Celya AB's Hip Hop Mixtape
Ahead of her return to the Fringe with new stand-up show Second Rodeo, Celya AB puts together a playlist of some of her favourite hip hop bangers
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I’m lucky to have been introduced to lots of music growing up. It’s my favourite thing in the world which I know isn’t cool or original. I love music so much that I played the guitar for years and refused to learn the theory because I didn’t want to understand why notes and sounds made me feel a certain way. Also my brother got better than me and with him being seven years older, he would carry on that way. How unsporting of him to have been born in the 80s. I grew up in the Parisian banlieues in the late-nineties and early noughties and hip-hop has always been around me, even if at the time I was rebelling and getting really into metal.
I then started doing stand-up and going home less and less. All to make time for £25, 10 minute trial spots in the midlands so a promoter could tell me I wasn’t ready for a £50, 20 minutes spot that had never been given to a woman before. I know rap had always been around me growing up, but I didn’t realise how much until I left for England and found myself listening to it for comfort. One day I noticed that I wasn’t listening to it as much when home and it clicked: it’s a way for me to stay in touch with home and my language. It makes sense, I often miss French, I love les bons mots and good music: french rap is just that.
Nekfeu – Vinyle
This album (Cyborg) is what got me onto Nekfeu, I really really love it. It played on repeat in 2016 and 2017 during my first year of doing stand-up. I picked Vinyle but any song from it could be on this list. Cyborg wins the spot on nostalgia, but I also highly recommend Ciel Noir and the entire Les étoiles vagabondes album.
Kendrick Lamar – Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst
When I started making this list I thought it could be an opportunity to show off, share some niche songs, make myself look super interesting and smart, but in the end it all boils down to songs with millions of plays. Same as the previous, any songs from this album could be on the list (“If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?’’ surely one of the best lines of all time?). Kendrick is one of my favourite artists, period. He’s been in my ears since 2011 with Section.80, an album that was the soundtrack to my first year of living in Birmingham. This particular song is 12 minutes long, and as someone who loves a loopy big boy of a song (see Of Montreal - The Past Is A Grotesque Animal or any LCD Soundsystem), it really scratches an itch for me.
Orelsan – L’odeur de l’essence
I got onto Orelsan quite late, over the last 3-4 years and really got into him after watching the Prime documentary Montre jamais ça à personne/Don’t ever show this to anyone. The doc follows him from his teenage years in a small town in France, to being the biggest rapper in France (I could be wrong, he could be number 4 and I wouldn’t know as I am in England *wraps union jack around me*). The best bit is that the doc is filmed by his brother. This song in particular is phenomenal and I highly recommend you watch the video (there are english subs). He’s one of the artists who remind me of home a lot.
Little Simz – I Love You, I Hate You
I love Little Simz and I love this album. Picture Perfect was one of my most played songs in 2018, but when Something I Might Be Introvert came out I was in a weird place with music and didn’t listen to anything new for a few months. I listened to the album in full late last year and it’s on repeat now. Hope this makes sense but I find it sort of ‘cinematic’. This song is one of my favourite songs ever, “I’m not forgiving for you man I’m forgiving for me” is a highlight.
IAM - Nes sous la même étoile
A French rap classic. A song about the class system in France, the lyrics are from the perspective of someone questioning why they’re growing up working class/in la banlieue, with vivid examples, comparing themselves to the rich, before surrendering to their life in the chorus (“Life is beautiful, faith moves away from it, No one plays with the same cards, The cradle lifts the veil, multiples are the roads it unveils, Too bad, we weren't born under the same star’’. It’s really poignant stuff and one of the most important albums to come out of France.
Kanye West - All Falls Down
Of course.
Tyler The Creator - See You Again
I wanted Tyler The Creator in the list so there he is. A great love song with hints of madness and Kali Uchis’ lovely voice. I almost selected IFHY for this but went with something a TAD lighter.
The Game ft 50 Cent - Hate It Or Love It
Another very underground hit that you’ve probably never heard of. This made it on the list for 3 reasons:
- It’s a great song that I love with an iconic chorus
- It was one of the few songs my brothers had downloaded on our first computer (alongside Arctic Monkeys - Teddy Picker and a third song we found out years ago was actually Christian rock)
- In my diary, aged 10, I described my perfect man as having “The Game’s smile in the Hate It Or Love It” music video.
Kendrick Lamar - Rigamortis
I considered putting this one under the big Kendrick umbrella but think it deserves its own spot. I don’t have the words to describe how much I love it (which absolutely goes against the format of what this is). A perfect song.
Jazzy Bazz - Le syndrome
An important track for me and a nice way to close. The song is a love letter to Paris, but a knowing one (“your wealth/richness shines but I ask myself: why do you share it with so few people?”), my favourite line being “moi j’suis qu’une fenêtre qui s’allume la nuit”/”I’m just a window that lights up at night”. This track turned up on my spotify recommendations in 2017 at a time where I was very homesick and worked as a bit of an emotional band aid.