As France caught the UK drill wave in full force during 2020, some of the style's leading lights began to emerge. Among them, 1PLIKE140 is one of the most respectful of British codes, both in terms of rap and in terms of image and sapes. Even if he allows himself more eccentric attempts, and we at Project X Paris are all for it!
The 1PLIKÉ140 phenomenon
Nobody could have predicted the incredible success of drill music in France. In fact, we even thought that France would have a hard time adapting to the rap phenomenon that originated in England (but also in the States, in Chicago, then New York) with its very particular codes, very dark, very street, and impregnated with an often violent street life. And yet, two years after the first tremors, the drill is now unavoidable, and many old-timers have even started trying it out. But above all, this wave was the opportunity to see rappers such as Freeze Corleone, Gazo and 1PLIKE 140 explode into the public eye. The latter is probably the fastest-rising rapper of all, being one of the youngest of all, with a career that is also fairly young. But in less than two years, the prodigy has had time to expand his discography with four projects. Above all, he has scored his first real mainstream hits.
The rapper from Clamart in the 92 region of France now has the numbers to match his ambitions, although he obviously has no intention of stopping there. With his latest hit, "Canada", he's been at the top of every rap playlist for several weeks, with a track that sounds like a street banger. Again, it would have been hard to predict this kind of success for such a raw track, but that's precisely where 1PLIKE140 excels: he surprises. Far from adopting the most commercial codes to release hits, he scrupulously respects Anglo-Saxon influences, whether in the darker tracks or in the livelier ones, with the faster electro instrusions that the English are so fond of. His latest single, "Perso", is a fine example of this. On this electro-instrument, the French rapper spouts off with the greatest of ease, as if he'd been doing it all his life. The fact that he really knows the UK codes and respects them, is clearly a strong point compared to a competition that sometimes struggles to fully assume its influences.
1PLIKE140 is part of this new generation of rappers who are destined to be the great faces of tomorrow's rap, alongside the likes of Uzi, Koba La D and a few others. After "Arrêtez-le vol.2", released in January 2022, we wouldn't be surprised to see him back soon with a new project, as he's been so productive so far, just to confirm the phenomenon's importance. In fact, he's already diversified his music, allowing himself a few less dark tracks, even if his attitude and lyrics remain as raw as ever. This versatility will be an asset for the rest of his career, which has got off to the best possible start so far. This summer, he's scheduled to perform at a number of major festivals, and we're likely to see his popularity soar even higher, so believe us when we tell you that you're only at the beginning of the phenomenon.
The 1PLIKÉ140 x PXP collab
His status as one of the great revelations of the FR drill scene obviously prompted Project X Paris to collaborate with the young rapper. Especially as we immediately noticed his sense of style. In fact, it's a fundamental aspect of drill, and every driller needs to have at least one copy of this panoply in one of his videos: a black outfit, with a black hoodie black sneakers, a cargo pants (or black tracksuit bottoms), with a black cap or balaclava, the color of which you can guess. A great connoisseur of these codes, 1PLIKE140 lent himself perfectly to the game during our shoot with him, wearing this classic streetwear drill outfit. All this in front of a magnificent vintage car, in keeping with the PXP idea of mixing luxury and streetwear codes. The outfit was a must, and the rapper validated the stage brilliantly. And on top of it all, a black quilted down jacket, also very popular with UK drillers (to the point of inspiring the famous parody track "Man's Not Hot", by Big Shaq, 400 million views on Youtube).
But where he impressed the audience the most was when he donned more summery outfits. In particular, the ensemble from the " Bandana ". As you may have noticed, the motifs on the pieces refer to those of bandanas, cult pieces of US Rap streetwear. The program features bandana shorts and a men's hoodie in the same pale colors and motifs. All of this, at the wheel of a magnificent quad bike, for an incredible look that has already made it one of our favorite shoots of the 2022 season. The outfit isn't one of the easiest to wear, but 1PLIKE140 manages to pull it off, even with clothes that are a far cry from those usually worn in drill videos, especially in terms of color and pattern.
Finally, the icing on the cake are the photos of 1PLIKE140 wearing the " Graffiti "One of our most recent and ambitious collections. A pair of rather large shorts, with graffiti motifs covering the entire surface, a t-shirt with the same motifs, and a gradation of colors ranging from light blue to purple: a very colorful, very summery outfit that's a hit on the rapper's shoulders. This graffiti ensemble will be one of our must-haves for the summer season, which starts soon. The rapper has also kept his black beanie, a reminder of the world of drill. We're telling you, the young prodigy respects codes!