Timal sets the game on fire!
You all partied last summer on the hit "Filtré" by Timal and Gazo. A beat maker from 77 turned hitmaker with certified hits, Timal has an exemplary career in the French rap game, already a career to make many envious. All thanks to incredible talent and an energy that devours everything like a fire. And precisely, that's the central theme of the collab with Project X Paris!
Timal, the Soldier of 77
As we said in our article about RK, 77 is a bit the black sheep in the history of French rap. While there are many talented rappers in the department, commercial success was rare in the 90s and 2000s. Apart from 2Bal and affiliated rappers, few managed to make their art known. Being far from Paris and the "close" suburbs that concentrate most of the big recording studios probably played a role, but it also allowed local artists to develop their own identity without worrying about pleasing everyone, and therefore anyone. A perseverance that eventually paid off because today, between Uzi, RK, Djaja & Dinaz, and Timal, as well as hardworking rappers like A2H and many others, the influence of Seine-et-Marne on the rap scene is assured. Quite a few artists with very different styles, and in Timal's case, an art bubbling with energy and rage. An image of a raw nerve ready to burn everything that he has cultivated since his beginnings in 2016.
The year he decided to post his first freestyles, the now famous "Rapport" series via the Daymolition media. A media that made many big kickers who became stars in recent years known. For Timal, a penchant for fast motor vehicles (2 or 4 wheels), as indicated by the freestyle series title. The program features supercharged rap, talking about the grind, the streets, the rage inside him, all rapped with a hoarse but strong voice. Almost shouted rap, which adds an aggressive and punchy side to a machine-gun flow: you get it, Timal had all the assets to get noticed. And it happened very quickly, since as early as 2016 he was already generating several million views on videos bearing his name, before launching his own YouTube channel, then a second freestyle series, and a first album, "Trop Chaud," in early 2018. A project that was a hit, gold record in 3 months, then platinum shortly after, with some strong tracks like "Maria" and "Arrivant." A very street album but in which the artist successfully tried to vary the moods so it wouldn't feel like a long instrumental pounding session.
The changes continued in this direction with the following projects. But no worries, Timal is determined to keep this "mic breaker" side, to remind the whole game that if anyone wants to question his talent, the answer will be sharp. But while the rapper's music seems ideal for going to war, he now also wants to make people dance. He succeeded with "Caliente" and its reissue, but especially with "Arès," his third album released in 2021. A project where he surrounded himself with the biggest stars of French rap like Jul, Booba, Gazo, and Heuss l'Enfoiré, all of whom came to validate the young prodigy of 77 by featuring on his album. The hit "Filtré," with the inevitable Gazo, even earned Timal his first diamond record, which will surely be followed by others. With a mix of everything that made his success so far: a beautiful red Italian woman at the start of the clip, a strong flow, a very street attitude, and he added a super effective chorus to all that. But you probably noticed the colorful white shirt worn by the artist in his video, and so did we!
The Timal x PXP Collab
This allows us to continue by talking about his ease in front of the cameras, an aspect that interests us a lot at Project X. He has always had good ideas for his clips; he and his teams have been able to offer content that fits his universe so he feels as comfortable as possible, and it works. That's what we decided to do during the shoot with Timal, which took place in a big abandoned warehouse and was themed around fire. An element we wanted omnipresent, as a nod to the artist's work. And it starts right from the first set, where we find him between two flaming barrels wearing our unisex Signature black hoodie, with a brand new cap model with a redesigned logo on the front, again in black. All worn with white cargo-style pants and the PXP Trainer men's sneaker in black and white. A fairly sober look, but still very street and effective with these black and white alternations and the flames in the background.
We stay on the Signature capsule, but more generally this time, with a set composed of the Signature hoodie and its Signature jogger bottoms, all in a very beautiful warm brown color. A more relaxed outfit than the previous one, but also worked out down to the smallest details, especially the placement of white touches. First with the slightly oversized t-shirt with white sneakers, and especially the new Project X Paris cap (with the brand name in uppercase and the redesigned logo), also in white, which stands out like never before in this fiery setting. You will have noticed the half-circle of flames surrounding Timal, an effect accentuated by the fire reflections on the ground. With a small pair of smoked glasses, we're close to perfect, what do you think?
If the photos of the first two outfits made you hot, stay here, it's not over. This time, we literally decided to give the rapper a flamethrower, a nod to his warrior side. We also made him wear a real OG piece, with this quilted PXP Teddy jacket in an old-school style. A deliberate nod to 90s American streetwear and especially the collegiate look, with big letters for large logos, notably on the chest and sleeves, and a real impression of volume in the garment. Again, the brown color seemed perfect, and worn with a white cap and a light hoodie, it's a banger. We add to all that beige cargo pants, a pair of Men's Sneakers PXP in white/green and the look is complete.
We finish in style with this huge flaming PXP logo that will serve as the backdrop for the last outfit of the shoot. It's the most "original" outfit of the whole collab, as it features pieces from the Smiley capsule, one of our best-kept secrets. A capsule totally dedicated to this pop culture monument that emojis have become, and so we present this very nice Smiley hoodie in black, to stay in this underground vibe that fits Timal. The artist wears black cargo pants, a piece definitely honored in the collab, paired with a two-tone pair of sneakers to match everything. You surely noticed, we rarely had as much fun imagining all the details of this fiery shoot. We hope to do it again very soon with the rapper!