TTC: Parisian Pop Rap
Parisian pop rap trio TTC are obsessively driven to innovate new music. Call it "technologically-advanced rap", call it "music for kids with hoverboards".
Photography by Che Kothari
What’s going on, this is Marmalade of Earwaks.com and right now I’m sitting down with Teki Latex of TTC representing Paris, France. TTC’s in town for a show tonight at The Social tonight with Thunderheist.
Yeah, I’m very excited to see Thunderheist as well, and I’m really happy to be back in Toronto.
How many times have you been to Toronto before?
It’s the second time for TTC, and the third time for Cuizinier.
Did you know that TTC here is actually the ..
Toronto Transit Commission, I know. There’s promotion everywhere!
So, for those who haven’t heard your sound yet, people describe TTC as everything from hip hop, to pop rave, to emo-lectro. How would you describe your new album?
It’s really crazy how we get all these labels attached to us. Every time we put out a record, there’s a new label for it! I used to say, we’re “technologically-advanced rap”, but now lets just say, “Marty McFly music”, haha! Music for kids with hoverboards.
Music for people going 88mph in a DeLorean.
Music that speaks to the heart.
So, you’re promoting your new album 3615. What’s the meaning behind that, is there a concept behind the name?
Actually, the name of the album is 3615 TTC. Have you ever heard of the Minitel?
No.
It was a network that existed about 15 years before the Internet in France, and if you registered to it, you would receive a small computer box called a Minitel to connect to the Teletel. You would be able to check your exam results, buy some train tickets online, or go to sex sites. The access code, just like the WWW-dot or HTTP-whatever, would be 3615-something – 3615 Post Office, or 3615 Phone Sex, haha! So, if we had a Minitel site now, it would be 3615 TTC.
Listening to the album, the general impression is that it is ahead of its time. Were you thinking 15 years ahead?
Yeah, and there are a lot of references to the history of music. We look into the past to create the future. We’re big nerds, we’re fascinated with being ahead of our time and always want to have the latest pair of sneakers, or to know things before others, and that obsession combined with an obsession for popular culture on the album.
Your music also has an instantly appealing sound to it. What kind of mainstream success have you had in Europe?
Decent. We’re on top of the underground in France, but haven’t really crossed over into the mainstream yet. There’s a bunch of TV stations that play our stuff but we’re not on the mainstream radio. There’s only 1 big radio station for hip hop and it only plays Top 20, and very watered down. It’s not even at the level of American mainstream radio, they’ll think the new TI album is too weird. They’re about 10 years late.
Coming from a hip hop context, did you ever think that one day you would be making dancefloor-friendly music?
It was a natural evolution. When we first started, we were really into the indie rap thing, and made ourselves heard through mixtapes and open mics, doing five or six mixtapes per month. As people were telling us, “whoa you guys are weird”, we realized the focus is on our originality, so we used that as a strength. Then, we started hooking up with DJs and evolved into clubbier stuff, around the time when indie hip hop and electronica was fusing together. Back then, either you were making cerebral electronic music, or you were making dancefloor stuff. We didn’t want to choose between the two, so we got involved in both ends of the spectrum, and started exploring the links between those genres. Naturally, our music evolved into something in between.
That’s very timely because hip hop and electronic music really have merged now. Baltimore Club is big, Miami Bass is back, and your music fits in there as well. This is a worldwide phenomenon, are you finding this is music you can take around the world?
Yeah. To be honest, Diplo was a catalyst in bringing genres together and bringing focus to local scenes, such as the Brazilian stuff, Baltimore, and he’s developed a big family around him. I first heard of Diplo when we were looking for remixes for one of our tracks from the first album, and we talked to the head of Big Dada, and he played me some Diplo rhythms. It was like 8-bit sounding music, and I was like “yo this is like rap with Nintendo sounds, it’s really great!” He came to Paris, we had him play at our party, and we linked like that.
You’ve got some solo projects coming up. Is the group doing some solo work right now?
Yeah. Cuizinier’s following the club hiphop thing, but in a more traditionally hip hop way -- traditional in the way that Dipset’s sampling Billy Joel! My stuff is pure pop, if I have to give a point of reference, it would be Andre 3000 except born in France and listening to dance music.
There’s a lot of sexually charged energy on the new album. If TTC’s sound was a stripper, what would she be wearing?
Man, in France, if you go to a strip club, they’re really dirty and the strippers are really ugly! They’ll probably do some corny dance to a cheesy French song. TTC’s sound as a stripper would probably be wearing a cat suit or something.
I heard that Cuizinier’s the heartthrob of the crew.
It’s always kind of changing, but we have to keep it mysterious too! Otherwise, you don’t want to give the ladies too much information. Just like how boy bands have contracts where they have to say they’re single, so girls can dream about getting down with them, even though most of them are gay!
Do you have any favourite songs on the new album?
“Antenne 2” is my favourite, it’s an ode to the teenage years when we had time on our hands to do nothing and hang out, and not worry about work.
Back in the days, before the days of the Minitel.
Yeah! It was all about enjoying life. My verse is about friends that went separate ways. Now my friends are all more or less related to music and my job, but back in the days we were a bunch of school friends. I went to an international bilingual school, so I had friends from all over the place staying in Paris, and eventually most of them went to Montreal, to McGill. Now that we travel a lot, we have the chance to connect back with people.
Teki, is there anything else you would like to add?
Ladies of Toronto beware, TTC is in town! Oh, and I’ve got a 12” single out with Stop Die Resuscitate of Toronto remixed by Tacteel, so check it out! Support your hometown musicians.
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