Aurgasmic Adventures: Cuizinier

I need to share with you an encounter I had with a superstar French MC.

Poking around my myspace two weeks ago, I noticed a bulletin from the French rap group TTC, signed to Ninja Tune’s Big Dada label. This bulletin contained two interesting facts:

  1. Two of their members, Cuizinier and DJ Orgasmic, were touring the US
  2. They were looking for a place to crash in each of their stops

TTC – Dancingbox (Modeselektor remix)
Ever since hearing the Modeselektor remix of Dancingbox, I’d been deep into their sound. I figured I could offer up my pad, so I fired back a reply.
Cuizinier replied and was down for it:

hey thanks a lot man
i’ll call you when we’re in town
i already putted you on the guest list
peace
cuiz

Thursday afternoon I got a phone call from a number with seemingly too many digits. Hello? “Hey this is Cuiz”. After a short chat, I was set to meet up with him at the show. Going to the show I realized I didn’t really know what Cuizinier looked like, but I figured I could recognize a skinny white French rapper. On my way out the door I had grabbed my three bangin pairs of sunglasses so I could look my flyest; DJ A-Trak (Kanye West’s dj and 5-time World DMC Champion) and Brooklyn’s favorite dj duo, The Rub, were spinning.

The Rub warmed everything up with some reggae, then dropping into their signature dance/soul sound. Midway through their set we learned that this was the “Sunglasses Is A Must” tour and the three pair I brought along seemed fortuitously apropos.

A-Trak tore up his set, as usual, with some old classics and brand new hiphop– and of course he brought his turntablism a-game:
Video of A-Trak mixing it up (live)

Cuizinier took the stage around midnight and when I first realized the guy wearing the XXXL Celtics shirt was actually sleeping on my couch, I pretty much blew my shit. His set was hype as hell, bringing out the fire jams from both TTC’s Bâtards Sensibles and Cuizinier’s own Pour Les Filles records.
Video of Cuizinier – L’encule le plus cool (live)
Cuizinier – L’enculé le plus cool from Cuizinier’s Pour Les Filles Vol. 1 (2005)
Cuizinier – Seulement Toi (feat. Tido Berman) from Cuizinier’s Pour Les Filles Vol. 2 (2006)

After the show, me and my girl Anne waited for Cuizi to collect enough cash from the venue to pay for the next day’s train to New York. Cash in hand, we started heading back to my place. Cuizinier told me about the rest of the tour and TTC and Big Dada and all the news, accidentally slipping into French for several sentences, apologizing once he realized, and continuing. Off the stage, Cuizinier and DJ Orgasmic were surprisingly polite and well-spoken Frenchmen. We crashed at my pad, I woke them up at 9am and they took off for the subway shortly thereafter.

Before leaving however, my boy Cuizi Cuiz insisted in giving me a couple “presents” as thanks. I wound up with some goodies: copies of vols. 1 and 2 of his Pour Les Filles records, some flashy stickers and a dope ass Cuizinier sweatshirt.
So of course,

Contest!!!

Sunglasses is a mustAs this was the Sunglasses Is A Must tour, y’all gotta email me your best photo of you rockin out in sunglasses.
Prizes will be awarded based on how fly y’all look. You might get just a sticker, or you may get all the booty.

16 Responses to “Aurgasmic Adventures: Cuizinier”

  1. runman :

    Paul, that almost makes you a ‘shadow celebrity’ of sorts.
    A pivotal cog in the music underworld, worthy of undying respect and unconditional worship.
    Or not.
    And damnit, I can’t find a single photo of me in sunnies. Ah well, maybe better that way.

  2. Paul Irish :

    Hah! Def.
    You better take a picture if ya don’t got one already.

  3. Anonymous :

    VERY well written.
    except: “I pretty much blew my shit”
    You should consider editing. It really does not match the professional style yet casual style of the rest of the tale

    Nice prose and VERY evocative of the night and specially of your emotions.

    CONGRATULATION

    Gregorio

  4. Paul Irish :

    DJ Ayres of The Rub posted a tour update on the fader blog. check it.

  5. matt :

    Hey Paul —

    so great to read a gig review / escapade / personal reflection post on aurgasm! bang up job, yo.

    –cheers

  6. AbsNoise :

    Hey !

    First of all I’m French (nobody’s perfect, u know…)
    Second : TTC is the kind of band that white middle class French people like. They are praised by newspapers such as Les Inrocks which usually talk about rock music. All in all, I could say “TTC is the favourite hip-hop band for French people who don’t like hip-hop”.
    They are actually not that famous in France (where hip-hop is VERY popular… and commercial, according to me) but people who know about music know them.

    This is it. End of my comment about a French hip-hop band (the best French hip-hop band remains le Suprême NTM).

  7. Anonymous :

    ok, I’m partial to Busta Flex, but sending in my sunglasses pic :)

    – Boris

  8. Erin :

    Love the pic with Anne and Adam!

  9. Anonymous :

    Where can you get the Cuizinier record that those tracks are from? Besides sending in a picture of yourself wearing sunglasses? I can’t locate it online.

  10. Paul Irish :

    This is the only place i’ve found it for retail.

    I’d recommend going the sunglasses route, though. The submissions are only trickling in, so you got a great shot of scoring sumpthin.

  11. Anonymous :

    im really into that first track you posted, Dancingbox! Can anybody reccommend more music that sounds like this???

  12. Sjoerd Kranendonk :

    I hope I’m still in time! :)

    I really dig the TTC stuff, so Cuizinier solo stuff should be ok too :)

    These guys are great live, unlike some other ‘rap’ crews.

    my two(!) entries: one and two.

  13. eric :

    This post is very cool. I love the writing style. I’ve had similar experiences, and I was re-living them while reading your story. And I love the twist at the end (contest). If I had some shades, I’d pose for it right now.

  14. claire :

    cuizi cuizzzzz is the bangin’est!

  15. Marcelo Daniel :

    I cannot express en anglais how positively jealous I am of you for hosting Cuizi and receiving those fine gifts. But I am so very glad that he was given a good welcome by a fellow Bostonian. Merci.
    And, I’m probably WAY too late for the contest, but here is my entry, just in case.

  16. wowgold :

    Pretentiously, I valid belt 60 and am actually short on gold an eye to my 60 epic turf mount. I plot to toe-hold encircling 500-1,000
    . Anyone recall of any to do so?

    Thanks