Loco Locass
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Loco Locass, founded en 1995, is a Quebec City hip hop group. In Quebec the group is known especially for its enthusiastic defence of the role of the French language and for its political championing of Quebec sovereignty.
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[edit] Portrait
The group was formed by Batlam, Biz, and Chafiik, three French language enthusiasts who integrated poetic and activist lyrics with rap beats and music. Their rhymes deal most with promoting Quebec sovereignty, but they also address politics generally, the role of French in Canada, alternative globalization movements, the struggle against social exclusion and, to a certain extent, openness to ethnic diversity, as well as more personal messages. Loco Locass prioritizes opportunities to deliver their views to the public, and those who are fans appreciate what they see as an ability to say out loud what they feel political correctness usually consigns to silence. The group's enthusiasm for and mastery of the French language results in the incorporation of voice, sound, and grammatical word play.
[edit] Politics
The group made the headlines in 2004 with their hit single Libérez-nous des libéraux (Liberate us from the Liberals), a song denouncing what they held to be the views of the Jean Charest and Paul Martin governments, and featuring vocals from Quebec comic group Les Zapartistes. The song took subtler shots along the way at Bernard Landry for what they viewed as an unwillingness to tackle controversial issues on his part; it was rereleased on the 2005 album Amour oral in a longer, extended version.
[edit] Student Funding
In the winter of 2005, Loco Locass supported the political arm of the Quebec student movement during a major student strike, protesting against the Quebec Liberal government of the day's conversion of $103m in bursary funding to loans. Critics, however, charged that the group's song Casse du 24 supported what they felt to be police repression of students.
[edit] Sovereignty
Particularly given the importance of the "national question" in Quebec culture and politics, it is unsurprising that Loco Locass's self-image as a vehicle for promoting the sovereigntist option has played into existing social divisions. These divisions have played out on several occasions:
St-Jean Concert: on June 24, 2005, the group took part in a show marking the government-designated Quebec National Holiday organised by Les Cowboys Fringants at Montreal's Parc Jean-Drapeau. The ten-hour politicized show's $40 entry fee was controversial, as was its sponsorship by Coca-Cola and Gillette, companies some left-wing nationalists identified as "Anglo-Saxon imperialists", leading to charges that the show constituted elitist competition with a long-established event at Parc Maisonneuve; a second, no-entry-fee edition in 2006 is expected to quell the controversy.
Federal Funding: Loco Locass are not among the sovereigntist artists whose political stance leads them to boycott federal funding programmes. In particular, some of their recordings have received federal recording industry subsidies. Federalists have charged that this poses an integrity problem, since they accept funding from the very level of government whose rejection they seek to promote. Federally-funded sovereigntist groups respond that as taxpayers into the federal entity they have the right to benefit from its programmes and that, in the sovereign Quebec they promote, their tax dollars would be diverted to Quebec funding programmes which would similarly become available to them.
Federalists Leave Home: Biz was reported during the spring of 2006 as suggesting that those who do not support the sovereignty option should leave Quebec.[1] This position is unpopular among Quebecois who support continued affiliation with Canada. Some also accuse Biz's of taking part of the history of accusations of disloyalty by nationalists.
[edit] Unusual Events
Poids plume (Featherweight): After the group's first album birthed a first poetry collection, Manifestif, Loco Locass released their second book, Featherweight, bringing together the lyrics to their albums Amour Oral and In Vivo. The 128-page book was published in November 2005 (Éditions Fides) and included photos by Marie-Lyne Baril and illustrations by Alain Reno.
Loco Locass symphonique: On August 19, 2005, in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, Loco Locass played five of their songs accompanied by a young string orchestra of musicians aged 12 to 17, an initiative of Camp Musical St-Alexandre director-conductor Mathieu Rivest. The five songs were La censure pour l'échafaud, La bataille des murailles, L'empire du pire en pire, Antiaméricanisme primaire and Libérez-nous des libéraux, to which music by Prokofiev, Berlioz, and Stravinsky was added. Partners included Télé-Québec, Vidéo- and Audiogram, and a documentary was released in the winter of 2006.
[edit] Awards
Loco Locass have won awards from:
- ADISQ (best hip-hop album for Amour Oral, 2005);
- CRIA-certified gold album for selling 50,000 copies of Amour Oral (2005);[2]
- Grafika (best CD cover for 'Amour oral, second opus, 2005);
- MIMI (Mots-Dits prize for lyrics and best song award for Libérez-nous des libéraux, 2005);
- MuchMusic Video Awards (nominated for best French-language video, 2005);
- MusiquePlus (artist of the month, April 2005).
[edit] Discography
- Manifestif, October 2000
- 01. Mes enfants...
- 02. L'assaut
- 03. Sheila ch'us là
- 04. Langage-toi
- 05. L'empire du pire en pire
- 06. Malamalangue
- 07. Potsotjob
- 08. Impression solennel levant
- 09. Boom baby boom!
- 10. Isabeille et Biz
- 11. Manifestif
- 12. La casse du 24
- 13. Priapée la p'tite vite
- 14. Médiatribes
- 15. Art poétik
- 16. I represent rien pantoute
- 17. Vulgus vs Sanctus
- In Vivo, June 2003 (CD-ROM interactif)
- Audio files, only accessible by computer
- 01. ROC Rap
- 02. Super Mario
- 03. Manifestif
- 04. Art Politik
- 05. Langage-Toi
- 06. Boom Baby Boom!
- 07. Priapée La P'tite Vite (a cappella)
- 08. Art Poétik
- 09. Yallah
- 10. Sheila Djom
- 11. Le Grand Rio
- 12. Soupe du Jour
- Video Files
- ROC Rap
- Super Mario
- Sheila Djom
- Manifestif
- Langage-Toi
- Extra: 30 capsules
- Interactive Video
- Le Grand Rio
- Audio-CD Files
- 01. data (empty)
- 02. ROC Rap
- 03. Super Mario
- 04. Yallah
- 05. Sheila Djom
- 06. Le Grand Rio
- 07. Soupe du Jour
- Amour oral, November 2004
- 01. Résistance
- 02. La bataille des murailles
- 03. W Roi
- 04. Antiaméricanisme primaire
- 05. Groove Grave
- 06. Bonzaïon
- 07. La censure pour l'échafaud
- 08. Spleen et Montréal
- 09. Maison et idéal
- 10. La Survenante
- 11. Antigone
- 12. Libérez-nous des libéraux
- 13. Engouement
