Alaclair Ensemble is a Canadian hip hop musical collective based in Quebec."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. 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 won the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1838 and established a state 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) 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, 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'', 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 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 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 ''Big Brother Célébrités'' is the Quebec celebrity version of the international reality show ''Big Brother''. It premiered on January 10, 2021 on Noovo. Produced by Banijay and Groupe Entourage, it is hosted by singer Marie-Mai Bouchard. S ...

''.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