Le Vinyle Club Vinyl (Limited Edition) Surf & Die - 2Xlp Jaunes Translucides - Onoe Caponoe

Onoe Caponoe has been one of the best-kept secrets of British hip hop for over a decade. Well, almost, because his talent and the originality of his world quickly allowed him to surpass the sharp underground scene of London.

Like many, it was in his teenage years that he first fell in love with music, starting out with punk by picking up the guitar and singing, and then quickly being drawn to American hip hop, inspiring him to create his first lyrics and grab the mic. But it was through discovering the British scene that he found his own world and personalised his flow with a very British accent. Among the eclectic selection on his turntable are: Black Sabbath, London Posse, Jimi Hendrix, and Three 6 Mafia... auditory leaps are no issue for him.

By the end of the 2000s, he began to get involved in the professional scene, under the name O!Noe Boy, particularly with MC Fliptrix aka Big Owl, a member of Four Owls, featuring on two tracks from his first solo LP "Force Fed Imagery".

On his part, Onoe had gained enough confidence to launch a solo career, which he did in 2011 with his debut album "Central Control" released on the label Audio Doughnuts, followed by its sequel "Willows Midnight Gallery" in 2012, inspired by The Wizard of Oz. After recording two more albums, ("Holy Mountain" and "The Staircase to nowhere"), he joined High Focus, a key label in the underground British hip hop scene, and became produced by one of London's most sought-after producers: Chemo. In 2015, "Voices from planet Catelle" caught the critic's attention, as did its successor "Spells from the cyclop" the following year, making Onoe one of the most recognised MCs on both sides of the Thames.

As the albums progressed, we discover an artist who is actively involved in creating the covers for his albums and music videos, wanting to maintain control over his entire creative process. His world takes us on a journey into an hallucinatory vision of the world, bittersweet, where it's never quite clear whether it’s a dream or a nightmare. Some of his very colourful videos, which may seem almost childish at first glance, serve to immerse us more deeply in the tortured characters he portrays.

In any case, after his first successful attempts, it takes three years for "Surf or Die" to come to life. In a dense album surrounded by a plethora of English producers, it features a remarkable ability to shift effortlessly between boom bap hip hop reminiscent of the great 90s era and radical grime, a musical genre that emerged in England in the 2000s, very popular in the working-class areas of perfidious Albion!

Fans of "the golden age of hip hop" will appreciate from the very first listen tracks like "Suicide City" or "Valentine Massacre" produced by Jae Genius, which feel like they've come straight from a Mobb Deep album, just like the melancholic "Behind the Wall." At times his flow is softer, almost laid-back, as on "Miss Universe" or "Heaters" with mid-tempo beats crafted by Daytripper, or "Raindcloud" featuring jazz piano. But the artist, firmly rooted in his time, offers rawer and more contemporary sounds that will delight Generation Z, as heard in the grime vibes of "Red Planet" or "Chop e'm down." His longtime collaborator Chemo also writes the track "Phone Off" in the vein of his previous productions. If you add a few instrumentals with strange or even unsettling atmospheres, you get a glimpse of the overall spirit of "Surf or Die."

This impressive achievement once again shows that as long as the music is good, it transcends generations.

The anecdote:

Since the release of his latest album, "Invisible War," in 2020, the artist's fans have begun to grow impatient. Fortunately, he has been very active on social media, offering new tracks approximately every two months since spring: "Cat in Oz," "Mad Sick," "Pinocchio," and the very recent "Afro Samurai / Quest." An album seems to be in the works, and his latest productions are raising the anticipation!

Arnaud Brailly