It took four long years for La nuit du réveil to come to fruition. Indeed, Oxmo Puccino now presents his eighth studio album, which is now available in North America. As a result, the razor-sharp rapper will be visiting Quebec sometime in 2020; official dates will be announced shortly.

La nuit du réveil is an enlightened confession in which the artist reveals himself in a haunting way. The album highlights an Oxmo Puccino with a sharp eye, his life experiences brought to the forefront of his lyrics and imbued with raw wisdom. Less metaphorical than his previous two albums, his words are deep and clear, set against a backdrop of great objectivity. Even if the tracks are generally darker, they give way to festive surges, like the magnification of everyday life. Over the last three years, amidst the frenetic productivity of rap, Oxmo allowed himself the luxury of letting his project mature: "After releasing albums and touring for 10 years, it was a matter of refining and taking the necessary time, detached from changing winds and seductive sirens." La nuit du réveil is a true rap album with multiple variations, expanded by musical explorations and his figures of speech. His talent for storytelling shines through in each of his songs, while contemplating the world is his playground.

Oxmo Puccino surrounded himself with Eddie Purple, one of his musical partners with whom he has been collaborating since 2010; an artist with multiple influences, the latter is transcended by pure groove. "For several months, we looked for the direction, worked on the repertoire, and multiplied the experiments." Even if the development of the new musical pieces was first articulated in the heart of a Parisian bedroom, the essence really took shape when the cohorts expatriated themselves to a lodge in the suburbs. "We needed to extract ourselves from Paris, from the solicitations and family issues to think only about music," explains Oxmo. As for the production, it was handled by the young prodigy Phazz (Orelsan, Nisak, Koba LaD). "With Phazz, everything happened very naturally. He was on Orelsan's tour with Eddie Purple. He listened to the tracks and brought us both a sense of perspective and a current vision of my music with a lot of respect and high standards." The trio then stormed the Studio Besco during several sessions to shape the identity and sound environment of La nuit du réveil.

Prestigious collaborations imbued with camaraderie define the contours of this new album. It notably features Orelsan on the track Ma Life. "Orelsan has been a friend for 10 years. The time had come to cement that for the future," as well as Gaël Faye on Parce que la vie, with its Brazilian trap accents, and then Oxmo invites Caballero & JeanJass on the smooth and airy track Social Club.

This beautifully crafted work oscillates between a past that the artist looks at placidly and a promising, sparkling future. Oxmo knows his position and remembers the road traveled. This album is a manifesto for the right to sing and exist, to live and share one's nostalgia, and to build a destiny of one's own.

Album tracks:

1. Le droit de chanter
2. Peuvent pas
3. Social club (feat. Caballero & JeanJass)
4. La peau de l'ours
5. Le nombril
6. Ma life (feat. Orelsan)
7. Ali baba
8. À ton âge
9. Flèche épistolaire
10. 10.000
11. Trop d'amour
12. Le réveil
13. Horizon sensuel
14. Parce que la vie (feat. Gaël Faye)
15. Je reviendrai pas