On the occasion of the release of their first album, we had the chance to speak with the leader and singer of the group LNP Roots Family. A committed acoustic reggae group, composed of three members of the same family, which officiates since 2012. LNP began to make itself known with the clip La Voix du Peuple. In early 2019, the band released an EP entitled Résigned. But this time they are embarking on the big bath with the release this Friday, April 24 of their first album: Raggacoustic. Dnom Aizen, the band's leader and singer, agreed to answer our questions. [Interview conducted in November 2019].
How would you define raggacoustic?
It is a contraction of reggae and acoustic: raggacoustic. It's something we tried to invent. Finally to invent… Nothing is really invented, everything is transformed. We tried to set that up with the EP Résigned, but we are much more satisfied with the work with this album. It's more precise, it's more like what we wanted to achieve. We defined new ingredients, tried to create something new. It serves to project oneself for later too, that others take up this style, work on it, transform it. It also comes a lot from M'Dezoen, who is in the arrangements. Basically there is acoustic guitar, whether classical or folk, a little percussion, amplified bass. We try to limit everything that comes from the battery. Sounds are sometimes added to the mouth. Then we sample our own instruments and we put it all on a sequencer.
Do you make a living with your music?
No, unfortunately not yet. It's not always easy. For most of us we have children. It's a lot of work and we don't sleep much. But it's a passion, it's worth the effort.
What are the major influences of your music?
Tryo mainly. In any case when we started we listened a lot to this band. We appreciate singers who use lyrics, we are more interested in lyrics. We are also very influenced by the DOM-TOM. M'Dezoen is from there, so he is very influenced by these sounds. We really appreciate Dub Inc too, they are the bosses after all. A little Danakil also obviously, Tairo, etc … But also those who come from rap and hip-hop like Kery James, Keny Arkana or Blacko. Singers who have lyrics what. 
Who would you like to feature with?
Oh there are so many. A bit like the ones I told you before. Dub Inc obviously, Danakil, but also groups like Jahneration, or even go towards rap or hip hop.
What was the hardest thing to achieve for this album?
In the first place it was to find the recipe for raggacoustic. The EP was not yet at the top, we wanted to improve our work, refine it. When we started the album we didn't have a studio yet, we had to make do with the means at hand. We're an independent band, it's not always easy. We had to find the right recipe and figure out how to apply it. How to project ourselves in time too, to know what we wanted our album to look like.
What drives you to make committed pieces?
We don't need to push ourselves. It comes naturally. Limit we push ourselves to make lighter, more danceable pieces. Because the public likes it too, and we want to diversify, so it's with the more affordable songs that we force ourselves.
Any topics you would have liked to discuss?
There are plenty of them, of course. The subjects are numerous, we can not talk about everything. Some ideas come at the moment of the news and disappear with it, which remains very ephemeral. We wanted to talk about ecology too , but we didn't put it in the album, we'll save that for another time. This is a subject that is very close to our hearts. We are campaigning a lot for this, it will come out soon.
Why did you choose Soldat as your single?
Soldier was the best compromise in our style, between what we did before and what we do now. Between the roots posed that qualifies us and a more rhythmic style that we tried to address. We haven't released many rhythmic songs in the past, at least on social networks and platforms. Those who follow us in concerts know this facet of our band, but those who listen to us digitally are more used to quiet roots. We wanted to show them that we could do something else, that we knew how to be more muscular, more rhythmic. Also to seduce record companies and programmers. https://youtu.be/JvsbZowzBEc
What does LNP mean?
It stands for Love and Peace. It was the name of our band in 2007 and 2008 when we were just starting out, when we were in the very beginning. But when we joined Meltin Recordz, they suggested we change our name. Compared to the programmers, they were afraid that they would imagine that we were dog punks and that we could not find enough dates. So we changed our name, but we keep LNP in front. After all it's a delirium between friends and that's our genesis. So we contracted.
Why not talk about cannabis in your songs?
I'll be honest: first because we don't smoke. I don't smoke, neither does my sister, nor does my brother on rare occasions. It does not necessarily affect us, we are not the most legitimate to talk about it. We do not necessarily want to militate on it. Other artists already do it very well, such as Yaniss Odua and his Chalawa, who denounces his misdeeds and highlights his qualities. We don't want to push people to smoke. Even if we are not going to hide, our audience is mostly smokers. But we do not see any interest at the moment. If we were to address the subject it would be more from a political point of view, not in relation to the state and its penalization. We are thinking about the right way to do it. Maybe later.
What's the song you're most proud of?
It is difficult to answer this question since we are a group and everyone necessarily has their own personal tastes. But I think "I won't vote" is a song we're very proud of, for its message and its form. We managed in this piece to really transcribe what we thought, and especially the emotions that accompany the words. 
I won't vote, aren't you afraid that this song will divide the fans?
That's kind of the point, too. We have the chance to test it in concert. It's true that the song divides but it's also what we like. Some find it great and agree completely, others find our words a little abused. Some disagree but want to discuss it. It's very categorized. We are not afraid of losing audiences, we do not think that people will stop listening to us because of strong words. This is also what we want, to bring to reflection, to bring the debate, to divide opinions too. We don't want to be hated either, that's what we think, we see more interest in voting, but we don't force anyone to stop voting. If deep down it's what you want and you think it's useful and well vote no worries. But we no longer agree with what is happening.
What's next?
The album already. We really want him to come out. We are very proud of it and we hope that the fans will be there. There are a few clips planned before the release of the album. We have two clips planned for now. We're going to do studio sales as well. Some live. And some old pieces to rework. 
