coat. Bluemarble
tank top. Carne Bollente
sunglasses. DSquared2
jewellery. Talent’s Own
opposite
jacket. Arte
tank top. Carne Bollente
trousers + belt. Futurs
shoes. MM6 Maison Margiela
Music in France reflects the organisation of French territories. It’s divided: between France’s “Metropolitaine” and its overseas territories, mostly the remnants of France’s colonial past. Music, as such, is split between that which is written and produced in France in Europe, and that which comes from “outre mer” – from other seas – as these territories are referred to. Spanning the globe from Guadeloupe to the Reunion, artists embody a new generation of hybridisation. These artists mix rhythms, traditions, and languages – with Creole mixed with French – to create their own signature identity. One of these artists is Meryl, who is nothing short of a phenomenon in France – and, of course, in Martinique, her birthplace and artistic home.
“Music was always an evident, obligatory option for me, growing up,” she tells Schön! “I was kind of born into it. I grew up listening to what was on the radio, but it was Specta, my first mentor in music, really, who started to connect me to more specific music, like the world of rap and of dancehall in general. He was already well known as a singer in the underground scene in Martinique.” After releasing her own sounds, and spending time working as a topliner for various francophone stars, Meryl began earning her place, with a name and sound which was very much her own. Meryl made her big break in 2019 with Béni, closely followed by Ah lala, Wollan, Désolé et La Brume, which honed in on her staple hip hop, trap, and Dancehall fusion sound. Fast forward to 2024, two EPs later, now splitting her time between Paris and Martinique, she’s just released her debut full-length album and is well set on expanding her career further beyond any labels or boxes.
coat. Kenzo
shirt + t-shirt. Bluemarble
trousers. Futurs
shoes. Oakley
sunglasses. Vitaly
opposite
jacket. MM6 Maison Margiela
tank top. Carne Bollente
hood + necktie. Stylist’s Own
Her album, Caviar 1, was acclaimed early in the summer. Months of concerts and festivals ensued. Her recipe for success is simple: “ As soon as I find a studio, I’m in it.” Her ambitions, too, as an independent artist, are clear: “It’s the continuation of what I set out to do. To make albums, music – Caviar 1 follows a chronology, I started this sequence with Jour Avant Caviar (Day Before Caviar), with other EPs and Mixtapes in between,” she explains. She became an independent artist after splitting from her previous label, after which she started her own label, and began working with a major for distribution. Having her team is something she recommends “for any artist. Even if it brings with it huge responsibilities. It means building a team over the years, which is what I’ve done. Then, honestly, it rocks. We follow our path: it’s just me and my team.”
Caviar 1 was another chapter in a series of successes for Meryl. Working with power-house producer Mike BGRZ, who has signed tracks for the likes of Aya Nakamura, Mahmood and Damso, the album is a fervently artistic project, that brings together her West Indies heritage, various genres, and Creole of Martinique and French contending for the first place in her fierce flow. Growing emotions, being an outsider, sex, are all themes on the album, explored with her intrinsically personal style. The album also garnered her a series of nominations, notably at the Victoires de la Musique – France’s Grammys, of sorts – and a rapidly expanding public, which culminated at a ram-packed Zenith gig in Paris, with a full brass band and iconic artists from the West Indies on stage.
For Meryl, Caviar 1 was all about making step forward, towards “something assertive, to go and fetch those nominations. It’s a step by step business. After 2 years away from the industry, I’m already at 500,000 listeners a month. And that, when you consider that there are some obvious aspects to my career that are serious limitations – being a woman in rap, for one, you can already take off 500K, 600K listeners a month from what you deserve. [laughs] It’s not always true, but most of the time that’s the case. There’s a lot to do still. I think I have a career that’s unique in its own style. Not to mention where I come from… but that’s a whole other chapter.”
coat. Bluemarble
opposite
tank top. Carne Bollente
trousers + belt. Futurs
jewellery. Talent’s Own
Her public is fervent – her lives are real dancehall happenings, with crowds who go wild for her intense onstage presence. When it comes to audiences, women, she tells us, are the best audience. “They have fewer complexes, in general. There’s no bad man attitude, no fear of listening to new things, not this emotional weight that men have in society as a basis. You have so many restrictions around men. Women are free of all of this. If it’s virile, there are no limits. With women, you can talk about love, be fierce, be motivational… guys will be ashamed of listening to new things. Shame doesn’t really exist for women.”
When it comes to fashion, she’s set on the fact that it should serve as a means to an end: “I don’t brag, I’m not a victim of style – I always say to my team, we’re from the Antilles, we have our own codes, our style – we’re super different. I don’t want to stray too far from my roots, because they’re my original audience. I’m happy to play with codes, and styles that my community knows. You can’t play in this elitist world, without eradicating your roots. I like venturing into the world of fashion, but staying true to myself, always. I’m West Indian, I roll up with my big gold jewellery, my own codes. There are codes in my community, which don’t exist in Gaul customs.” [laughs]
We laugh at the term that she coins, which conjures up visions of thatched huts and horned helmets. Cultural roots that couldn’t be further removed from the Caribbean island she grew up on. “Don’t get me wrong, ‘Gaul’ is not necessarily pejorative – it’s just Gaul! We’re French in the West Indies, but France… it’s so far. We’re so different, culturally – we’re super different.”
“I’m confident in what I’m doing, for my career,” she explains, as we discuss the split between the French industry and the overseas musicians. “I’m not scared of that. But I speak of the industry because it’s firstly really important to say that we’re super different and that we have to have our own museums, our own publishing houses. Even though we are technically France, we need, I feel, a reform which respects each entity. We’re a DOM TOM, but culturally we need to have our own country, our own identity. It needs to be differentiated. Administratively, we can be aligned, we’re a small territory, and if a world war explodes tomorrow, we’d be screwed. Culturally, we deserve a respect that Gaul hasn’t always had for us. It’s too dangerous to ignore our differences.”
Beyond Martinique and Gaul, we wonder what comes next: “More music, get more music out. I’ll be finishing my tour in December, after a year and a half of concerts. There’ll be more music videos. There’s more coming. It’s quite a lot!” she exclaims, before closing with a giggle: “We’ve done our cardio though, we’re solid.”
jacket. MM6 Maison Margiela
tank top. Carne Bollente
trousers. Futurs
hood + necktie. Stylist’s Own
opposite
coat. Bluemarble
tank top. Carne Bollente
skirt. Kenzo
sunglasses. DSquared2
jewellery. Talent’s Own
Caviar 1 is out now.
photography. Kraaps
creative direction. Alix Taccardo
interview, fashion + production. Patrick Clark
talent. Meryl
hair. Djamila Candio
special thanks. Nicolas Vandyck, San Sebastian + Thomas Léveillé + Team @ Studio Macé
photography assistant. Pierre Brusco
studio. Studio Macé
