"Stamina," Dinos' latest album: a raw result

It was on October 21 that the 27-year-old rapper, Dinos, announced the release of his latest opus Stamina. After Imany and Taciturne, released a year earlier, on December 29, 2019, the rapper returns with a fifth album of high flight, synonymous with simplicity and authenticity.

A promotion full of surprises

Made in 3 months by the artist of La Courneuve, Stamina, contains many unexpected surprises by the general public. After several weeks of teasing and an unbearable wait, the public finally discovers, on November 27, 2020, Stamina,. A stunning discovery for fans because, indeed, the presence of many features : Nekfeu, Tayc, DA Uzi, Leto, Zefor and Zikxo, was totally unexpected by them. Only the appearance of rapper Laylow had been announced by the promotional campaign of the album. The reaction was immediate on social networks: a real conflagration of the net. How can we do otherwise with this incredibly promising panel of artists? The hype and enthusiasm around the project was already present thanks to a freestyle entitled "Booska Stamina" broadcast on the YouTube channel of the rap media Booska-P on November 11, 2020. But it is also thanks to an enigmatic game of arrow words , published on the Instagram account of Dinos (@punchydinos) broadcast thanks to the hashtag #Tracklinstingstamina, with the aim of finding the titles composing the tracklist.     Stamina , announces the color, and we feel through this diversity of collaborations a slight desire to get out of his comfort zone and explore new universes on the part of the rapper despite his desire to move forward by himself, far from the idea of a "mainstream" music.

Stamina, : the album of endurance and authenticity

Dinos himself says, "With everything we've been through this year, I think people need simplicity. In any case, I need simplicity" (Source: interview YouTube channel "RAPRNB") And we really feel it through this album. Characteristic of this will, the second sound of the project Minus one featuring the rapper Nekfeu. 7 years after their first collaboration, the two artists return to a rap sound, technical, with an excellent game of pass throughout the feat making nostalgic for a more old school rap. A sound during which the two rappers have fun and where their chemistry is obvious. Imany, the album of carefree. Taciturn, the album of reflection. Stamina, the album of endurance? Indeed, in his teaser of the LP, Dinos presents Stamina, as the album of endurance. "Stamina" means endurance, physical perseverance, but also mental strength in English. Stamina's album cover , being a perfect allegory of these two different aspects: Dinos talking to a young boy (already present on Imany's album cover) in a boxing ring (physical aspect) and pointing his forehead (meaning mental strength). It is obvious that through these last two opus, the rapper has gradually established himself as a rising star of French rap. This long-awaited fifth album represents the consecration and consolidation of a place for the artist, who has remained in the shadows for too long. It symbolizes the endurance he has shown to get to this point as well as the retrospection of his career and the path he has traveled from his beginnings to his current status. "I walk with people who don't even know I'm a rapper" Post Scriptum (2013) "I walk with people of the same ilk as me" Diptych (2020) Endurance in work but also in all aspects of life: love, fears, time, convictions, struggles.

Important themes that come back

In this album, despite his desire for simplicity and the spontaneity that Dinos demonstrates, compared to Taciturn who was enormously introspective and thoughtful about his conception and his musical production and Imany who had a real artistic research, we find themes that are close to his heart and that characterize his music in Stamina. We enter the album with the powerful song Diptyque expressing a certain nostalgia in which the rapper delights with a haunting and poignant melody. "I remember my first slap, my first cup' I remember my first I remember my first 16, measures I remember my first head, I swear I remember: times when I called you late at night to talk to you about my pain I remember everything: your smile, your tears, the laughter we had" Diptych (2020) With this anaphora, There is an interesting introduction. In Diptych, we observe the state of mind in which Dinos finds himself. Indeed, the sound is an appetizer in relation to the different themes of the album : love, money, spirituality, its relationship with its roots and its success. Themes often come back to the artist. "I don't have a clear conscience but I have full pockets" "Money is the best power ask Bruce Wayne" "I had my hands made for gold but they are in zirconium" "I went out of the ordinary, born in nettles" Diptyque (2020) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kBSGGpfXmM

Love, a well-established theme

Obviously, love is a very present theme in the rapper. Often told from a melancholic, dark and damaged point of view (Helsinki, Arob@se), Stamina , is no exception to the rule (Prends soin de toi, Je Wanda featuring Tayc, Demain n'existe plus, Ciel pleure featuring Laylow). Love has always been evoked in the past tense in Dinos' previous projects. However, in the sound Madonna, the latter offers us a new, more optimistic look, filled with hope in matters of love. "Think about what we have to celebrate, think about everything we have gone through Think about everything we have thrown away, think about everything we have to buy" Madonna (2020) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcWvijzUy9g

Money and success

As for money, it represents a material way for Dinos to protect his loved ones and be freer. He therefore still has an attraction for money. In Stamina, it is raised that he is getting closer and closer to his goal compared to Imany and Taciturn where he still aspired to money as a dream goal. Today, he touches this goal with his finger but is never satisfied in his quest for success. Indeed, in an interview after receiving a question about his reaction after his first gold record he replied: "When I got the gold record, the first thing I said to myself was: fucking how am I going to get a platinum? (Source: YouTube interview RABRNB) "I don't know I dream of how much, all I know is that I don't know" Iceberg Slim (2018) "Give me a hundred, I'll make two hundred Give me water, I'll make gasoline out of it" Tomorrow no longer exists (2020) Its success and change of status are also reflected in its many references to cars. Chosen as the words "spam" by the rapper, "class g" and "AMG" reflect the accessibility of these cars by the latter thanks to his success. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV_oaAPNwUw

Spirituality

Dinos has always had a tendency to do a very deep introspection in his albums and to question himself. And it is with brilliance that he continues to draw us into his reflections and his spleen in Stamina. "Mirror, mirror, everything seems dark to me I would ask you no question because I'm afraid of the answers" Diptyque (2020) Indeed, he is afraid to trust others and is especially afraid of being hurt. In Paranoid, we find ourselves at the heart of his torments and we feel that only his music serves as an exorcism. He uses it as an outlet for his sins who cannot turn to God or to a psychologist. "Talk to the shrink or talk to God?» Paranoid (2020) "I can't go to the end-mara because I'm afraid of the sky I can't go to the shrink because I'm a guy from tess" 93 measures (2020) Similarly, in the incredible 93 bars, outro of the album, without chorus, like Cœurjacking (Taciturne, 2019), Dinos makes a cold and eloquent observation of all his dark ideas. He tells and confides in his pessimistic assessment of his conscience, his fears and his feelings about love and trust. However, he makes a reason for himself and accepts his condition, proof of maturity. "Before I wanted to change, now I accept what I am" 93 measures (2020) He asserts himself, grows and defines his convictions, his beliefs, his aspirations and takes a new look at his fears: he has passed a course. "Never speak to me again as if I were still the Dinos of Imany" 93 measures (2020) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBEWGesz3EQ

Its origins

For the relationship with his roots whether they are Cameroon or Courneuve, Dinos has a special relationship with them. Indeed, he looks a lot at where he comes from and uses this contribution in his music (Je Wanda ft. Tayc is a word from Cameroonian argo, Camfranglais coming from the English "to wonder" meaning to wonder). He claims his origins and uses his voice to denounce living conditions in Africa as well as in his neighborhood in La Courneuve as in Les pleurs du mal (Imany, 2018) and XNXX, Quand les cailleras prient (Taciturne, 2019) influenced by the rapper Alpha 5.20 also from 93. "I feel dirty like the street, I feel betrayed like Africa" Césaire (2020) Aimé Césaire is a writer and politician engaged in the movement of blackness and claiming the rights of black people against colonialism. "I am far from home, like the mothers of Mali, or the diamonds of Zaire" Diptyque (2020) Diamonds from Zaire known as "blood diamonds" fuel many conflicts as well as wars of interest in some African countries. "The police, the troubles, I open the shit field Day and night, I hallucinate, it's not easy But must not give up, a homicide: a mother cries The police, the troubles, yeah, day and night, I hallucinate" The North Remembers (2020) ft. Leto Note that the title of the sound The North Remembers refers to the North of the Game of Thrones series which is a territory certainly impoverished but animated by independence and fighting spirit in the face of the difficult conditions of their region. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf_sC_1tnJg

Conclusion: the comma

Finally, we can say that Stamina, represents a really successful project for Dinos. Extremely well received, the project achieved more than 23,200 sales in the first week of its release marking the evolution of the rapper on the current rap scene. Qualified as the project where he trusted himself the most, Dinos offered us a pure simple and effective rap performance in Stamina,. It is easy to get carried away in the captivating and moving universe of the artist. Seven years after the release of The Alchemist, Stamina perfectly explains the endurance that Dinos has shown throughout his career. An endurance, will and training that pay off since today, he really takes place on the various streaming platforms and is recognized for the quality of his artistic pen. But where does Stamina's comma come from? In his words, the comma "is as if it were the end of one race and the beginning of another race." (Source: RAPRNB YouTube interview) We find the tenacious side and the hunger of the artist in terms of success and artistic ascent. After this album that is now available, we look forward to Dinos' future projects. But before this step, we can largely enjoy the artist's projects already in the bins!