Due to hit French cinema screens in the film Gomes et Tavares on April 9th, rapper-turned-producer-turned-actor Stomy Bugsy has been busy promoting his new album 4ème round (released at the end of March). Sporting a shaved head, trendy Ray Bans and an impressively laidback attitude, Stomy is a true veteran of the French rap world – even though he's only just turned 30!

RFI Musique: Where does the idea of the "4th round" come from?
Stomy Bugsy: Well, in the boxing world it means you've turned professional – in amateur boxing there are only three rounds, you see. There was also the idea of marking a milestone because I'd turned 30 and then, quite simply, "4th round" because this is my fourth album to date. When it comes down to it I see my life and my career in boxing terms, you know, it's like the fight goes on every day. This title was a good way of summing up the album content.

You still see your career as a fight?
Well, every day you've got to keep your finger on what's going on with your affairs. You've got to check on what your team's done, see if they've done things the way you wanted or not. And then you have to fight to get your records played on the radio and fight so that you can play such and such a concert at such and such a venue. You're always made to justify what you've done in interviews. You've always got to produce the best album you possibly can and then face up to whatever flak the critics give you and take their criticisms on board. You have to get to the point where you can read what the critics write without letting it get to you – and yet at the same time they're writing about something that comes from your heart and soul, something that you've wrenched from the very depths of your guts. So, yes, I'd say life's a perpetual combat with others, but you also have to fight a constant battle with yourself too.

Listening to 4ème round it sounds like you wanted to bring your entire world on board and by that I mean your friends in the music world (like Passi) as well as your love of boxing, film and your roots. So, are you happy with the end result?
There are always things you feel you could have done better, but I have to say I put two whole years into the making of this album whereas normally I finish an album within five or six months. This time round I really managed to step back and get a bit of distance on things. I wanted 4ème round to be like a fine wine that's really given the time to sit there and ferment. I laboured on it as if I were on a construction site really, building up the foundations layer by layer. I reworked all the songs as I went along and I only kept the best of everything. It was like painting on the undercoat, then the first coat, then sanding everything down before putting on a final varnish. I really took my time over things. This was an album that was extremely thought out from the word go, then I added a few spontaneous touches at the end.
Some tracks on the album, like Mauvaise attitude, were really done at the last minute, but I'd actually written other songs like Drôle de vie ages ago – the problem with Drôle de vie was I'd just couldn't find where I'd jotted it down! And then lo and behold right at the last minute I put my hand on it. As for Femmes en prison (Women in Jail), I wrote half of the lyrics for that back in '98. I knew I wanted Femmes en prison to be a very ? song and I knew I wanted a female singer on it but I just couldn't think of who. Then one day someone suggested I should do something with Kenny Rowland (from Destiny's Child) and I was like "Yeah, sure, I'd love to, that could help the cause."

It must have been great working with someone like Kenny Rowland, but would you say you also feel close to the French r'n'b movement?
I feel close to all music that's good music, whether it be opera or salsa! When music really works something happens inside, I can feel myself pulsating and vibrating along with it. I have a real connection with r'n'b because r'n'b is a direct cousin of hip hop. It's derived from soul music and that's something I very much grew up listening to. When it first started out r'n'b was real rhythm and blues but these days it's got a much more flashy, young upbeat image.

Have you found any new sources of inspiration for your songwriting these days?
You know when you write you can learn an awful lot of things from simple day-to-day life – and growing older opens your eyes to a lot of stuff too! You know, you see your kid growing up in front of you and you go back to your old neighbourhood and see what's happened to everyone there too. There are people you hung out with who've ended up as drug addicts, others have died and others have completely lost their special aura. But things can turn out the other way too – there are guys you thought would end up living in cardboard boxes on the streets and they're now company directors! Life really makes you sit back and think sometimes.

One of the novelties on your new album is that fans get to discover your interest in rock and pop…
Well, that's a new thing as far as my solo albums go but back in the days when I was part of Ministère Amer we always mixed electric guitars in with the rest. I've always been into rock, I'm a big fan of guys like Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley… Deep down I'm a rocker in my soul! And rock's a black thing too. Elvis, the guy known as The King, grew up in a black neighbourhood and he always acknowledged the fact that he got his inspiration from black music.

Your website lists your role models as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Fela, Halaï Sélassié and Mohammed Ali. Do you feel particularly concerned with 'black issues'?
That's my roots, you know, that's where I come from and that's what makes me feel very strongly that I'll never do anything to betray my 'people.' I've read a lot of stuff written by Franz Fanon and people like that and their views are very important to me. I think you have to be committed to the cause really, because the problem is we still don't have our rightful place in this world. Africa still doesn't belong to the African people; the continent still belongs to Europe and the West. African presidents don't even rule their own countries. And I think one of the problems is that compared to Arab communities, for instance, blacks just don't show enough solidarity with one another.

Coming back to your career for a moment, do you feel that your film work's compatible with your music?
I think I manage to do both because the way I see it they're both coming from the same place – by that I mean the content's basically the same, but it's expressed through a different form. When you come down to it making films and making music is part of the same profession, it's all about creating and conveying emotion… The only difference is when I work on a film I'm like a simple sailor working under the captain's orders, but when it comes to music I'm the captain. At the end of the day it's the same boat but I get to change rank!

You also have another important activity of course and that's working as a producer. You set up your own label, Show Lapins, a few years ago, in fact…
Well, to be honest, I've always dealt with the artistic side of things really. I'm not a businessman. And when you're a producer you've got to be a businessman and be really into making money. What matters to me most as a profession is music and for me that's all about communication, you know, getting messages across to people and moving people with your music. When I start work on a project I never turn round and ask how much I'm going to get paid – well, unless the inland revenue are after me, that is! There's no secret about it, if you want to be a good record label boss you've got to love money and that's simply not my case. Each to his own path, his own talent, you know! I can produce an album, or who knows, even a film, but at the end of the day I'm simply got no talent for business. The only records I've ever produced, in fact, have been by friends I grew up with. Those records came about because I really loved what my mates were doing, I thought they had genuine talent and I wanted to help them. We put together one really good album and that was Mixomatose. I have to say I'm really proud of that album, but we haven't brought out anything since…

Where's the French rap scene at right now according to you?
French rap's very rich, you know, there are some really good songwriters around and there's a real public out there for the music. But it's fair to say there have been a lot of ups and downs. French rap's a bit of a closed shop in some respects – I think it's true to say that there are a few big-name acts out there who want to keep it all to themselves. But that's crazy because at the end of the day hip hop's anything but a closed world. It's open to everyone from graffiti artists to DJs, beat boxers, rappers and dancers – it's a tree with many branches! People have the impression that hip hop's a closed world, but I think that's a result of image and prejudice, although it's also got something to do with the fact that a lot of rappers don't want to get involved with mainstream media and prime time TV. You've got to understand where they're coming from though. When they do go on prime time chat shows they're asked really stupid questions. In fact, they're often not treated as real artists at all so there's an understandable frustration there. That's why they end up shutting themselves off and refusing to have anything to do with the mainstream media.

As you mentioned earlier you've just turned 30. What do you feel when you look back over the last ten years?
Well, up until now I don't think I'd ever really turned round and looked back over my shoulder. But I have to say the last ten years have been great, unbelievable even! I mean, I've gone from being seen as Public Enemy Number 1 when I was with Ministère Amer, with the police knocking on my door telling me to tone down my lyrics to being the darling of the French media. I got to the point where I became a bit of a black Father Christmas – when I walked down the street kids would recognise me and rush up and throw their arms round my neck!
And now I'm an actor… It's all been incredible really and looking back on things I have to say I've had an enormous amount of luck. I'm not going to claim I'm a total workaholic or anything though because I don't see what I'm doing as work, but I am very passionate about what I do. And I believe in it too. I think I owe the fact that I've always believed in myself to my mother. I mean, it's a powerful thing when the woman who brings you into this world tells you you're the greatest and the best and you're going to go far some day. When you're three years old and you come home covered in cuts and bruises because some other kid in the neighbourhood's beaten you up and your Mum turns round and tells you, "Hit back. Defend yourself next time – and if you hit the kid that hit you I'll give you a pile of chocolate biscuits!" Well, that gives you a bit of confidence in life!