Roi sans carosse

By the time this sixth opus was released, Abdoulaye Diarra, alias Oxmo Puccino, the most phlegmatic of French-language MCs, had already established his style and was busy refining it. Using a range of aesthetic support — jazz, waltz, pop with a dash of electro, a mini string ensemble — Oxmo delivers his rhymes in his reliable manner, that is to say placidly, his papa-bear voice well out front. No doubts regarding the potency of his rhymes, though the comparisons to Brel and Ferré might be a bit rich. Puccino charms as always, even doin’ “La danse couchée” with the voluptuous Mai Lan.