It is somehow very French to make environmental activism a party, and that is precisely what Baicikeul Benoit does in his song ” A VELO”. This inventor of Velectro music has created something that is politically aware and yet irresistibly fun-a rare quality which shows his maturity as an artist and his sincere interest in making a difference.
The song is filled with a vibrant energy since the first beats, electro-pop and hip-hop are combined into something familiar and yet so fresh. The sound of the street poetry can be heard in the vocal performance of Benoit, who performs over the minimalist, syncopated beats that have been created on Ableton. His history, tapping rhythms on kitchen pots as a teenager to creating engaged sounds using pads, is evident in all the well-placed sounds.
The most interesting point about the song is that it collaborates with a Burmese singer, Ah Moon, whose life story as a refugee has deepened the meaning of what might have been a mere environmental propaganda. Their collaboration has developed an international outlook that can turn cycling into an act of resistance and freedom and hope. The juxtaposition between Benoit spending 15 years cycling 100 kilometers a week and Ah Moon recollecting the bicycles of Burma makes the track emotional and lifts the whole song.
The staging is smooth and retains the raw power of the Malakoff festive atmosphere that influenced Benoit in shaping his idea of art. His knack to mix humor with serious subject matter, addressing climate inaction and making it all danceable is a stroke of artistic refinement. The success of the Project is that it does not make the idea of environmental awareness feel as guilt or burden. Rather, it turns ecological consciousness into a party, and shows that activism can be more than austere to propagate the message.
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