| Hip Hop |
The Alchemy of Word, Breath, and Conscience: The Political and Poetic Geography of Médéric Collignon
There is a specific brand of cultural irony that the machinery of the music industry only serves to sharpen: on this side of the Atlantic, the name Médéric Collignon remains a closely guarded secret for connoisseurs rather than a household name. As a cornetist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist who thrives in the borderlands of genre, Collignon occupies a singular place in the contemporary musical landscape. His artistic journey lies at the very intersection where the relentless spirit of exploration embodied by Miles Davis meets the earth-shaking gravitas of Wadada Leo Smith. Yet this formal rigor is never weighed down by academic dryness. Collignon infuses it with mischievous wit and a clear eyed, caustic irreverence that admirers of American political satire will instantly recognize as belonging to the most rebellious traditions of the counterculture.
The very architecture of his latest album is built upon the serial, hypnotic use of sound loops, a process that shapes the intimate structure of each track and gives the project its title. Surrounding him, a formidable ensemble featuring Yvan Robillard, Emmanuel Harang, and Nicolas Fox unfolds a rhythmic language of remarkable fluidity. Amid the loops and harmonic textures, listeners familiar with the European poetic tradition will recognize the raspy voice and guiding presence of Léo Ferré. This is no stylistic coincidence. Ferré once devoted a haunting cycle to the tormented landscapes of Brittany, and Collignon, inspired by that same Breton spirit rooted in western France, transposes this Celtic and maritime identity into the heart of contemporary urban rhythms.
It is entirely fair to regard this album as both the direct heir to and a vital renewal of Doo Bop, Miles Davis’s final, posthumously released project in which jazz reached out to the emerging language of hip hop. Collignon takes that foundational intuition and projects it into the twenty first century with remarkable clarity and conviction. Reflecting on the genesis of the album, the artist offers a profound meditation on the endurance of emancipatory speech: certain voices continue to resonate across time because they are driven by an uncompromising demand for freedom and truth, or because they embody the enduring struggle of men and women against oppression and injustice. Thus, a remarkable gathering of posthumous guests, from Charlie Chaplin to Albert Camus, Albert Einstein to Dolores Ibárruri, Martin Luther King Jr. to Nelson Mandela, and even Abbé Pierre, becomes woven into the musical fabric like a collective of MCs delivering their verses over hip hop rhythms. Joining this assembly of moral and humanist figures is the vibrant, committed voice of playwright Carole Thibaut, an advocate for equality and cultural dignity who enters into an unflinching dialogue with this pantheon of free spirits.
Following in the distinguished lineage of artists such as Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Roots, the great architects of jazz rap’s golden age during the 1980s and 1990s, the artistic entity known as Jus de Bocse practices the art of self-sampling with exceptional audacity. Far from relying on conventional quotation, Collignon manipulates what he describes as “improvisable” material. A precisely timed cut, a fragment of freestyle, an interlude, or a sharply delivered phrase interrupts linearity to create arrangements of extraordinary originality, standing in deliberate contrast to formulaic rap production. The creative process is completely reversed. Whereas tradition generally places a spoken or rapped vocal over pre-existing loops, Collignon extracts the voice directly from the living, spontaneous, and interactive performance of the musicians themselves. These recomposed sequences are enriched by improvised accidents that give the listener the exhilarating sensation of drifting through the frequencies of a dreamlike subconscious radio station. And should the audience feel compelled to sing along with these irresistibly infectious urban grooves, they discover themselves caught within a benevolent hall of mirrors, where the listeners themselves become part of the sonic material through the art of sampling.
To describe this album as the artist’s most intimate work becomes almost self-evident from the very first listen. Every intervention of the cornet conveys a depth and vulnerability that only musicians who have reached full artistic and ethical maturity can express. With Collignon, political reflection and intellectual rigor are no longer separate from the act of making music. Every composition and every vocal collage gravitate toward the same essential center: peace, generosity, and openness to others. At a moment when reactionary ideologies and far right xenophobia are once again gaining ground before increasingly disoriented societies, these values resonate as a necessary act of spiritual resistance.
Beyond its formal provocations and its emphasis on protest, what ultimately prevails is an unwavering commitment to beauty and melody. Tracing Collignon’s discography, from his daring reinterpretation of Porgy and Bess to his oblique exploration of American film music, reveals the gradual sedimentation of a transatlantic artistic culture enriched decade after decade. Without ever seeking to theorize his own position, he has quietly established himself as one of the most compelling creative voices on today’s international jazz scene. All that remains is a major breakthrough on American stages, where his singular language, enriched by that unmistakable French touch, would undoubtedly find a natural and enthusiastic audience.
Hip hop tout sAmplement carries no hermetic ambitions; it unfolds beneath the benevolent, ghostly presence of Miles Davis until its very last note.
Ultimately, the true poet of our time, the one who confronts both the world’s contradictions and the enduring beauty of art with unwavering clarity, is Médéric Collignon himself, guided by a sovereign passion that illuminates each of the album’s fifteen remarkable chapters.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, July 13th, 2026
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Musicians :
Médéric «Hub» Collignon: cornet, synthé, voix, percussions, arrangements
Yvan «Touch» Robilliard: Fender Rhodes, piano, mini-moog
Emmanuel «Baobab» Harang: Basse électrique
Nicolas «Pendulum» Fox: batterie, électroniques
Track Listing :
Electric Relaxation
Clap your Hands
Butter
Act Too (The Love Of My Life)
What They Do
Proceed
Don’t Say Nuthin’
In Love With The Mic
Stressed Out
Chocolat Chip
High Speed Chase
Duke Booty
Manifest
Proceed 2
Take A Rest
Détail programme du projet “ Hip-Hop tout sAmplement ! “:
–The Roots (“Proceed 2” #, “Act Too” @, “What They Do” $, “Proceed” #, “Don’t Say Nuthin’” &, “In Love With The Mic” &)
–Tribe Called Quest (“Stressed Out” ¥, “Electric Relaxation” £, “Clap Your Hands” £, “Butter” ¢)
–Gangstarr (“Manifest” µ, “Take A Rest” %)
–Doo Bop / Miles Davis-Easy Mo’Bee (“Chocolat Chip”, “High Speed Chase”, “Duke Booty”) 1992
# album: “Do you want more” 1995
@ album: “Thing fall apart” 1999
$ album: “Illadelph halflife” 1996
& album: “The tipping point” 2004
¥ album: “Beats, life and rhymes” 1996
£ album: “Midnight marauders: 1993
¢ album: “The low-end theory” 1991
µ album: “No more Mr Nice guy” 1989
