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Roméo Elvis

Roméo Elvis
Roméo Elvis during the concert for File7's 20th anniversary (2017)
Born	(1992-12-13) December 13, 1992 Uccle, Belgium
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	2014–present

Roméo Elvis is a Belgian rapper. His real name is Roméo Johnny Elvis Kiki Van Laeken, and he was born on 13 December 1992. He is very close to the members of the Brussels band "L'Or du Commun" and has released 4 EPs to this date: Bruxelles c'est devenu la jungle ["Brussels has become a Jungle"], Famille Nombreuse ["Big Family"], Morale and Morale 2 ["Moral" and "Moral 2"], the latest released on 24 March 2017.

Biography

Roméo Elvis is a young, French-speaking rapper born in Uccle, Belgium. He was born and raised in a family of artists, being the son of singer Marka and of actress and humorist Laurence Bibot, both quite famous in Belgium. His younger sister, Angèle, also in the music industry, is a singer and pianist. Roméo Elvis grew up in the southern suburbs of Brussels, in Linkebeek, a place which he very often refers to in his music, especially through the postal code "1630".

After he was expelled from secondary school, he continued studying illustration and painting in the Saint-Luc Tournai Institute, a Belgian secondary school specialised in art. He started rapping with friends during this period. He pursued his artistic education and entered the ESA 75 school in Brussels, where he studied field photography; all the while, he went on rapping, becoming close to members of the rap band "L'Or du Commun".

Roméo Elvis went on working as a cashier in a supermarket while he released his first EPs— despite a certain success, his music did not yet allow him to earn a living. He eventually quit his job in order to completely dedicate his time to his music, very shortly before the release of the song "Bruxelles arrive" in 2016: this was his first real success.

Roméo Elvis suffers from tinnitus - for a musician, a great handicap. He mentions his illness in several songs: "L'oreille sifflante" ["Wheezing ear"] or "Ma tête" ["My Head"] among others. In an interview for the French radio station Radio Nova (France), he said that if he ever managed to earn a lot of money with his music, he would donate some in order to finance research to cure tinnitus.

Style and influence

Romeo Elvis's musical style strongly evolved throughout his different projects. Whereas, on his first EPs, he worked with very old-school instrumentals and adopted a flow corresponding to these, his collaboration with producer "Le Motel", for Morale and Morale 2, deeply changed the atmosphere and style of his music. He now allows himself to sing the choruses; and the electronic instrumentals produced by "Le Motel" give a more contemporary style to his projects.

Roméo Elvis has been influenced by various other musicians. The Belgian band "L'or du commun", with whom he got started in the rap world, is probably one of the major influences on his style: his first EPs are very similar to theirs, and features collaborations with members of the band. He also often refers to the rapper Caballero as someone who has influenced him a lot; they worked together on the song "Bruxelles arrive". As far as French rap is concerned, Roméo Elvis considers the rapper Alpha Wann, member of the band 1995, to be "the master of the rap game", through his speech rate and his eloquence. In terms of his vision of life —very dark, yet full of derision— Roméo Elvis has been strongly influenced by Fuzati, leader of the French hip-hop band "Klub des Loosers". He mentions Fuzati ["the masked rapper"] in several songs, one of them being "Drôle de décision".

Concerts, tours and festivals

He started making concerts when he got close to "L'Or du commun". However, it was only in 2015, with the release of "Morale", that Roméo Elvis and "Le Motel" began a tour to promote the EP, holding 19 concerts across Belgium, France and Luxemburg. The release of "Morale 2" initiated a yet more important tour, with 29 concerts and appearances in big festivals such as the Dour Festival, Rock en Seine and the Printemps de Bourges.

Discography

2013: Bruxelles c'est devenu la jungle

2014: Famille nombreuse

2016: Morale

2017: Morale 2

Category:Belgian rappers Category:List of Belgian bands and artists Category:List of people with tinnitus