Planet Notion - The Outlines

12/09/2007

Considering hip hop is a genre commonly perceived as being more than a little self-obsessed as well as being overly concerned with self-improvement often to the detriment of everyone else, French collective Outlines are something of an anomaly. The man who ties together their disparate strands of art and music, Jerome Hadley, spent last year working for UNITAID, an organisation set up by the WHO with the purpose of widening availability to drugs that could lessen the burden developing countries carry in terms of HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. Such practical altruism is a rare thing these days for many musicians, but it is something he believes passionately in. The dichotomy between the first and third world is something close to his heart and it undoubtedly informs his beliefs and consequently his music. ‘People are scared of each other because they don’t know each other,’ he tells me in a rolling Gallic tone. ‘Art is the best communication.’ His musical partner Irfane Khan-Acito, as always, finishes his friend’s sentence by pointing out that art is ‘an abstract expression of our own core values. Hip hop is an exchange of ideas replacing negativity.’ With such awareness and consciousness, it’s little wonder that their debut album ‘Our Lives Are Too Short’ is brimming over with collaborators from Wu- Tang Clan’s RZA to France’s own rapping luminary Abd Al Malik, all wanting to work with these humble yet humorous boys from Strasbourg. Hadley informs me that ‘Outlines is based on music, but it’s an artistic concept.’ This goes some way to explaining the wide ranging mix of influences bubbling through the album, as bossa nova gives way to euphoric beat declarations and all of it done with the debonair panache with which French hip hop has become synonymous. Likewise, it offers a clarification as to how RZA ended up in Hadley’s apartment laying down some breathtaking rhymes over the cathartic rhythms of ‘Now That I’m Free.’ ‘All the people we work with, we may not have the same vision, but we do have the same values,’ says Khan-Acito, highlighting again the unifying nature of their work.

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They have been aided in their mission to make the world a better place by Berlin based label Sonar Kollektiv, an imprint set up by musical magpies Jazzanova. Clearly they saw something of their own penchant for being open to music in all its wondrous forms in Outlines, and as such afforded them the creative support required to pursue such audacious goals and make the type of music that truly engages the listener. The man with the spray can who provides the visual aspect of the Outlines operation, Jay Ramier – or graff artist extraordinaire Jay1 to you and me – says, ‘We’re not technological, we’re cultural – it’s art. Art is expressing your vision of the world and you don’t have to be limited.’ When pushed as to what their vision of the world is, he grins, shrugs his shoulders in typically French fashion and says ‘It’s a mix of pessimism and optimism.’ As ever, Irfane concludes things concisely: ‘It’s reality.’

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Living in the 18th arrondissement along with brothers in arms the Ed Banger crew, Outlines are helping to form a new and distinctly independent identity for European hip hop. Whilst complimentary about the British hip hop scene, they are aware that they are working in a genre that is foreign in more ways than one. ‘Hip hop is an American art form,’ explains Hadley. ‘We’ve been emulating it but they’re ahead of the game.’ Khan-Acito, putting his beatmaster head on, waxes lyrical about combining ‘musical production with the abstracts of melody, to bridge the gap between club tracks and home listening’ as being his mission. For him the likes of DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Dre are the points on his compass, and Jazzanova were the people who encouraged him to pursue the direction that he was tentatively stepping towards when not working with MCs. ‘Hip hop found its way into a tunnel, and it’s now coming out of that and taking on new influences,’ is how Hadley explains Khan-Acito’s tendency for taking bold musical steps.

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This approach to their music has clearly given the boys the confidence required to take their craft onto the next level. They do not conform to the stereotype of self-regarding hip hop heads who prefer to keep things real, i.e. staying underground and selling bugger-all records. ‘This album took five years to make,’ says Khan-Acito, ‘so we want to share it with as many people as possible and cross boundaries.’ As such they are keen to take their time putting together a live show that does the music justice, so expect big things when they hit the road this autumn. In the meantime though, these busy beat bees will be working on the soundtrack for ‘Babylon A.D,’ the next film from ‘La Haine’ director Mathieu Kassovitz. Clearly Outlines are on a mission to infiltrate as many mediums as possible in order to communicate their message to the world. Could they change it? You know, I reckon they might make a dent.

‘OUR LIVES ARE TOO SHORT’ IS OUT NOW (SONAR KOLLEKTIV) FOR MORE INFO ON UNITAID, GO TO WWW.UNITAID.EU