Timal joins Le Cercle PXP
Timal, fire in the voice
Can you touch the hearts and ears of listeners when rapping almost shouting? The answer is obviously yes. While most rappers from older generations tried to have the coolest style possible, giving the impression of gliding over the beat, others ended up choosing another voice. One where the mic is used to pour out rage and transmit a kind of raw, contagious, wild energy. One of the first to have huge success with this rap style was DMX in the USA. A crazy voice, some tracks where he almost screams in certain choruses, incredible charisma on record but above all a real weapon of war when he hits the stage to turn the crowds upside down. In France, we also had rappers in this style, capable of transmitting this kind of energy on a track. Notably LIM back then, and today, it’s Timal who carries the torch for these artists who push their voices very high in volume when they rap. And we can say that in this style, he is extremely effective, even formidable.
It’s now been about 7 years that the rapper, who comes from Champs-sur-Marne in the 77, has been terrorizing the game with every release. Especially at the start of his career, with a strong penchant for freestyles, which we really appreciate. The artist literally flooded YouTube with his fiery verses in 2016 and 2017, with several freestyle series that marked listeners, some exceeding 10 million views (all had at least one million). We think notably of the "Rapports" freestyle series, but also "Trop Chaud" as well as his long numbered series from 1 to 15, almost all masterclasses. You get it, he’s a mic devourer and instrumental burner, and he even made all that part of his artistic identity, going as far as naming his albums "Trop Chaud" or "Caliente." He’s not really the kind of rapper to make a themed album and tell a story, his goal is rather to chain impactful punchlines until you’re in the same warrior mindset as him. And it works!
But Timal is not just that. His name already gives a big nod to the Antilles, as he is of Guadeloupean origin. And above all, at 25 years old, the rapper is still constantly evolving and has added many strings to his bow. We notably saw him make great melodic explorations, such as his feature with Booba, "Caméléon," on the album "Arès" released in 2021. Or his feature with Heuss L'Enfoiré, "Bruce Wayne," as well as many other tracks. You can sense in him the desire to keep the image of a mic burner, but also to surprise listeners with more catchy songs, always successfully. He has also expanded internationally, with a great drill collab alongside Digga D for "Frenches." A true recognized talent, who took advantage of the kickback resurgence in 2016 to seize his chance and burn any mic that came his way, somewhat like a younger Fianso. They even did a major, very aggressive feature together at the time.
Timal & PXP: the hottest collab
An artist with energy to spare, and that’s perfect because at Project X Paris, we love that. We had big plans for this collaboration with Timal, and we can say the shoot fully meets our expectations with an art direction specially inspired by the artist and his discography. In his videos, he seems to favor rather sober and effective streetwear, even if he sometimes allows himself more colorful outfits. So we started by having him try our classics from the Signature capsule. Notably our cult PXP hoodie, the black Signature hoodie with the stylized white logo on the chest. All worn with a brand new black Project X cap, with the brand name in uppercase this time and a new redesigned logo for the occasion. Small smoked glasses, white cargo-style pants on the bottom, and a pair of black and white sneakers: the outfit is sober but devilishly effective, especially in this warehouse setting with flaming barrels, a nod to the rapper’s universe.
A universe we continued to explore during the second part of the shoot, with a bit more flames this time, arranged in an arc around the rapper for a maximum “badass” effect. We moved to something slightly more ambitious, with a complete set hoodie + Signature joggers in the same color. This time, we chose brown, a less common but extremely stylish and warm shade, an effect enhanced by the flame reflections. Again, we added the killer details, with the white Project X Paris cap (the new model with the redesigned logo and the brand in uppercase) and very sober white sneakers, but with exactly the stylish effect expected. Timal feels very comfortable in the outfit and it shows in the photos, as he increasingly strikes poses and plays with the cameras pointed at him.
Since everything was going very well, we took the opportunity to have him try some less ordinary pieces. Including this third part of the shoot, where we find him still in the warehouse, flamethrower in hand and wearing a superb jacket. Or rather, a quilted teddy jacket, with diamond-effect stitching and snap buttons to close it if needed. Again, we have a brown color, a bit lighter, with “old school” logos on the chest and sleeves, reminiscent of the US university student styles from the 90s. The teddy jacket is worn over a cream-colored sweatshirt, not forgetting of course the always present white cap. All matched with light cargo-style pants and a pair of sneakers a bit more eccentric than the previous ones. Finally, to close the shoot beautifully, we decided to have Timal try one of our latest trends: the Smiley capsule, whose logos feature famous emojis, reworked in street style. A total success on the rapper, with a hoodie embroidered with a smiling smiley (in black) worn with a wide cargo pant, black as well. All with an oversized university-style jacket with embroidered patches, one of our finest pieces. The real highlight, with the flaming PXP logo placed behind the rapper during the shoot. You got it, this collab with Timal was more than hot, and we hope to do it again soon because his universe really inspired us.