The French Plugg Scene: An interview with Serane
Plugg is a subgenre of hip-hop characterized by its mellow flows and ethereal beats. The production carries the sound with fat 808s, jazzy melodies, and relaxed drum patterns.
Pioneered by Atlanta producer MexikoDro in 2014, the Plugg sound has become beloved by cult SoundCloud listeners. Playboi Carti was one of the first rappers to hop on these types of beats with classics such as “Broke Boi,” “Money Counter,” and “Don’t Tell Nobody.” These singles birthed a new wave that has significantly impacted what modern hip-hop sounds like today. Rappers like Kodak Black, Lil Yachty, and Playboi Carti can all credit Plugg producers with influencing their more playful and upbeat sounding music. The Plugg scene has maintained a consistent following for the past seven years even with its constant evolution.
In the beginning, MexikoDro and his producer collective “Beat Pluggz'' (consisting of A$att, PoloBoyShawty, StoopidXool, BeatPluggTwo, and Corey Lingo) were the sole practitioners of the sound. Over time, their influence has spread far and wide with many mainstream producers starting to use Plugg loops. However, the scene itself has evolved on its own with producers like XanGang, Cashcache, Dylvinci, and Milanezie making the sound less trap-oriented and more R&B focused. Rappers like 10kDunkin and BoofpaxkMooky have mastered laid back flows that allow them to float on beat, in comparison to Plugg rappers a few years ago who delivered more aggressive flows.
Thanks to social media and SoundCloud, certain subgenres of music have become prominent in parts of the world where one would least expect it. This phenomenon has been happening since the early 2010’s, but has become increasingly more common over time. Plugg music has gained significant popularity in western Europe thanks to skate videos, fashion trends, and obviously thanks to the fact that hip-hop’s rise to the mainstream has made listeners more motivated to explore different types of subgenres related to it.
Enter Serane and his team - a crew of young, talented, and classy Parisians who are effortlessly taking over the scene. While the clique is in their own lane, their come-up has been somewhat comparable to that of Yung Lean and Sad Boys. Both have been heavily inspired by American hip-hop subcultures, but have infused European style and finesse into their music and image. Their taste for high fashion and luxury goods perfectly compliment the smooth and elegant songs that they make. Each member brings a unique sound or value to the table. Everyone pulls their own weight and adds to what they dub the “OneTruePath.” The team consists of rappers Prince K, Southlove, Kasper!, and Yuri Online as well as producers TTDafool, Voidd, and Chenpol. Video director STANKO and photographer Calou are also involved in bringing the vision to life.
Fascinated by how well-syncretized an Atlanta subculture is in Paris, Sabukaru reached out to Serane for an interview.
Hi Serane! Would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself and your network?
I’m Serane, I started rapping about a year ago, I dropped my first song on SoundCloud December of 2019, and then I really started taking music seriously in June of 2020 when I dropped a song called “Pardonne Moi.” That was my first big song that got noticed a little bit.
I’m based in Paris and my network consists of a ton of really talented producers and artists. TTDafool, Kasper, Prince K, Voidd, Chenpol, Southlove, Yuri Online, and STANKO, who directs all my videos. Those are the homies for real. One of my friends from back in the day introduced me to Kasper’s music. He had done a video with Prince K called “Money” and it was shot by STANKO. I thought it was really sick. One day Kasper pulled up to my crib. I was living in a tiny apartment here in Paris, and we ended up making a song together. That song was trash, but we had a lot of fun that day. I went to TT’s house the next day. Me and TT go way back, we’ve been friends for like seven years. I met him in high school through mutual friends and we started hanging out because we listened to the same music and had the same interests. I told him to check out Kasper because I thought dude’s music was hard. Nobody in Paris had that sound. Yuri kind of had it in Bordeaux, Kasper like I mentioned, and then 8Ruki. At first, Kasper was signed to Ruki’s label, and that’s kind of how I started to work with him. I have a song with Ruki called “Mode Avion.”
TT who’s a producer linked up with Kasper around two years ago and they started making music with each other. When I was at my house with TT and Kasper, TT pulled up a beat and Kasper started rapping. I ended up doing the next verse on that song and Kasper dropped it on SoundCloud. I was just freestyling and talking my shit, you know? That song spoke for itself, it did a couple numbers but wasn’t really going too crazy. A few months after that I had gotten back to Paris after a trip to Japan and my homies were telling me how I needed to make more music since they really saw the potential. Even if I didn’t promote it, just making music and getting better was all that was important. I dropped a four song tape called Pas de Casquette Vol. 1. After that, people from all over started reaching out to me because I was a white French dude doing the DMV flow. People were really intrigued. Nobody knew who the fuck I was, nobody knew what I looked like since people were only listening through SoundCloud. They didn’t really have a face associated with the sound.
This producer named Voidd hit me up when I still only had like four-hundred streams and told me that he really fucked with my music. He sent me a couple of beats. We ended up making “Free Blanco'' which was the first single that I had ever dropped on SoundCloud. That shit ended up getting a couple of streams too. After that, Corona happened which meant that everyone was locked in. Nobody had shit to do so I invested in myself, got some new gear, and I started working on songs every day. TT moved in with me for a couple of days to work on music and we worked on songs for like three days straight. We recorded the entire Prise Musique tape in like three days. Some of my biggest songs were made during that time period. “Pardonne Moi,” “(L) OUBLIE,” “Pablo,” “City,” “Ready Set Go,” “Slimetalk,” were all made during those three days. We also recorded all of Pas de Casquette Vol. 2 a few days before TT moved in. In two months I recorded one mixtape, an album, and like two EPs or something like that. Also a ton of unreleased songs. All of the music shit was new to me so I had mad inspiration and I was doing a lot of experimenting. Now it’s a bit more difficult since I have to take the music more seriously than before, you know?
When were you first introduced to Plugg music and how did you go about making it? Who did you go to for inspiration?
I really started fucking with Plugg music when I first heard Playboi Carti’s singles produced by MexikoDro. “Money Counter,” “Don’t Tell Nobody,” “Broke Boi,” “Smash Pt.2,” “Chill Freestyle,” all that shit! That shit is legendary bruh! Those songs really changed my life and influenced my music heavily. Those singles were the foundation for the new Plugg wave. After listening to those songs I really got into MexikoDro, StoopidXool, Hugo Joe, Diego Money, FLEE, and Kodak Black among other Plugg artists. Those guys really inspired me. I started making music because of them. I wanted to make music that I would listen to on my own time but in French.
The French scene at the moment is mostly drill and street rappers. They all wear tracksuits and don’t really give a fuck about anything. They got the same swag, same flow, same beats. That shit is getting boring. It works for them, I don’t want to hate, I just wanted to bring something new to the table. Right now I feel like more foreign people understand what me and my guys are trying to do than French people. French people are not used to that shit, I’m tryna make them understand! You just have to be yourself in this industry. By being myself, I want to bring more positivity. There’s a lot of hatred and beef in the French rap scene. Mad violence and drugs, I don’t really like that shit. I’d rather smoke weed, listen to StoopidXool beats, wear cool clothes, and kick it with my friends, you feel me? I feel like most people can relate to what I’m rapping about. I just want to be me!
All of your videos are incredibly well styled. On your Instagram you can be seen walking the runway for Raf Simons and Yohji Yamamoto, can you expand on your background in fashion?
Before all this rap shit, I did a lot of work in the fashion industry. I worked for a couple of brands and I modelled for two different agencies. I walked for some big designers like Raf Simons, Rick Owens, Yohji Yamamoto, Walter Van Beirendonck, and Thom Browne. One day I decided to stop all of that and I started my own company called SAMOSTORE Paris. SAMOSTORE is my collection of designer archive from Japanese designers. I do pop-up shops all over Europe and I would love to go international at some point after Corona is over. I do all my own shit. I do my own photoshoots, my own editorials, I scout models, I do my own styling. It makes me happy because I’m tryna be versatile. I do both this and music. When people see what I do, they see a whole world around the music. The music, the style, the artistic direction, the environment, the store, the team… It’s different, it’s something you’ve never seen or heard before. It’s authentic to what me and my friends are really passionate about.
How would you describe your swag and sound?
I’m just a cool dude from Paris with taste man, haha. I guess that’s how I would describe it. I’m a young man with a whole lot of designer on me! In France they say that I’ve got “drip auditif,” which translates to drip you can hear and “drip visuel,” which is drip you can see. I’ve got cool visuals, music, and fashion and it all ties together. That’s a hard question though. The best way to describe it is tasteful. I know what’s cool, I know what works together, and I know what I like.
A lot of fans have seen you post “OTP” on your story which apparently stands for “OneTruePath.” Can you explain what OneTruePath is?
Yoooo! OTP, man! Only Tall People, haha! Nah man, OTP first started as an inside joke because all of my friends are pretty tall. It also means OneTruePath too, you know what I’m saying? OneTruePath consists of Calou, my photographer, STANKO, my videographer, Kasper, Prince K, and myself. It’s just us, man. We all do the same shit, we all have the same motivation, and we all follow the “true path.” We got one path, we know where we want to go and we are following it so that it gets us to the top. It’s the mindset and the mission. But yeah, OTP first meant “only tall people,” haha.
How did you get in touch with the Atlanta Plugg scene and what does their cosign mean to you?
So I reached out to a couple of artists in the US like BeezyB and Cashcache. At first they didn’t know who I was so I wasn’t really getting any response back, but a couple of weeks after I reached out, BeezyB hit me back. When BeezyB responded, he said he thought my shit was hard so he offered to do a feature for fifty dollars. I sent him fifty and he sent me back an open on a Voidd beat since he knew I was working with Voidd. He really liked what I did with the song and offered to work with me more which was cool. After that, I hit up 10kDunkin who I listen to a lot. Even before I started making music, I was listening to all of this new wave shit. SOS, Rich Slime Gang, all of that shit. That shit is too fire! We had nothing like this in France so I really wanted to bring that sound over here. I hit up 10kDunkin on Instagram and he said he would do a feature for a hundred dollars. I sent him a hundred and he sent me a couple of opens. We ended up making a song called “Choose” which was dope. 10k was really impressed with what I sent back so he called me and told me that he wanted to work more as well. He said that he had never heard anyone rap in a foreign language the way I do. We made “2 Sièges'' which is basically “On Me” by 10kDunkin and Tony Shhnow except instead of Tony it’s me. 10k sent Tony the open and made “On Me” instead which ended up being one of their biggest songs. At the time, I wasn’t really up like that so their version ended up getting way more views and streams than my version. But yeah, “On Me” at first was just me and 10k.
After “2 Sièges'“ dropped, producers like Cashcache started hitting me up, which was dope. I had reached out to Cashcache in the past but he wasn’t really paying attention until “2 Sièges.” After I started working with Cashcache, that changed a lot of shit! Through him I was able to work with ATL Smook, Boofpaxkmooky, Dylvinci, and a lot of other really talented producers and artists from the States. One day, MexikoDro and StoopidXool reached out which was huge to me. Like I mentioned, those guys started this sound! I’ve been a fan of them for years! It's honestly a dream come true. We’re about to drop a whole lot of tapes with them. It’s crazy man.
Why do you think your image and sound is so beloved internationally despite the language barrier that a lot of listeners face?
It’s a vibe man! In the US, the Plugg sound is already well established. People think it sounds good, lyrical content doesn’t matter as much. The emotion and vibe is all in the flows and energy and production. The people listening in the US know that I work with some of the most respected producers and rappers in the scene. They really started fucking with me when Cashcache dropped his album and I was on the song “Order” with Tony Shhnow and ATL Smook. My verse was so smooth, StoopidXool helped with the beat too and his part started right when I started rapping. That song was the perfect introduction to me as a French foreign artist entering an American scene. Fans also see the vision and the swag.
People are saying that I have an opportunity to surpass those that created this scene because I have more of an artistic vision. Me and STANKO direct and style all of the videos. It’s just us having conversations about how the visuals can add to the music. It’s dope man, my shit’s different. I think people like that my music is easy to listen to. My voice is smooth, I don’t scream, I do this whisper-type thing. I think people are attached to that. It’s chill to listen to, you don’t even have to know what I’m saying to really understand it. The emotion you get is received through my flow and delivery. I also sometimes say words in English to get my US listeners to piece together some of the bars. When you listen to my music, you get in a good mood.
You’re already working with a lot of people that you used to look up to. Who are some artists or producers that you want to work with that you haven’t had the opportunity to yet?
I really want to work with Diego Money, Zaytoven, Gucci Mane, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, and Slimesito. Those are a few. There are just so many names. Like you said, I’ve been able to work with a lot of artists that I wanted to work with which I’m super grateful for. To be at the level I’m at today, it was unthinkable when I first started. Now that I’m here, I’m realizing that it’s only just the beginning.
What’s next for you and your crew?
Shows man! I really want to do shows. Once COVID is over that’s really what I’m reaching for. I want to go on tour, rock these shows, make a whole lot more music, and travel. The shit we’ve got going on is about to take over the world man. I don’t want to compare myself to anyone but people are really saying I’m the new Yung Lean, you know? Shoutout to him, he did so much shit for the culture. He had everybody wearing polo hats and drinking Arizona. I’m just trying to have people vibe to my shit, wear Rick Owens, and smoke that gas! Yung Lean and his people came up with their own swag and vision. While my vision is completely different, we bring similar shit to the table. I’m bringing it with Plugg music. I got my crew just like he does. All of my friends are incredibly talented and unique and they deserve everything that’s about to come. We just have to keep working hard.
Thank you for your time!
About the author:
Koko Bond-Razak is an eighteen-year-old creative based in Washington, DC. When he’s not working on schoolwork, he’s building his skills as a freelance writer and videographer.
Photos by @caloulenka, @bardetarthur, and @stankorep
