The new album of Fabrice is called Back to Roots, and it’s centering and sober, bold and passionate. I met Fabrice a few years back and knew him from his various projects, but his recent work hit a note as if he had made a new home for himself. This home was not necessarily an actual location, but like it could be found in his art creation. He went full circle, and his work shows it. In Back to Roots Fabrice features cool guests and plays with his take on a form of modern Reggae. His work has hints of Jazz with RnB, plus production stylistics of Hip Hop. In some of his songs he brings in the Middle East influence through the oud and nay, tributing to being in Kuwait. If you like Stephen Marley’s music, you will love his. It is a great body of work which you should download and buy.
Now for those that have read my past blog posts and criticized it being too long: this sentence right here is the point where you can stop reading. If you want to know what makes strong art, keep on reading, as I am about to tell you the story people go through that in return makes powerful work.
Listen to the album here:
This is a story about an expat rebuilding his life all over again. Some expats come to Kuwait for money, others come for the adventure. In Fabrice’s case, he journeyed here to heal.
A little before Fabrice moved to Kuwait he was a full-time musician in France performing as much as he could as an artist and as a bass man for other artists. Fabrice was making what any driven artist could financially make at that time to sustain himself. It was then that his life took a turn with a series of painful events that he could never foresee. His girlfriend was diagnosed with a brain disease and passed away in almost no time. His job was to perform, so he had to keep on playing music in this time of grief. It was hard, but he was committed and he also had to pay his rent. Shortly after that, a close friend was assaulted in a bizarre crime, making Fabrice question his own security and surroundings. Lastly, he was a victim of hate crime, and that was the final drop that put him over the edge. I knew a bit about that situation because he wrote a song about it called ‘Sorry’ which has had heavy radio play on 99.7fm this year. It was part of his previous album. If anyone knows Fabrice they know that he is quite a tall man at over 1.85 and is not someone you would want to attack without thinking twice. But in his song ‘Sorry’ he apologizes to the guys that stabbed him from breaking their noses. I know, crazy! Back to the story, after the hate crime Fabrice had had enough. He went online, looked for work options outside of France, and found a position in Kuwait. In a matter of 2 weeks he sold, gave away and donated all his possessions. He moved to Kuwait with a laptop, his clothes, and a guitar.
Four years later today, Fabrice teaches French to lawyers, doctors, diplomats and many other people in Kuwait. He met his wife here, had a baby boy and created a beautiful family. As I get to listen to his album while in his studio, I look around at all the things that he also built here. He has come a long way from the events in France; I can hear it on this new album.
Sitting in his studio, I listen to his bold lyrics and as he writes about how he supports love and life. Becoming a father made him prioritize concepts of value, and being grateful for the good and straightforward things like in the song Fruits Bread and Tea. His concept of fame and music changed too. His idea of what is popular and what is important was thrown out the window making a song of 6 minutes long just because he felt like it. I find it very smart, very fresh, and yet very mature. Take your time to enjoy it like I did. [iTunes Link]
After all the painful things that happened to him in France, Fabrice felt that he could not be happy or could not grief in Paris. That he was living in a place that had become foreign. When he moved to Kuwait, he explained this to me and until today I will never forget what he said, “I landed in Kuwait, and I looked around at the people and the desert, and felt how music and art are pained here. I knew inside of me that Kuwait and I had been grieving our past. I felt like here, in Kuwait, I could try to heal and be myself in grief, and so I know that right now, in this time and place, Amin, this is my home.”
Home is where your heart can heal.
Peace, Love and Music.
Post by Amin FARI
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