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In early August, rapper Neimo unveiled the excellent BOÎTE DE PANDORE, a nine-track mixtape showcasing the Quebecer’s versatility and skills. To coincide with the release, PAN M 360 caught up with the 18-year-old artist at his studio to discuss his story, his influences, his new project and even Hubert Lenoir.
Born in Quebec to two French parents, Neimo grew up in the town of Saint-Eustache. Over the past two years, the young man has released a number of tracks and caught the attention of the Montreal scene, notably with the release of his Né pour briller and Rien n’a changé EPs. His Franco-Quebec accent, his musical universe, his pen and his diversified flows make him an artist to watch in the coming years.
With BOÎTE DE PANDORE, we meet an authentic, transparent and creative Neimo. The artist explores new avenues in the excellent productions he has worked on. We sense that his music is in flux, resulting in moments that are both musically flawed and interestingly different.
Passing through boom bap, trap, more sung tracks and even jazz, the protagonist is accompanied by men on CENDRES and Franky Fade on AROUND THE WORLD, one of the project’s best tracks. This diverse yet coherent offering tells the story of Neimo’s psychological journey during the album’s creation. Lasting around twenty minutes, BOÎTE DE PANDORE is highly accessible and well worth discovering.
PAN M 360: Pleased to meet you! Where are you from and how did your passion for music come about?
NEIMO: I was born in Quebec to two French parents, which explains my half-French, half-Quebec accent. I grew up in Saint-Eustache and only moved to Montreal last July. At the age of three, I was introduced to music at the Conservatoire. Later, I took violin in elementary school, for at least an hour every day. By the time I was twelve, I couldn’t stand the violin anymore and decided to sell it. Shortly afterwards, I set up a mini-studio in my bedroom with my laptop, a microphone, a speaker and a sound card. That’s all it took for me to start recording tracks on YouTube-type beats, and here I am today.
PAN M 360: What kind of music did you listen to when you were younger? What do you listen to now?
NEIMO: I listened to a lot of French rap, and still do. The first projects by Caballero & JeanJass and Nekfeu were very important to me. Today, I listen to everything. These days, I’m really into 70s rock and current rap.
PAN M 360: And these artists you’ve just named, is that what you’d like to be like?
NEIMO: This is going to sound surprising, but I’d say they’re not my biggest influences. My favorite artist is Hubert Lenoir. I definitely want to rhyme and impress an artist like Caballero, but I’d like to follow in Hubert’s footsteps more.
PAN M 360: That’s definitely not the answer I was expecting, but it’s true that you can feel Hubert Lenoir’s influence in BOÎTE DE PANDORE. What’s your favourite of his projects?
NEIMO: It’s definitely his most recent, PICTURA DE IPSE: Musique directe. I really like Darlène and the two opuses from his former project The Seasons, but it’s really his latest album that “slapped me in the face”. At first, her album is almost repulsive, because you don’t really understand what you’re listening to. After 3-4 listens, you understand the coherence within the incoherence of his art. His music becomes crystal clear and you can’t stop listening. It got me hooked and even touched me at times. There are phrases that are unusual in popular music. It’s a sincere project and I find it very interesting.
PAN M 360: How would you say this project influenced your new mixtape?
NEIMO: The concept of direct music and simply expressing what’s going on in our lives has inspired me a lot. The track UN AUTRE GARS is a great example of that. Otherwise, his influence can be felt in the visuals, insofar as I let myself go and am not afraid to accept extravagance.
PAN M 360: Let’s talk more about BOÎTE DE PANDORE, your latest project, released on August 4. What was the creative process like?
NEIMO: It’s been a very long creative process. I started working on this mixtape before Né pour briller, my EP released in November 2022. During the creation of BOÎTE DE PANDORE, I went through several questioning phases. On several occasions, the project was almost aborted. It all started a little over a year ago when I was with a friend and we recorded the introduction. At the time, we thought the creative process was going to go like clockwork, but that wasn’t the case. We had to do over 50 tracks to get to the nine that are on the mixtape. The process was very interesting, and it allowed me to ask myself a lot of questions. The first version of the project had more interludes and there was more narrative. After listening to the sounds, we decided to cut some of them to make them more digestible, which forced us to remove some interludes so as not to have too many versus the number of songs. But we still managed to tell the story I wanted to, and I’m really happy with the result.
PAN M 360: What did these interludes allow us to learn about the history of the project? What was the message you wanted to convey?
NEIMO: There was an interlude of a voice recording of a discussion I’d had with a friend where I said I was overwhelmed by my problems, but that I had to deal with them one by one. This piece set the mood for a string of several songs about different problems, but we put it aside. We had also planned to do an interlude to “close” Pandora’s box in the middle of the project to indicate the start of the second half of the mixtape. We also decided to remove it because it was too long. Despite the absence of these interludes, it’s easy to understand my project. BOÎTE DE PANDORE is a very personal project. In a way, it’s about my quest for happiness. It’s about accepting one’s emotions and wanting to achieve a certain inner serenity. The project begins darkly by talking about break-ups, and this is also reflected in the track UN AUTRE GARS. As the project progresses, the vibe becomes softer and we understand that I have a girlfriend. The project follows my mental path and my positive direction. If you listen to the lyrics, you’re following my psychological progress.
PAN M 360: The soundtracks of the various tracks on the project are really interesting. Did you take charge of the project’s production?
NEIMO: In part, yes. Some of the tracks I produced myself, while others required the input of several people. At the very beginning, the project was supposed to be produced by one person, but that didn’t work out. Two producers from France took it over and the mixtape project came back to life. During the process, I would create mock-ups and send them to other colleagues who would add to them. In fact, I worked with Quebec producer Kodakludo on several occasions. It was very enriching to work with different people, and the result was very complete.
PAN M 360: One of my favourite songs is unequivocally AROUND THE WORLD with Franky Fade. What is this song about?
NEIMO: It’s not all joy and celebration yet, but it’s starting to get a bit better. Basically, it’s about making do with what you’ve got to be happy. It’s also about playing shows with friends and “touring the world” with our music. It’s really a song about spending time with friends and being the strongest. It’s very egocentric and raw as a title.
There’s an anecdote I have to tell about AROUND THE WORLD. In the beginning, I received a prod and the sample drove me crazy. At that point, I wrote a first verse and sent it to Franky Fade, who in turn sent it back to me with his part. Franky wanted to rework the drums in the song, but I’d lost the file with the various sound tracks. It was total panic. One day, we finally managed to find the sample and I had to redo the drums and rewrite my verse to finish my track. It’s both the first track I started for the project and the last one I finalized. The second version is much better than the first, so maybe it was a good thing I lost the files!
PAN M 360: With its jazz opening and more sung second half, Différemment stands out from all the other tracks on BOÎTE DE PANDORE. What’s the idea behind this two-step title?
NEIMO: Listen, the opening of the song was recorded at Maison Kekpart, the youth center in Longueuil. I was at a talent show there and simply recorded the jazz band playing on my phone. I figured I’d do something with that sound bite one day, and it became the intro to différemment. As for the second half of the track, I was in my bedroom and it didn’t really feel right. I found three piano chords, put down my phone and started playing and singing. I expressed what I was feeling in the song, and I loved the result. I thought it fitted in well with the jazz soundtrack and it’s one of my favorite tracks on the mixtape.
PAN M 360: After a project like BOÎTE DE PANDORE, what can we expect from you next?
NEIMO: I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but I think I’ve managed to find myself as an artist through the creation of this project. I feel I’ve come to a more complete and precise project than I’ve done before. I’m more true to myself, and I’ll always try to be more and more sincere in my lyrics. As time goes by, I’m growing up, experiencing new things and having more to say. I want to continue in the direction I’ve taken and see where it all leads. We can expect more collaborations in the future, that’s for sure.
Photo credit: Ludovic Rolland-Marcotte
