Michel Sardou responds to Orelsan, Digi Mart USA News (Caen, Normandy, France): Michel Sardou has responded sharply after being cited by Orelsan in his latest song, XXX, in a phrase the 79-year-old singer did not find flattering.
In a long interview with La Tribune Dimanche, published Saturday, November 7, Sardou said of the Caen-born rapper: “I don’t care at all about Orelsan, I don’t know him.” He added that when Orelsan sings, “you can’t understand a word he says because he doesn’t know how to open his mouth or articulate.”
In XXX, Orelsan cites Sardou in a tirade against the far right. The rapper sings that he has far-right figures “on my ribs” because he wants them to choke, and that he is the opposite of the CNews television channel.
He says that eating pork and singing Sardou are part of “our family gatherings,” but that his critics do not disguise themselves as caricatures of the French or act as racists.
Sardou rejected the association once again with a France described as right-wing or reactionary. “Yes, I eat pork, and I am proud that people sing Connemara at family gatherings,” he said.
He added that he had been called a fascist all his life because he was the only right-wing singer while all the others were on the left, and argued that people do not understand the true definition of fascism. “Today, if you have a barbecue or don’t eat vegan, you’re a fascist,” he said.
Orelsan’s lyrics do not directly target Sardou, the article notes, but rather those who appropriate the symbolism of these songs. The rapper criticizes the cultural appropriation carried out by marketed festive events such as the Canon français banquets, whose popularity and success have drawn sharp criticism over the origins of their funding and some of the ideas promoted by participants.
