For those that have dived into the Canadian music world, you will be well acquainted with Lou Phelps. He needs no real introduction. A pioneer in the dance rap wave, what many call ‘bounce’ music, Lou has been building his foundations and developing a sound that is growing in popularity across the world. With him continually developing and honing in on his craft, this journey started for Lou with brother Kaytranada, in experimental rap duo The Celestics.

Fast forward to the backend of 2023, Lou Phelps has performed his brand-new single “Jungle” at the opening of the PSG store in Toronto and has a heap of music ready to release. At this point we are waiting for more and more is on the way, and that comes in the form of his new album Chèlbè, projected for release in February 2024.

I’ll set the scene. It’s a Wednesday evening in the UK, for me, and Lou has logged in from Montreal to talk music with me. The door goes. Not mine, it was Lou’s. It’s his sister with his Boston Terrier. Take two. That was a lie, that happened at the end of the interview, but it sounded better in this section and I didn’t want to let the anecdote drop.

Take a read as we unpick the life of Lou Phelps, his new album, distinctive sound and why his telepathy with Kaytranada that has helped formed an infectious ripple across the globe.

Listen to “Jungle”…

Read the full interview…

How’ve you been?
I’ve been good, man, I’ve been in a good place. I’ve been struggling a lot, feeling like depressed and I’m just coming out of my slump. But I’m always grateful for life.

Talk to me, what’ve you been doing?
Besides music, I’ve been going to the gym a lot and taking care of my body. We’re getting older and older every day – I can’t not do anything and not exercise my body if I want to stay here longer. So, yeah, working out has kind of become a passion of mine. The rapping stuff is definitely getting better, too. Every time I hit the studio, I’m in a good place. I came out on tour this summer, with Kay (Kaytranada) the whole summer, doing after parties for The Weeknd. And then we did the Kaytranada mini tour. It was it was a very high paced summer and I didn’t see the time fly.

Congratulations on “Jungle,” it’s a great record…
Thank you, I appreciate it. It’s my favourite record that I’ve done. I’ve worked on it for so long. It’s been sitting in the vault for like a whole year now. Jungle was probably one of the first ones I did in the studio with Kay. There’s something about me and Kay in the studio, like when we’re in the studio doing something, it’s magical.

You’ve read my mind, because this next question was to discuss the chemistry between you and your brother Kaytranada, it’s evident, is it a telepathic understanding between you two on what works?
Low key, it’s kind of like that. The way it happened, he played the beat and then I looked at him and I’m like this reminds me of some Busta Rhymes type stuff. You know what I mean? That 90s’ or early 2000s’ – likr those bouncy Timbaland joints. So, I’m like, “oh, man, let me try do a little verse”. And then the way I started the verse, Kay was like “alright, you got to go off”. So I did the whole verse and then sat on the song for a bit – maybe like a couple months? Then my cousin from Miami came to Montreal and he has this dream of becoming a rapper, too. I’m trying to help him achieve that goal. And it was his first time trying shrooms. We had shrooms together. We fucking played the tune, and he got up and said I got to try something. Now that middle part in “Jungle” is him. This is his first track out, basically.

Talk to me about the upcoming project ‘Chèlbè’, what can we expect to hear? Have you tried anything new that will surprise fans?
I think the biggest surprise was when I came out with the COLORS version of ‘Tu T’en Souviens’. I really wanted to keep that one to myself. Then I showed the album to my homie, Lonnie, in New York, and he was just like “Nah, I feel like COLORS would love this song” I’m like, “Look, if you could get COLORS, and they want to do this song, fuck it, let’s do it. But I would rather keep it for myself until the album drops and then somehow, someway, COLORS hit me up”. But yeah, the album is basically built off Kay telling me you should do a whole dance album. That’s my pocket. That’s where I shine, I feel.

If you can talk to me about the meaning of the album, and how the album name translates from your mother tongue?
Chèlbè means stylish or a word to describe someone that is well put together or like something that is well put together. Growing up, it was what my Mom used to say to me when I would ask for nice things “Oh why can’t I have the Air Force ones?” and she would reply “Why don’t you want the cheaper version, you’re just trying to be some Chèlbè.” When it came about that I started getting my own money, I just started dressing better and it became a passion. I’m really into the fashion. Me and Kay started getting more money, we started dressing better, together, we got a stylist and all that. It’s kind of like a childhood dream. And it’s kind of like a metaphor to me being like, appreciative of myself, you know, like, yeah, you could call me Chèlbè.

It’s interesting that Chèlbè is a word that became your identity from an early age…
Straight up, it’s what it’s like being of Haitian culture. I feel like every black culture has and I mean, to be honest, every culture has that chèlbè element. People want to look nice, and to show that they’re good. It’s the mentality that I grew up with.

I understand that you performed in Toronto for the opening of the Paris Saint-Germain store, how did the audience receive the new music?
They liked the music, and they came up to me after the set and just started asking me questions like “what’s your Spotify?” This is new to me. It’s always good to make new friends and be an emerging artist. I don’t expect everyone to know my music either. It’s always good to have the interest of somebody, and somebody being interested in your art. It was a good show. It felt nice.

You were saying it was a bit like an art exhibition…
Yeah, it kind of felt like an art exhibition because people were coming in and out and people were going to shop for jerseys, and at the same time listening to my music. It was cool, I liked it.

Was this the first time that you’ve performed “Jungle” live?
I mean, on tour I kind of did a freestyle with elements of “Jungle” but I don’t think it counts. I feel like that was the first time I performed “Jungle.” Actually, that’s pretty cool. I didn’t think about that.

Without prior knowledge of the collaboration, hearing the song, it’s so distinctively you and Kaytranada. What do you think it is about your sound collectively that makes it so recognisable?
I feel like it’s because we use a lot of references from the 90s’ rap era, but I’m trying to make it a bit fresher. I’m very inspired by the Wu Tang era, and the whole like 50 cent run. 50 cent is the reason why I started rapping. See, you know, no one’s really doing like, dance rap, and I think there was only one in Goldlink and he got put to the side. I feel there’s a void to be filled and I think I have the tools to fill that void. As I said, this is where my pocket is, and I’ve always done dancy songs. You see this with my work with The Celestics, it’s always dancing music that made my shit pop, you know?

Do you think that the dance side is inside is an influence of being from Canada?
Montreal doesn’t really have that scene, I think Kay was the only one that popped off in Montreal to the point where people see that we have a sound, but I don’t think we have we found our sound yet. I grew up on actually Kay playing a lot of lDavid Guetta and Black Eyed Peas. I used to hate it at the time. Honestly, I used to hate it. I revisit older rappers. Do you know Mr. Cheeks?

No I don’t…
He’s a New York rapper that has the same type of energy as me. I never really base myself off of any Canadian music. Mr. Cheeks is one of those rappers that I feel l does the same thing that I did, but in 2000.

From a production point of view, what is the element that makes you want to write?
The bounce, the bomb moment, where your neck is breaking because of the bass, and then the bass is catching up to the to the drum. I hate generic robotic music, the pop stuff. I really don’t feel inspired by it. But once you have that bounce, and like a nasty baseline, or like a nasty drum loop. Okay.

Does Chèlbè maintain the bouncy feel or is there a narrative that takes a deeper direction within?
It keeps the bouncy feel. I feel like that’s the whole thing with the word Chèlbè. You know if you’ve ever seen people just bouncing listening to music, with that kind of attitude that gives you like a swagger? This is what Chèlbè is.

When does the upcoming project come out?
We’re thinking February or March, and then I think I’m going to be working on some other shit, too, My plan for 2024 is to drop two projects because I feel like I’m taking too much time to drop anything.