivorian market, I don't have time to be present on the Ivorian scene. So it's a project that allowed me, you see, to be on the territory without really being there.
It's true that you stand quite apart from the big figures of Ivorian reggae... in the "style", if we can put it that way...
I don't necessarily stand apart, actually... Yeah, it's just that perhaps we don't draw our inspiration from the same place, perhaps they have other references...
But you felt the need to...
To have another one? Yeah, absolutely! Because back home in Côte d'Ivoire, the artists often come from a rather Alpha Blondy school, in the way of singing and all that, in the timbre of the voice, in the way of approaching reggae. It's a bit... Yeah, it all revolves around the same scales. Me, I really wanted to bring something new.
So after all that, there was also a four-track maxi, I believe?
Yeah, a four-track maxi that I self-produced, that I pressed on vinyl precisely to be in the underground, all the specialist shops and all that...
Under what label name?
Destiny Music. It's a label I had set up, on which I had also released the two-track "Dites-moi pourquoi", with the featuring "Believe", with Mad Cobra. So it was my own label... That is to say, faced with the majors' enthusiasm for reggae, you see, we said to ourselves, we're going to self-produce our project all the same. Because either they don't get excited, or, if they do, it's to do half a job, so there's no point. And we self-produced our own tracks and all that, and we're proud of it!
Is it still active today?
It's still active, but under another name. We're going to release the album, there, by the end of April... It's Kutchie Music, and so, yeah, it's more than active!
This album, then, which will feature the duet we've just talked about, with Cobra, will be called "Le Voyageur". Can you tell us more? What's going to be on it?
Basically, I called this album "Le Voyageur" because it has travelled a great deal, just like I have travelled a great deal. I recorded pretty much everywhere: we recorded a bit in England, a bit in Jamaica, a bit in France... And since I'm someone who draws inspiration from lots of things, I have lots of influences, meaning I won't only draw from reggae, or only from soul, I draw from all over. So I felt the title "Le Voyageur" represented me well all the same.
All of that must have led to plenty of encounters, of course?
Exactly, yeah! Some tracks were born out of those encounters. I met Sly and Robbie, monuments; I met Fire House Crew too; I met Dean Fraser; I also met Bongo Herman, a great percussionist; and we recorded at Anchor studio and at Big Ship, Freddie Mc Gregor's studio... And beyond the encounters, I really saw how the guys worked, how the guys lived. So it allowed me to understand, to be more indulgent even when it comes to the lyrics, to understand why the guy talks like that and why he sings about that. And so, yeah, it was cool, really enriching!
There's a duet with Paul Eliott too?
Paul Eliott too, yeah! I'm flattered, it's really a duet apart. I'm flattered because he's the one who produced that track. He was keen to do a tune with me and we did it. Paul Eliott, actually, I didn't meet by chance: it was Sniper, Baba Boom's selecta, who introduced me to Paul Eliott, and I met him perhaps ten days after I'd arrived in Kingston. I met Paul Eliott and the vibe was there straight away, we started singing from beginning to end.
He's known for being really communicative.
Yeah, he's very vibes, very family, very cool. Paul Eliott, yeah, he's great!
I read a rumour that you did your first concert at the age of ten, that you went to see Culture and Alpha Blondy?
Exactly! Because my parents are quite big reggae fans, so they've always listened to reggae and they took me to my first concert at the age of ten.
And that's where you felt the vibe for the first time?
Yeah, that's it, honestly, yeah. I mean, when I saw the guy on stage, when I saw the vibe it gave people, when I saw the vibe they themselves were giving off, I said: "No, no, that's what I want to do!" It was really like lightning striking you, you know.
Is the stage important?
Yeah, it's more important than anything, actually. Because the stage... if you sing, it's for the people, and the stage is where you're with the people. Now, the studio is interesting for the experience, but otherwise, yeah, it's the stage!
We'll come back to something you've already mentioned several times, namely your voice, which is steeped in soul sounds. Do you admit to having soul influences? What are your tastes in that field? What do you listen to?
What I'm into is that I grew up with James Brown, with Marvin Gaye, I grew up with Otis Redding, with Curtis Mayfield, that's what I listened to growing up. And why do I identify more with soul? Because it's a song of the soul, it's a less straight way of singing: that is, it's less synthetic, it's truer. It's the guy, he comes along and gives you the emotion of the day, actually: that's a bit what soul is.
So you admit that in your music there's the same mix you mention with the title of your album "Le Voyageur", that you're multi-faceted? Reggae, soul, you're everywhere...
Ah yeah, of course! Basically, I try to draw inspiration from everything, everything, everything that has followed me throughout my life, at least up to where I've got to.
And what's your opinion of the "reggae scene", if we can call it that? Given that you do give off a message that advocates love...
I think the reggae scene, first of all, is growing, so it's big all the same, and that's already a good thing, it's a pleasure to see. But new reggae is difficult, actually... I think we have to give it time to grow, to emancipate itself a bit, to gain a bit of perspective. Because reggae has been around "for a long time", so to speak, but it hasn't been long since it took off, so it's a bit like a young child: you have to give it time to see what's going on around it. But I think we could give it a little boost all the same, because there are other countries, like Germany, Italy, Switzerland, that are there, that are present.
Do you think that in France, things still aren't moving enough?
It's hard to say that things still aren't moving enough, but what I mean is that they could move more.
And what's your opinion of the French audience in general? The way it welcomes artists?
I find it tough, especially when it welcomes Jamaican artists. Because at most of the concerts I go to, I see that the crowd often doesn't really give its maximum, even though Jamaicans do come. They make the effort to come... OK, they take a fee. OK, they're paid for it. But still, basically, if they come all the same, it's mostly to take in the vibes. It's cold here, you know, you have to want to come. No, but I think we could still big them up a bit more, without falling into idolatry either.
Do you have a particular message to get across, a little word for the youths?
For the youths? First of all, the first message is that there is hope: whatever they undertake, if it's positive, and if it isn't about growing up to crush your neighbour, lots of things are coming...
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