France meets Italy in a full on rap soundclash on Mr. Oizo & Phra's new album, Voilá, released last Friday (18th).
Mr. Oizo aka Quentin Dupieux is still considered a one-hit wonder in the UK, thanks to his ubiquitous 1999 hit (and Levi's ad), Flat Beat. Interestingly, the Official Charts Company lists the same release twice, so it has the strange distinction of spending both one and nineteen weeks in the UK singles chart, peaking at #98 and #1 respectively. Some achievement.
Phra is perhaps better known as Francesco Barbaglia, initially one half of DJ/producer duo Crookers, but running solo since 2012. Having previously collaborated with Mr. Oizo on tracks in 2016 and 2019 this is (I think) their first album-length collaboration, and an absolute corker it is too.
When I say "album-length", in truth it extremely short: the nine tracks are bolstered on the vinyl and digital formats by an instrumental version; all eighteen tracks still come in under 40 minutes, only one pushes over the three minute mark.
Tucked away in the middle is a cover version of Nelly's 2002 smash, Hot In Herre, re-titled Hot In Her for this album. I love the original song, although my presiding memory of Nelly is that my wife and I used to find him uncontrollably hilarious whenever he appeared on the screen and this video for this song was no exception. Don't get me wrong, Nelly wasn't intentionally a comedy act, but there was something that used to make us laugh, time and time again. Maybe it was the overly earnest swagger, maybe it was the trademark plaster (maybe he just really couldn't shave), maybe it was the reliably clichéd "cars and girls" videos. All I can say is that tears of laughter would generally ensue whenever Nelly rolled into view.
The song, ignoring some of the equally clichéd lyrics, is fantastic though. Canadian DJ/producer Tiga Sontag clearly thought so too, when he covered the song for his 2002 DJ-Kicks compilation. The track was subsequently released in September 2003, just over a year on from Nelly's original. The latter had peaked at #4, one of Nelly's biggest hits, and I was surprised to find that Tiga's version - featuring Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears and remixes from Richard X & Radio Slave - managed a respectable #46.
I don't think Mr. Oizo & Phra's version can expect the same chart success, twenty years on, but I would recommend the album. You can buy the digital version on Bandcamp; vinyl has already sold out, though you will find copies via Discogs and other retail outlets.
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