THE PIANO KING
Sofiane Pamart says "piano is the finest instrument": here is how he made himself the king.
Sofiane self-proclaimed himself “the king before being, as any pretending to the throne”. Before imagining any pretention, let us look back on the path of this young pianist who is not ashamed of his boundless ambition.
THE GOLD MEDAL OF THE CONSERVATORY
Sofiane Pamart grows up in Hellemmes, in Lille’s urban boroughs. At the age of four, he already plays around by reproducing sounds from movies on an electronic piano toy: he has the absolute ear. He improves it throughout his childhood and piano becomes his partner for life, his outlet of emotions. At seven, he enters the Lille’s Conservatory, encouraged by his supportive family with the underlying principle of determination. His grandfather from Morocco came to France as a digger to offer his children the possibility of a social rise. His parents worked hard and rose their Sofiane and his siblings with the idea that they owed success to the previous generations.
Sofiane integrates this principle and ends the Conservatory by winning the prestigious gold medal at the age of twenty-three. Until there, nothing seems to predestine the young pianist to an exceptional career; except maybe him-self.
RAP AS A REVELATION
At the Conservatory, he plays the First Ballade of Chopin; at home, he listens to the group 113 and other rappers of the time. The more time goes by, the more his love for rap coincides with his spontaneous and subversive personality that he asserts on the grand piano. The young pianist often refuses to play following the classical conventions, and is on the verge of being expelled from the Conservatory more than once.
When Sofiane finally leaves it, he knows that classic is not his vocation and that his throne awaits him somewhere else. He is a classical pianist with a very strong level, and an artist with a rebel soul. At this point, the idea comes to him that the heirs of text songs, the rappers, and the heirs of the classical music, like himself, had a common destiny. Together they could be the future of French rap. Sofiane believes in the music inside of him: he does not choose between his two passions, but merges them into one. The result? A powerful and authentic mix for the sake of an ambitious project.
THE PIANO REVOLUTION
Driven by the culture of exigence and competition existing in both the classic and rap world, Sofiane succeeds in his wager by staking on the complementarity of the two musical genres. He is not classic, impeccable on the one side and popular, incorrect on the other; he is everything at the same time.
The piano revolution starts with its group Rapsodie which rapidly makes tens of thousands of views on Internet. Sofiane combines an excellent and accessible piano, transcribing the spontaneity of the emotions on the keyboard. He plays his piano, far from the elitist and conservative dimension it often covers.
The young pianist is determined to exploit all the potential of this alchemy and become the pianist of French rap.
THE N°1 FRENCH RAP PIANIST
Sofiane is being noticed by solo rappers of the time. His first major collaboration with a great name was in 2014, with Scylla. When the two artists meet, they are struck by the intense connexion of their emotions. This abstract but strong feeling is concretised four years later, with the release of a duo album: Pleine Lune. Pleine Lune 2 is out the year after.
In 2019, Sofiane plays Batalcan with Médine in front of a full Zenith of Paris; he composes the melodies for Matin of Koba LaD and Journal Perso II of Vald, for which he receives two gold singles and gold discs. Other rappers such as Laylow, Guizmo, RimK, Kery James have also bet on him.
Although piano has always existed in rap, Sofiane is reinventing it and deviating again from the traditional model of the repeated sampled loops, by bringing real compositions. He saw “a place to be taken”, when rap "was beginning its transition from 'conscious' to a form of entertainment full of artifice". A precision work to maintain the balance between contemporary music and quality of emotion. Sofiane rarely comes to the studio with prepared compositions; each of them is an improvisation and adaption to the emotions of the people in the room, resulting in a bespoke piano theme for the artist.
RAP, LUXURY AND BUSINESS
The tailor-made character of his work is even reflected in the French “haute-couture”: in 2018, he was designated as a “new face” of the Paris Salon du Luxe, crossing the finesses of the high standard fashion world with street and rap codes. Sofiane’s own lifestyle is deeply inspired from the rap game, with an imposing style and shown ego trip. Here again, he goes against the tide driven by the belief that common themes exist between the two contrasted worlds.
During his career, Sofiane studied Managerial Economics in Lyon. Not only did he learn the basics that surely helped him to be an entrepreneur a few years later, but he also used this time to meet people with different interests. Sofiane does not believe in the soloist life of the pianist and knows the importance of being well-surrounded. Lyon is indeed where he met his current manager, Guillaume L’Héritier; a “human heartthrob” as he qualifies, the meeting of linked destinies.
In 2018, he launched his start-up YouPiano, incubated in The Family in Paris. After having observed his students during the piano lessons he used to give at the Conservatory, he decided to create a new and more lucrative way of learning. There is no need to know how to read music notes, you can learn piano pieces by following light indicators.
PLANET
But most of all, Sofiane is a character full of simplicity who, being devoted to his passion, seems to transcend himself to touch the world, which he did in 2020. He delivered the universal dimension of his music in his first solo album Planet, twelve pieces of piano only, twelve pieces to say what words cannot.
Everything starts in the desert of Morocco, where Sofiane went to breathe and unwind to embrace new inspirations. One night, musical themes of twelve cities’ scenery thrive in his head and he must memorize them without any instrument at its disposal. Back in front of the piano, he plays the heat of Havana, the Cairo’s romance, Chicago’s jazz, Paris’ baroque, and even imagine the frozen desert of Alaska.
Planet is a journey without border of which the intensity never falters. Even in calmer pieces like Nagasaki, each note is played with a strong emotion at the finger tips. By soothing its melody, he offers us the time and space to put our thoughts into it, which, most of the time, fit perfectly.
The Gold edition of the album is released today, the 30th of October, with new destinations; London, Madagascar, Berlin, the Sahara, that testify again of his overflowing imagination and unlimited talent.
In this album, Sofiane does not aim at wiping the slate clean of the classical piano’s past, but rather, he proposes to rediscover the instrument. Whether you like it or not, it is impossible to remain insensitive. Sofiane surprises by his unique energy and awakens the universality of our feelings, by an incredible emotional intelligence. And that is the common feature of the greatest works of art.
The universal dimension of his work relies on its unlimited range of sources of inspiration. Sofiane’s sensitivity to readings, daily life events, human relations contributes to this piano revolution. He also gives importance to the contemporary media and video culture. Some pieces of Planet are now clipped versions, with a delicate and particular aesthetic and atmosphere.
Pianists eager to play these pieces should be aware that Sofiane does not work with partitions and that very few of them have corresponding music sheets on the Internet*; the rest must be done by ear.
* Few piano sheets
- La Havane: https://musescore.com/clementsicard/scores/6153392
LATEST PROJECTS
During the 2020 summer, Sofiane accompanied other musical artists such as Marina Kaye for the acoustic version of The Whole 9. He also performed La Havane with the French dancer Leo Walk for the national-broadcasted TV show Le Grand Echiquier.
More recently, he posted on his Instagram account pictures of his collaboration with the rappers RimK and Larry. As contracts go on, he seems to get closer and closer to his throne.
But Sofiane’s thirst for ambition is insatiable. He wants piano to be spectacular, to gather tens of thousands of people, to perform on The Arc de Triomphe, or even, to be the first pianist playing on the moon. He is an endless source of inspiration, a living proof that working for an ambition beyond expectations is worth it. Sofiane has found his path by building it, lined up the stars of its destiny.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- ALOHANEWS, Sofiane Pamart raconte sa collab avec Vald sur Journal Perso II | ANEC [video online]. Youtube, 04/12/2019 [Accessed: 09/30/2020]. 8 min 08 sec. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz00qh0RYY8
- AVNER, Du Classique au rap, rencontre avec Sofiane Pamart un artiste atypique [video online]. Youtube, 03/09/2020 [Accessed: 09/30/2020]. 15 min 24 sec. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Amn4iK6--8
- BASIQUE, Sofiane Pamart – Interview autour du monde [video online]. Youtube, 08/04/2020 [Accessed: 09/30/2020]. 3 min 49 sec. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEjNESIT7Vk
- JuPi, Sofiane Pamart: “Quand je prends un territoire, je ne le lâche pas”. Interviews. September 2019, [Accessed: 09/29/2020]. Available at: https://www.thebackpackerz.com/sofiane-pamart-pianiste-interview/
- KOUDETAT, Koudeta x Sofiane Pamart, le pianist du rap français [video online]. Youtube, 21/11/2018 [Accessed: 09/30/2020]. 19 min 24 sec. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVJovoj634c
- LEGER, Jérémie. Rencontre: Sofiane Pamart, le pianiste rebelle du rap français. May 2018, [Accessed: 09/29/2020]. Available at: https://www.konbini.com/fr/musique/rencontre-sofiane-pamart-le-pianiste-rebelle-du-rap-francais
- LUNSMANN Carmen, Sofiane Pamart: son premier album «Planet» entre rap et Classique. Reportage Culture [podcast online]. RFI, 2019. 1 podcast, 4 min 10 sec. [Accessed: 09/30/2020]. Available at: https://www.rfi.fr/fr/emission/20191228-sofiane-pamart-premier-album-planet-rap-classique
- Mathilde, Rencontre : Sofiane Pamart, le pianiste qui réconcilie Luxe et Rap. Actualités Business Interviews. April 2018, [Accessed: 09/29/2020]. Available at: https://journalduluxe.fr/rencontre-sofiane-pamart-luxe-rap/
- RFI Musique, Deux minutes avec Sofiane Pamart (video online]. Youtube, 20/01/2020 [Accessed: 09/30/2020]. 1 min 58 sec. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU2dZ54mcvk
- SIMEONE Christine. Qui est Sofiane Pamart, le pianiste qui veut être "numéro 1 mondial du piano" ? Culture. October 2019, [Accessed: 09/29/2020]. Available at: https://www.franceinter.fr/qui-est-sofiane-pamart-le-pianiste-qui-veut-etre-numero-1-mondial-du-piano
- THIBAULT Alexis, Sofiane Pamart, le virtuose qui sidère les rappeurs. Musique. Novembre 2019, [Accessed: 09/30/2020]. Available at: https://numero.com/fr/musique/sofiane-pamart-piano-rap-hip-hop-planet-universal-paris-alaska-medellin-le-caire-la-havane-seoul-scylla-medine-kobalad-gael-faye-grand-corps-malade-kery-james-remi