“Nouvelle École” season 2 ends in style!
The last episode of season 2 of “Nouvelle École” was just released this week on Netflix. So we know the winner’s name, but the show is about more than that. This grand finale is the perfect moment to look back at this new season of the must-watch French Rap show and try to sum it up.
Season 2 in “upgrade” mode The French Rap scene, sometimes a bit resistant, had some concerns when filming the first season of “Nouvelle École.” Those fears were quickly dispelled by the quality of the first season of this talent show, although it had some flaws. The jury was sometimes a bit absent, for example Shay and Niska, when it came to deeper analysis of performances to help candidates improve and give real artist tips. But apparently, all these small criticisms were taken into account to offer us an even better season 2. And it worked, we can say now that it’s over. Shay was much more serious, and Niska much more focused, clearly stepping up their game, and the editing gave more moments of deliberation and reflection from the jury so viewers could better understand the choices. An essential aspect, especially knowing how many upcoming artists watch the show for inspiration.
Season 2 seemed more controlled, worked on, and even more paced than the previous one, while the number of episodes remained the same. You can feel that great attention was paid to rhythm, since we see less in detail candidates working on their projects during challenges, sequences that were more present in season 1. And we must say, in terms of entertainment, we were more than served, with very memorable moments throughout the season. During castings, notably, with some candidates performing on stage in front of thousands, who did quite well. During features too, with surprising moments, especially Lpee with Soso Maness for an incredible remix of the hit “Petrouchka.” Finally, this crazy finale, with three top-level performances, each in a very different universe, by Coelho, Yuz Boy, and Dau. Great choreography on stage, real style and showmanship, and quality tracks, season 2 ends on a high note.
It’s also a chance to talk about the quality of the contributors, which improved again compared to season 1, with real added value. Rim’K brought his expertise to the jury at the start of the season, Médine accompanied candidates during cyphers, a highly risky exercise for this new generation not necessarily used to big freestyles with several artists. With kindness but also sharpness in his remarks and advice. Kalash took Shay to the Antilles, a zone often overlooked by major labels when scouting rap talents. And Soso Maness was perfect in supporting Lpee during the feature challenge, which showed on stage. We also appreciate the presence of the two veterans from Arsenik, who advised the new generation for the battle challenge. In short, each contributor was a real asset, another sign that this season 2 was a success.
Nouvelle École Season 2The finalists:
A deserving winner, valiant candidates But you can’t have a great singing contest season without a great winner. Yuz Boy is that winner. Unexpected, perhaps, for those who saw his small slip on stage with Kalash in the previous episode. But his final performance convinced our jury. He had worked his subject: a griot to introduce the track (African poet-musicians who orally pass down traditions and stories), honoring his Malian roots, then the top of his outfit falling off, much to Shay’s delight who struggled to recover. Finally, a track, “Yafama,” that confirmed all the good things we thought about the artist and justified all the hopes placed in him. The young man from Saint-Ouen has a unique universe, full of not necessarily mainstream references, changing flows, with ease to vary speed and intonation in his rap, a good dose of street, and many diverse musical influences, from rap to opera to dancehall. A unique artist far from genre standards.
By doing this, “Nouvelle École” asserts its desire to highlight artistic approaches rather than “streaming machines,” whose art is already too close to what is currently done. A big plus for this season 2, but the other two artists also offered something very qualitative. Coelho, with his single “AMF,” a fully mastered egotrip for a track that could easily be a hit. We hope to hear it again in the future, the chorus is very effective. And Dau, with his track “Finale,” and his incredible energy that we also hope to see again in future projects, especially this vibe a bit “Travis Scott” but more street. Although Yuz Boy took home the famous 100K, the two finalists could have won too, it was very close, as shown by the jury’s last deliberation.
This will also be the last remark to close this season 2 review, and it concerns the general level of the candidates. A generally very good level, especially technically, but also in terms of personalities since we didn’t see big moments of tension or disrespect towards the DJ as in season 1. The jury did a great job in pre-selection. Taking some artists with already a small career and some released projects probably helped raise the overall level. Again, very good choices because whether Lpee, Coelho, Yuz Boy, or SLKrack, all took the challenge very seriously despite having started their careers years ago. In short, congratulations to Netflix, the participants, and the contributors for this very successful second season of “Nouvelle École.” Hoping the third will be even better!
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