In just one year, 22-year-old Mohamed Sylla (better known as MHD) has gone from pizza delivery boy in some of Paris’ poorest suburbs, to one of the hottest music stars on the planet. Originator of “afro trap” — the half African, half Atlanta trap-inspired sound currently blaring from every corner of the city’s banlieues — Sylla’s rise has been almost as meteoric as the numbers on his homemade YouTube videos. He’s tallied up a staggering 452 million views and bagged a double platinum selling LP in the process. He was awarded “Best International Act” at the BET Awards in the US; seen his signature dance, Le Mouv, adopted by everyone from Drake to Didier Drogba; and was recently tapped up by M.I.A. to perform at the 24th annual Meltdown festival in London this June. With all that going on, there’s little wonder why people call him “The Prince”. Here’s everything you need to know about this rising star.
How did you get your nickname?
“Because I’m quite young, they couldn’t call me ‘the king’, so they called me ‘the prince of afro trap'”. I’m growing my beard now though.”
How would you describe your sound?
“The percussion, the beat comes from African music. The trap part is the vocals — sometimes bits of the instrumentation as well.”
When did you use first use the term afro trap?
“There were other people that had tried it first, but it wasn’t the same thing. Just one track on an album or something like that. I created the term.”
How did you first get into rapping?
“In August 2015, I was completely unknown, I was on holiday, going jetskiing with my friends. We put on Shekini by P-Square and at the end there’s this instrumental part. I rapped over it and my friend said, that’s great, do it again and he filmed me. I put it on Facebook and Instagram and, next thing, it had a million views. I went back to Paris and just went on from there.”
And what was the rise to success like?
“It happened so fast. We put out our first six tracks and then we did a track with [fellow French rapper] Booba. Then we put an album out. All that was done in six months.”
How do you feel about the growing popularity of afro trap?
“If you go onto YouTube and put in “afro trap” there are hundreds of artists. It’s a little bit competitive, but at the same time it’s healthy. If there’s no competition, there’s no change. You have to get better.”
How do you make yourself memorable?
“From the point of view of the songs and filming, I try to make myself as different as possible to anybody else. If there’s a “rap” category, I would be in “other”.”
What was it like performing in your native country, Guinea?
“It was like being a president. It was in a stadium to 65,000 people. That was the biggest.”
What four words would you use to describe afro trap?
“Ambience, gimmick, dance, joyful.”
What do you think is the future of afro trap?
“I want to export it everywhere. Not just France. There are so many people involved now. Everyone can spread the word.”
MHD plays MIA’s Meltdown on Sunday 11 June.
Credits
Text Matthew Whitehouse
Photography Finn Constantine