Ninho, the "Jefe" of French rap

On December 3, Ninho returned with a new solo album, “Jefe”. It is probably the record for which NI is most awaited, by critics and listeners alike. It’s an opportunity to look at the case of the French rap phenomenon of the last 5 years, who knows no pressure, whether in music or when posing for Project X Paris.

Ninho embraces his status The general public discovered Ninho with the release of his album “Comme Prévu” in 2017. But before that, the rapper originally from both the 91 and 77 had already released 4 projects, including the mixtape “MILS” (for Maintenant Ils Le Savent) now cult. His pseudonym is directly inspired by his youth: when he arrived in French rap in 2014 with his first mixtape “Ils Sont Pas Au Courant”, he was barely 18. When he earned his first gold records, he was barely 20. Today, a long way has been traveled, with a total of 9 solo projects, dozens of featured hits, and a historic record of certifications earned thanks to his sales. His mere appearance on a track triggers a real streaming avalanche, to the point that some say it’s enough to invite him to make a gold record.

A success that, before the release of this ninth solo project, even brought Ninho some troubles, notably with another French rap boss, Booba. But in the end, nothing tarnished this December 3, a reunion day between NI and his fans around this new album “Jefe”. The rapper was expected to deliver, and chose to announce that there would be no features on his record. A bold bet, but which also shows his desire to embrace his status as a leader of French rap. Objectively, he has been one of the 3 or 4 most important rappers in the country for almost 5 years now. And we can say: the bet seems won. 15 tracks, with quite varied atmospheres as the rapper often offers. Sometimes melancholic, like in “VVS” or the track “Jefe”, sometimes rather aggressive and determined, like in “Sky Priority” and “Mood”, but also with quite a bit of nostalgia, like in “Arme de Poing” or “RER D”.

A wide panel of beatmakers came to help him: BBP, SNK prod and many others, allowing different musical touches. But the record remains quite coherent in itself and also with the rest of his discography. We have this quite frequent mix in him of big singles calibrated to be radio hits, some tracks that will also play in clubs, and finally a good number of “bangers” a bit more rapped and less melodic. So he didn’t change his recipe and stayed true to his principles, with quite a few Latin music type beats and references to his daily life, which has changed a lot since his beginnings. An album that should normally please his quite large fanbase, even if other big competitors are rushing to release at the end of the year (Jul, Rohff, Orelsan, Ziak, …). But at Project X Paris, we know him a bit: we know he has absolutely no pressure, neither in front of the mic, nor in front of streaming scores, nor in front of our cameras’ objectives.

Ninho, one of Project X Paris’s first supporters Besides rapping well, NI is also very comfortable when it comes to posing with the most beautiful pieces. We noticed it during our shoot with the phenomenon, he is not afraid to step out of his comfort zone. It must be said that the collection seemed tailored for the artist, who has always shown a strong attraction to clothes. From his first clips, we saw a desire to display a very strong streetwear identity, notably with the essential tracksuit set. We obviously offered him different made-in-PXP versions, and it worked quite well. The black set with fine neon yellow stripes and the small stylized logo of the same color suits him really well, almost as if he had always worn it. Same observation when we made him try different sweatshirts and hoodies, even the most street designs.

But where it matches best is when we offer him something more “flashy”, more “luxurious” and extravagant. Notably the jogging bottom + jacket set in white, with somewhat baroque golden patterns on the chest and legs. All worn with a matching pair of sneakers, for a very successful effect. This is probably the outfit that suits him best, and also fits very well with the shooting location, in a golden place that seems straight out of the Renaissance. Finally, the missing touch was obviously the parka. A key piece, especially for the winter period. A PXP parka with the fur effect around the hood, reminiscent of the first mythical models worn by rappers like the Wu-Tang Clan in the 90s.

At Project X Paris, we are obviously very proud of Ninho’s journey. Even if, when we met him in 2017, we already knew he would do great things in French rap, we were far from imagining how much the rapper would change the face of this music (today, many other rappers have started trying to “do Ninho”). We obviously wish him all possible success for his new album “Jefe”, as well as for the upcoming tour soon. Two dates at Bercy are already announced on December 11 and 12, but given the phenomenon, it must already be sold out!