Behind a carriage entrance in the Parisian Madeleine neighborhood, Sofiane Pamart calmly waits in the cobblestone patio of his friend, chef Akrame Benallal’s restaurant, for an appetizer that promises to be disruptive: “He is the first Algerian chef to have obtained several Michelin stars. he said proudly. What I like about him is that he breaks the rules a lot. » A little like him, he slips insisting on the parallelism between the cuisine that his friend describes as “tradinnovante” and his classical music, which borrows both from Chopin and the chords of gangsta rap masters like Scarface or Dr. Dre.
The “Piano King,” as rappers call him, is also iconoclastic. He made his name in the rap world, composing for most of today’s heavyweights, and is the only solo pianist to have filled the Accor Arena in Paris. He also performed at the most watched ceremonies of 2024: the opening of the Olympic Games and the Caesars, during a tribute to Jane Birkin.
In the very dark decoration of the restaurant, the musician comments on the appetizers that the waiter offers him and orders an iced tea with elderflowers and a little ginger. He almost apologizes for not having a glass of wine: “Music is an environment where alcohol abounds. If I don’t maintain some discipline, I sink quickly. But I love the culture of wine, the ritual that surrounds it: tasting the glass before drinking it, hearing the story around a bottle and understanding the difficulty of producing high-quality wines. However, since I am a sportsman, a bit like a sportsman, I cannot afford to drink. This is still very exceptional. »
“ In France I didn’t realize.”
Their third album, Eveningwritten during a sold-out tour of Latin America, it has just been reissued. To celebrate, the pianist will perform on November 15 at the club located under the Accor Arena, the Phantom (the evening is already sold out) and will have to return to France for the occasion. After the success, Sofiane Pamart, of Ch’ti and Moroccan origin, great-grandson and grandson of miners, went to live in Los Angeles to gain height in his record of achievements: three solo albums, among them Planet (2019), certified platinum and Letter (2022), gold record. Then there are those composed, among others, with the Belgian rappers Scylla and YG Pablo, by the singer Arno, of which nearly 670,000 copies were sold, according to their label. In all their tours in France and Europe, 100,000 tickets have been sold, enough to make your head spin: “In France, I didn’t realize, I was in the heat of the action. It was in Los Angeles where I really visualized how much my life had really changed. »
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