TONTON DAVID, A FRENCH REGGAE PIONEER, DIES AT 53!

“Each his own way, each his own way. Everyone has their own dream, everyone their own destiny. The refrain of the timeless hit of the film “An Indian in the City” resonates sadly today. Uncle David’s road came to an abrupt end at just 53 years old. A broken fate, unfinished dreams. The uncle of reggae and French raggamuffin, which he helped popularize, died on Tuesday following a stroke at Metz station on Sunday. He had been hospitalized for two days.

It was one of his “nephews” and friends, the singer Pierpoljak, who first announced the terrible news in the early afternoon on his Instagram account: “I have just learned that my friend Uncle David is dead. Uncle. I am devastated. Princess Erika, Nuttea, Taïro, followed suit. But in the absence of confirmation, rumors of fake news have circulated and some have withdrawn their reactions … Unfortunately, his manager and his son ended up officially announcing his death on Tuesday evening.

He was great in every sense of the word, Uncle David, and he will go down as the precursor of reggae, ragga and French dancehall, the one who, with Sinsemilia, paved the way for Babylon Circus, Dub Inc., Tryo.

Born in Reunion, David Grammont, whose real name is, son of Creole musician Ray Grammont, grew up in Paris and then in the Paris region. After discovering raggamuffin during a stopover in London, he showed at the end of the 1980s with Nuttea and their High Fight International sound system that it could be imported and sung in French.

Launched solo, he quickly made people talk about himself and his style with “Peuples du monde” in the “Rapattitude” compilation, in 1990, then with his first album, the excellent “Blues des racailles”. Success came with the second, “Go tell them”, carried by the radio hit “Sure and certain” and his words also indestructible: “But I’m sure we are taken for idiots, but I am certain. Something is wrong. A hit that allowed him to participate for the first and last time in the Enfoirés, in 1993.

Reggae helped him find his way

But it is with “To Each His Way”, in 1994, the theme of the film “An Indian in the City” created with Manu Katché and Geoffrey Oryema that he was propelled among the new stars of the song. “We sold a lot of singles and very few albums because it was a bogus soundtrack, he confessed to us five years later. It was a very bad experience. My revenge is that this is the only song I wrote on this record that is a hit. “

In 1999, during the release of his fourth album, he also spoke of his “tumultuous” past at the Parisian. “I am from a generation that has left feathers. I was 14 years old in 1981, when hard drugs hit the popular neighborhoods en masse. It sounds crazy, but at the time, heroine was all the rage! We were a fan of Spaggiari, of Mesrine. With some friends, we even went to see Porte de Clignancourt, where he died… At the time, I rather dreamed of being the richest guy in the world, of doing the heist of the century. I was lost. “Newsletter The list of our desiresOur favorites for fun and culture.Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters

Reggae helped him find his way. “With its pacifist message, its authenticity, it allowed me to learn to express myself with my words. He released six albums until 2009. And if he has never had such strong success, he has always released good records that have allowed him to find tours at his feet. “I’ve never been a trendy guy, he also recognized. I have become a sort of entertainer, happy with his fate. And who no longer put all their eggs in one basket.

Fifteen years ago, he had taken the key to the fields to settle in Moselle with his wife and four children. “Paris no longer makes me dream”, he proclaimed. At the start of 2017, the Parisian had found him in Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold, a football fan and Sarreguemines FC, a local club then in CFA2, but also the owner of two horses, still as long on the legs, the braids barely graying. . He promised a return to record “after the presidential election, because I will do quite political stuff”. And always had a laugh on his face: “My schedule is full: the music, the horses, the PMU, the football in Sarreguemines and my wife who makes me face. But it will not prevent me from going to the stadium! “

“People still adore him, his songs are classics”

The album was not released, but Uncle David continued to make people dance. If we are to believe a tweet from Dieudonné, he would even have participated in his ball of quenelles at the end of last June at the home of the polemicist. But it was in Lacanau (Gironde) that he gave his last concert, in August 2020. “The health context was particular, complicated with the Covid crisis, but we managed to maintain a few concerts in Lacanau, explains Fred Lachaize. , the founder and patron of the Reggae Sun Ska festival. It was a small show in front of three hundred people in the open air by the sea. But what an evening! “

“Even today, Uncle David is extremely popular,” continues Fred Lachaize. He is an emblematic figure of French reggae. He was a guy with whom we were sure to have a good evening, with his outspokenness and his legendary good humor. I brought a few bottles of Medoc and we had a good time. People still adore him, his songs are classics that everyone knows. It is timeless. And besides, this date was a warm-up because he intended to go back on stage, to make music again. “

Last October, Uncle David had posted a photo in the studio, suggesting a new recording to come …