Alaclair Ensemble is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

hip hop

musical collective Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a Musical ensemble, group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared.Liisa Ladouceur"Collective Souls" ''This Magazine'', November/December 2004. The concept is dist ...

based in the province of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

."Alaclair Ensemble rewrites history through hip hop"
. '' The Gazette'', July 14, 2014. Their musical style draws on traditional Québécois folk music as well as contemporary

Hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

and

Electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

. They are known for PR stunts and tongue-in-cheek lyrics that border on the comedic. The group consists of Ogden "Robert Nelson" Ridjanovic (rapper), Akena "KNLO" Okoko (rapper & producer), Claude Bégin (rapper, singer, producer, musician), Eman (rapper), and producer Louis-Nicolas Imbeau, known as Vlooper. The members also release music with their own side projects.

Musical concept

The band's concept is based around an

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

in which the Patriotes won the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (), commonly referred to as the Patriots' Rebellion () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). Together wit ...

of 1838 and established a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

based on the

Declaration of Independence of Lower Canada The Declaration of Independence of Lower Canada () was written in French by the patriot rebel Robert Nelson on February 22, 1838, while in exile in the United States, after the first rebellion of 1837. The 1838 declaration was primarily inspire ...

. In the band's Bas-Canada (

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

) mythology, the nation suffers none of the linguistic tensions between Anglophones and Francophones that exist in contemporary Quebec and Canadian society, and the band performs lyrics in both languages.

History

The collective was formed in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, after several of the members had participated in Bande à part's ''93 tours'' project in 2007."Hip-hop: 93 tours et puis reviennent"
''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

'', October 26, 2007. They released their debut album, ''4,99'', on Bandcamp in 2010. That was followed by ''Le Roé C'est Moé'' and ''Touladis'' in 2011, and, in 2012, ''Un Piou Piou Parmi Tant D'autres'' and ''America''. In December 2012, they performed a "hip-hop Nocturne" at the

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (, MACM) is a contemporary art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Place des festivals in the Quartier des spectacles and is part of the Place des Arts complex. Founded in 1964, it ...

. The group's 2013 album ''Les maigres blancs d'Amérique du Noir'', whose title is a satirical pun on

Pierre Vallières Pierre "PK" Vallières (22 February 1938 – 23 December 1998) was a Canadian journalist and writer, known as an intellectual leader of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ). He was the author of the essay ''Nègres blancs d'Amérique'', wh ...

' Quebec revolutionary manifesto '' Les nègres blancs d'Amérique'', was released on Google Records and was a long-listed nominee for the

2013 Polaris Music Prize The 2013 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 23, 2013

."Polaris Music Prize Unveils 2013 Long List"
. ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'', June 13, 2012. ''Toute est impossible'', was released in 2014. In 2016, they released the album ''Alaclair Acapellas'', and were then signed to Disques 7ième Ciel (7ieme Ciel Records). They then released their first priced album, ''Les Frères Cueilleurs'', and went on a tour of Quebec and parts of Europe. At

ADISQ ADISQ (; ) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the independent record labels, independent music industry in Quebec. It was created in 1978. Since 1979, it has also organized an annual awards ceremony for musicians and singer ...

2017, Alaclair Ensemble garnered nominations for the Critics' Choice Award, Show of the Year, Producer of the Year, Engineer of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year. Their video for the song "Ça que c'tait" won Video of the Year and ''Les Frères Cueilleurs'' won Hip Hop Album of the Year. The album ''Le sens des paroles'' was released in 2018. At

2019, Alaclair Ensemble received several nominations; the video for the song "La Famille" won Video of the Year, and the album won Rap Album of the Year. The album's lyrics are more serious than those of their earlier work. That was followed by ''America, Vol. 2'' in 2019. Also in 2019, the city of

Laval, Quebec Laval is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in Can ...

commissioned the group to create a song and video to encourage recycling. The result, Mets du respect dans ton bac (put some respect in your recycling bin), immediately went viral, with the video viewed 1.5 million times in its first five days. In 2020, Alaclair Ensemble released the album ''Capitaine Canada''. In 2021, Claude Bégin was a competitor in the Quebec edition of ''

Big Brother Célébrités ''Big Brother Célébrités'' is the Quebec celebrity version of the international reality show ''Big Brother''. It premiered on January 10, 2021 on Noovo. Produced by Banijay and Groupe Entourage, it is hosted by singer Marie-Mai Bouchard. ...

''.Marc-André Lemieux
"Big Brother Célébrités : donnons la chance à tous les coureurs"
''

Le Journal de Montréal is a daily French-language tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Quebec and is also the largest French-language daily newspaper in North America. Established by Pierre Pé ...

'', January 10, 2021.

Discography

*''4,99'' (2010), Independent *''Le roé c'est moé'' (2011), Independent *''Touladis'' (2011) *''Un Piou Piou Parmi Tant D'autres'' (2012), Independent *''America'' (2012), Independent *''Les maigres blancs d'Amérique du Noir'' (2013), Independent *''Toute est impossible'' (2014), Independent *''Alaclair Acapellas'' (2016), Independent *''Les Frères Cueilleurs'' (2016) *''Le Sens des Paroles'' (2018), 7ième Ciel *''America, Vol. 2'' (2019) *''Capitaine Canada'' (2020) *''LAIT PATERNEL'' (2023)

References

External links

Alaclair EnsembleMaybe Watson expulsé de l'ensemble
{{Authority control Canadian hip-hop groups Musical groups from Montreal Hip-hop collectives