Whether or not we like his music or his character, we can only bow to Lorenzo’s ingenuity. From the height of his 28 years, the rapper from Rennes has created a joyful mess in the music industry for the release of his album. Entitled “Living Legend”, the disc was sold in 100 different versions on CD. But it was also available to listen to on Friday morning on streaming platforms like Spotify or Deezer. Rather than offering his 16 titles normally, Lorenzo had the idea of playing with the rules of reading by cutting each of his pieces into a 31-second track, or 68 titles in total. And a number of “streams” greatly multiplied.
The Pokémon bob rapper explained this in a video posted on his social networks. “I broke the music industry,” he said in his post. “Streaming platforms, they count a stream from the moment you listen more than 31 seconds of a song. Me, I took care to cut all my pieces into several parts. Suddenly, it makes more streams, and therefore more sales. And all this, respecting the rules of the SNEP (National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing)”. The joke obviously did not make the streaming platforms laugh, which temporarily removed the album from their catalog, before putting it back in its classic 16-track version.
In a second video posted on Saturday, the former member of the Columbine collective welcomed his coup. “I don’t know who I pissed off, but I pissed off the wrong people. I just played with the rules. You should thank me. Me, I just found the fault in your system, like that, you will be able to correct it”. This isn’t the first time the rapper has hit the music industry. In the last title of what seems to be his last album, the Emperor of Dirty openly mocked the “click race” in which many artists are engulfed, especially in rap. “Everyone wants to go platinum, it doesn’t mean streaming anymore,” he says in the final piece. Before starting a tour in 2023, the rapper has already announced that this fourth album will be his last.
“Anyway, I hate this industry”
Behind his provocative character, it is not easy to see the reasons for this early retirement. But we can guess what prompted the boy to break away from it. “Anyway, I hate this industry, the impression that no one understands me”, he launches in the last seconds of his disc, evoking to be “happier before”, in particular when he lived with his friends from Columbine. “It’s clearly the best memories, I’m really proud to have started with them. It’s all still fucking friends that I try to see as soon as I can and they all occupy a huge place in my heart, you know, “said the artist in his usual writing. A final blow.