Alaclair Ensemble is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

hip hop

musical collective Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared.Liisa Ladouceur"Collegjthk ctive Souls" ''This Magazine'', November/December 2004. The concept is distinct from th ...

based in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

."Alaclair Ensemble rewrites history through hip hop"
. ''

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...

'', July 14, 2014. Their musical style draws on traditional Québécois folk music as well as contemporary Hip hop music and

Electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

. They are known for PR stunts and tongue-in-cheek lyrics that border on the comedic. The group consists of Ogden "Robert Nelson" Ridjanovic (rapper), Akena "KNLO" Okoko (rapper & producer), Claude Bégin (rapper, singer, producer, musician), Eman (rapper), and producer Louis-Nicolas Imbeau, known as Vlooper. The members also release music with their own side projects.

Musical concept

The band's concept is based around an

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

in which the

Patriotes The patriotes movement was a political movement that existed in Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) from the turn of the 19th century to the Patriote Rebellion of 1837 and 1838 and the subsequent Act of Union of 1840. The partisan embodiment o ...

won the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southe ...

of 1838 and established a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

based on the

Declaration of Independence of Lower Canada The Declaration of Independence of Lower Canada (french: Déclaration d'indépendance du Bas-Canada) was written in French by the patriot rebel Robert Nelson on February 22, 1838, while in exile in the United States, after the first rebellion of ...

. In the band's Bas-Canada (

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

) mythology, the nation suffers none of the linguistic tensions between Anglophones and Francophones that exist in contemporary Quebec and Canadian society, and the band performs lyrics in both languages.

History

The collective was formed in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

, after several of the members had participated in Bande à part's ''93 tours'' project in 2007."Hip-hop: 93 tours et puis reviennent"
''

Le Devoir ''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. ''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...

'', October 26, 2007. They released their debut album, ''4,99'', on Bandcamp in 2010. That was followed by ''Le Roé C'est Moé'' and ''Touladis'' in 2011, and, in 2012, ''Un Piou Piou Parmi Tant D'autres'' and ''America''. In December 2012, they performed a "hip-hop Nocturne" at the

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) is a contemporary art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Place des festivals in the Quartier des spectacles and is part of the Place des Arts complex. Founded in 1964, it is ...

. The group's 2013 album ''Les maigres blancs d'Amérique du Noir'', whose title is a satirical pun on

Pierre Vallières Pierre Vallières ( – ) was a Québécois journalist and writer, known as an intellectual leader of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ). He was the author of the essay ''Nègres blancs d'Amérique'', translated as ''White Niggers of Am ...

' Quebec revolutionary manifesto '' Les nègres blancs d'Amérique'', was released on Google Records and was a long-listed nominee for the

2013 Polaris Music Prize The 2013 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 23, 2013

."Polaris Music Prize Unveils 2013 Long List"
. ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', June 13, 2012. ''Toute est impossible'', was released in 2014. In 2016, they released the album ''Alaclair Acapellas'', and were then signed to Disques 7ième Ciel (7ieme Ciel Records). They then released their first priced album, ''Les Frères Cueilleurs'', and went on a tour of Quebec and parts of Europe. At

ADISQ ADISQ (french: Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video; eng, Québec Association for the Recording, Concert and Video Industries, link=yes) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the indepen ...

2017, Alaclair Ensemble garnered nominations for the Critics' Choice Award, Show of the Year, Producer of the Year, Engineer of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year. Their video for the song "Ça que c'tait" won Video of the Year and ''Les Frères Cueilleurs'' won Hip Hop Album of the Year. The album ''Le sens des paroles'' was released in 2018. At

2019, Alaclair Ensemble received several nominations; the video for the song "La Famille" won Video of the Year, and the album won Rap Album of the Year. The album's lyrics are more serious than those of their earlier work. That was followed by ''America, Vol. 2'' in 2019. Also in 2019, the city of

Laval, Quebec Laval (; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in C ...

commissioned the group to create a song and video to encourage recycling. The result, Mets du respect dans ton bac (put some respect in your recycling bin), immediately went viral, with the video viewed 1.5 million times in its first five days. In 2020, Alaclair Ensemble released the album ''Capitaine Canada''. In 2021, Claude Bégin was a competitor in the Quebec edition of '' Big Brother Célébrités''.Marc-André Lemieux
"Big Brother Célébrités : donnons la chance à tous les coureurs"
''

Le Journal de Montréal ''Le Journal de Montréal'' is a daily French-language tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Quebec and is also the largest French-language daily newspaper in North America. ...

'', January 10, 2021.

Discography

*''4,99'' (2010), Independent *''Le roé c'est moé'' (2011), Independent *''Touladis'' (2011) *''Un Piou Piou Parmi Tant D'autres'' (2012), Independent *''America'' (2012), Independent *''Les maigres blancs d'Amérique du Noir'' (2013), Independent *''Toute est impossible'' (2014), Independent *''Alaclair Acapellas'' (2016), Independent *''Les Frères Cueilleurs'' (2016) *''Le Sens des Paroles'' (2018), 7ième Ciel *''America, Vol. 2'' (2019) *''Capitaine Canada'' (2020)

References

External links

Alaclair EnsembleMaybe Watson expulsé de l'ensemble
{{Authority control Canadian hip hop groups Musical groups from Montreal Hip hop collectives