Already 7 years of activity in the game for Timal. Yet, the rapper from the 77 seems to have with each new release the status of the "challenger" who will come to contest the headliners. It's mainly due to this incredible energy and freshness he has every time he takes the mic. And we really enjoyed this energy at Project X Paris, during this hot collaboration with the rapper.
Timal, fire in his voicen
Can you touch the hearts and ears of listeners when rapping almost shouting? The answer is obviously yes. While most rappers of older generations tried to have the "coolest" style possible, giving the impression of gliding over the beat, others eventually chose another voice. One where the mic is used to pour out rage and transmit a kind of raw, contagious, wild energy. One of the first to have known a huge success with this style of rap was DMX in the USA. A crazy voice, some tracks where he almost screams in certain choruses, an incredible charisma on record but especially a true weapon of war when he steps on stage to turn the crowds upside down. In France, we also had our rappers in this style, capable of transmitting this kind of energy on a track. Notably LIM in the past, and today, it's Timal who carries the torch of these artists who push their voice very high in volume when they rap. And we can say that in this style, he is extremely effective, and even formidable.
It's been about 7 years now that the rapper, who comes to us from Champs-sur-Marne in the 77, has been terrorizing the game with each release. With, especially at the beginning of his career, a very pronounced penchant for freestyles, and that's not to displease us. The artist literally flooded YouTube with his hot verses in 2016 and 2017, with several series of freestyles that marked listeners, some exceeding 10 million views (all have at least done a million). We think particularly of the "Rapports" freestyle series, but also the "Trop Chaud" as well as his long series numbered from 1 to 15, with almost only masterclasses. You'll have understood, he's a mic devourer and a beat burner, and he has in fact made all of this a part of his artistic identity, even going so far as to name his albums "Trop Chaud" or "Caliente". He's not necessarily the kind of rapper who's going to make you a themed album and tell you a story, his goal is rather to chain hard-hitting punchlines until you're in the same warrior state of mind as him. And it works!
But Timal is not just that. It's already a big nod to the Caribbean, in his name, since he is of Guadeloupean origin. And especially, at 25, the rapper is still constantly evolving and has added many strings to his bow. We've notably seen him make beautiful research in terms of melody, we think for example of his feat with Booba, "Caméléon", present on the album "Arès" released in 2021. Or his feat with Heuss L'Enfoiré, "Bruce Wayne", but also plenty of other tracks. We feel in him this desire to maintain this image of mic burner, but also to surprise listeners with more catchy tracks, always successfully. We've also seen him export internationally, with a nice drill collaboration with Digga D for "Frenches". A true recognized talent, who took advantage of the comeback of kickage in 2016 to seize his chance and burn any mic that would fall into his hands, a bit like Fianso (but younger). They had also done a very big feat at the time, quite aggressive.
Timal & PXP: the hottest collabn
An artist with energy to spare then, and that's good, because at Project X Paris, we love that. We had big plans for this collaboration with Timal, and we can say that the photoshoot completely meets our expectations with a DA specially inspired by the artist and his discography. In his music videos, he seems to be a fan of rather sober and effective streetwear, even if he sometimes allows himself more colorful outfits. So we started by having him test our great classics from the Signature capsule. And especially our cult PXP hoodie, the black Signature hooded sweatshirt, with the stylized white logo on the chest. All worn with a brand new black cap from Project X, with the brand name this time in capital letters and a new logo reworked for the occasion. Small tinted glasses, white cargo-style pants for the bottom, as well as a pair of black and white sneakers: the outfit is sober, but devilishly effective, especially in this warehouse setting with flaming barrels, a nod to the rapper's universe.
A universe that we continued to exploit during the second part of the shoot, with a little more flames this time, arranged in an arc around the rapper for a maximum "badass" effect. We move on to something a little more ambitious, with a complete set of hooded sweatshirt + Signature sweatpants, of the same color. This time, we chose brown, a less common shade but one that remains extremely stylish and warm, an effect reinforced by the reflection of the flames. Here again, we added the killer details, with the white Project X Paris cap (the new model with the reworked logo and the brand in capital letters) and very sober white sneakers, which have exactly the stylish effect expected. Timal feels very comfortable in the outfit and it shows in the photos, as he increasingly poses and plays with the cameras pointed at him.
As everything was going very well, we took the opportunity to have him try on some less ordinary pieces. Notably with this third part of the shoot, where we find him, still in the warehouse, flamethrower in hand and dressed in a superb jacket. Or rather, a quilted teddy jacket, with seams that create a diamond effect and snap buttons to close it if needed. Here again, we have a brown color, a bit lighter, with the "old school" logos on the chest and sleeves, which are somewhat reminiscent of the university styles of US students in the 90s. The teddy jacket is worn over a cream-colored sweatshirt, not forgetting of course the white cap still prominently featured. All married with light-colored cargo-style pants, and a pair of sneakers a bit more eccentric than the previous ones. Finally, to close the shoot in style, we decided to have Timal try one of our very latest trends: the Smiley capsule, whose logos reproduce famous emojis, reworked in a street style. A total success on the rapper, with an embroidered hoodie with smiley face (in black) worn with wide cargo pants, also black. All this, with an oversized university-style jacket with embroidered patches, one of our most beautiful pieces. The real showstopper, with the flaming PXP logo placed behind the rapper during the shoot. You'll have understood, this collab with Timal was more than hot, and we hope to be able to do it again soon because his universe inspired us a lot.
WHO ARE WE?
Project X Paris is the desire to carry the streetwear movement since 2015 with increasingly stylish collaborations. A French hype clothing brand available in more than 30 stores, at more than 1500 retailers worldwide and on projectxparis.com 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.