PPj's latest album, which features 14 reggae gems recorded in Kingston, achieves the rare feat of fusing the French language with Jamaican beats. While the French Rasta star spends much of his time flying back and forth to Kingston, it was in Paris that his career really took off after he met producer Clive Hunt at a sound-system in 1996. Hunt, who launched his own career with the Dynamic Sounds in Kingston in 1973 with The Stones and went on to produce legendary reggae stars Peter Tosh, Toots and The Maytals and Jimmy Cliff, had just produced Raï king Khaled's album "Sahra". Teaming up with Hunt, Pierpoljak went on to score an instant hit with his debut eponymous album.
Three years later PPJ found himself at the forefront of a veritable reggae craze when dozens of groups (such as Tryo and Baobab) began making an impact on the French charts. Pierpoljak, one of the veterans of the French reggae movement, made his own mark with "Dans les rues de Paris…", a song which fuses Kingston beats with bursts of French accordion. On his new album PPJ has joined forces with his old friend Clive Hunt once again and surrounded himself with a crack team of songwriters and musicians including bass-player Strickland Stone and former Wailers guitarist Earl "China" Smith - which perhaps explains the smooth natural-sounding fusion of French and Jamaican sounds on his new album!
RFI Musique caught up with PPJ in Paris where, looking a little red-eyed from his ganja smoking, the French reggae star talked to us about his new album and his Rasta philosophy.

"Je fais c'que j'veux" sounds very different to your previous work - the music is a lot smoother and more natural-sounding on this album and the fusion of reggae and French chanson also seems to work much better …
Yes, I'd agree with you on that. This album is me as I am right now. I mean, the songs are still the same, I'm still the same reggae novice, learning as I go. What's changed is that I don't put the same pressure on myself any more, you know, I don't walk round thinking 'I've got to record an album now!' I think that since the last album I must have lived through certain things which inspired me to write the new songs.

A song like "Né dans les rues de Paris" (Born On The Streets of Paris), which fuses reggae beats with accordion, sounds very much like you claiming your Parisian identity …
Yes, I like to put my own personal touch on my albums, but I can't go round claiming to make French reggae. That would be impossible! This song's reggae, but whatever anyone else might say, for me reggae is, was and always will be Jamaican music. Maybe I've formed that opinion because I go back and forth to Jamaica so much and I got into the country before I discovered the music. I'm no great reggae expert though - I only listened to the stuff I liked and the stuff I liked was the music that came out of the legendary recording studio Studio One.
You know, Jamaicans have never stopped whites from playing reggae. So I consider that when you do play reggae you should acknowledge your sources. I know singers over in Jamaica who've recorded some really awesome reggae albums but they're not big stars in their homeland and they're certainly not making pots of money out of their music. My approach to reggae is very sincere - I love these guys' music and I’ve got a lot of respect for them because I have a lot of respect for the records they made. Right now I'm lucky enough to be able to go out and work in Jamaica and when I work over there I'm in direct contact with these guys. Whereas I can't really go round claiming I belong to a reggae tradition in France because, quite frankly, there isn't one!

Your new album brings to mind the music of Burning Spear ...
Burning Spear is one of the reggae greats and I've always had an enormous amount of admiration and respect for him. I spent a lot of time listening to his albums and one day I also had the honour of working with him in person when I supported him on tour. And I can tell you, Winston Rodney Spearman is one hell of a guy!
I grew up listening to Burning Spear - and I still listen to his music today - he's given me a great deal of inspiration over the years. So yes, I agree with the comparison. In fact, I'm flattered and proud to acknowledge it.

When I was listening to the new album I couldn't help thinking of Dennis Brown as well ...
Yes man! Burning Spear and Dennis Brown are my reggae heroes. They're the two reggae greats who've had the most influence on my own music. Dennis Brown has been a huge source of inspiration to me. In my opinion, he's the greatest vocalist in Jamaica! And, while we're on the subject of Dennis Brown, while I was recording "Je fais c’que j’veux!", I was also busy recording another album, in English, with my producer Clive Hunt which features a lot of duos and a whole lot of other songs. There's only one cover on "Je fais c’que j’veux!" though and that's a cover of Dennis Brown's greatest hit, "Money In My Pocket". The other songs on the new album were written by Donny Key - who I've known since I recorded my first album. We teamed up to record "Never Diss A Rastaman" as a duo on that.

 So to get back to the title of your new album "Je fais c’que j’veux" (I Do What I Want). Is it true to say you do exactly what you want as far as your music's concerned?
Yeah, it is. I think it's fair to say that I more or less manage to do what I want musically speaking - and I hope I go on doing so for a long time to come!

And is it easy to do what you want?
No, it isn't easy. Nothing's ever easy - you know that as well as I do! What I'm about to say here is going to sound very banal, but I'll say it anyway. The thing is, I was singing long before I made it big . I loved music just as much as I do now, in fact. But people don't acknowledge what you do when you're a complete unknown - they say things like 'You know, you'd be better off going out and getting a real job, buddy!' But when you're famous, they change their tune and start saying things like "Well, look at the kind of car he drives!" I don't pay attention to any of that though - I'm just a singer!

Would you describe yourself as a rebel singer, though? I mean, reggae is a bit of a rebel music … Well, I don't think I feel too comfortable about going round shouting 'I'm a rebel!' I know what a real rebel is and I'm not exactly in the same situation - I don't want for anything! OK, so sometimes I get worked up and lose my temper with the police. But if that's being a rebel it means everyone's a rebel because everyone blows a fuse every now and then. Reggae is a true rebel music though. It's the voice of the people suffering in Jamaica's ghettos. I’m a reggae singer so that makes me a rebel because I fight against the system. I'm a singer, I sing my songs but I don’t pretend to make people stop and think. If they like the song and they have a good time listening to it, that's good enough for me!