On Wednesday 2 September, in a Twitch live stream, Niro revealed that he had proposed a “feat” with Theodora, but that she had turned it down. “J’ai déjà essayé de collaborer avec Théodora parce que j’aime bien son état d’esprit, son délire. Enfin, j’aimais bien en tout cas. Mais elle n’était pas forcément intéressée d’après ce que mon gars m’a dit. Il m’a dit : ‘Ouais, elle a dit que vous n’êtes pas de la même génération etc’. Mais elle a quand même collaboré avec Gims, qui est de la même génération, donc je n’ai pas trop compris… Mais bon, je n’en veux à personne moi, tranquille. Je respecte l’artiste qu’elle est et ça me va.”
Unlike several of his peers, who have sometimes reacted badly when female artists refused collaborations, Niro appeared to take Theodora’s decision fairly well. “Plutôt bien”, though there was still a slight edge to his remarks when he said: “J’ai déjà essayé de collaborer avec Théodora parce que j’aime bien son état d’esprit, son délire. Enfin, j’aimais bien en tout cas”. That small comment suggests his enthusiasm for the artist may have cooled somewhat after her refusal, or after the alleged reason for it.
Whatever the case, he did not launch into a series of clashes, unlike internet users who, for their part, did not hesitate to attack the singer violently, saying that she should “redescendre”. Some comments went as far as racist abuse, including one quoted by Adelphitefrance: “C’est de votre faute. Vous avez donné de la force à Théodora, l’horrible industry plant créée de toutes pièces sans talent, n******* de maison de disques de Blancs. Résultat : elle se permet de refuser le feat. à Niro comme si c’était le dernier des clowns.”
This is shocking, but unfortunately not that surprising. Theodora is not the first person to face a backlash after refusing a collaboration. In the music industry, women are regularly the target of abusive remarks when they make choices that do not suit their male counterparts. The phenomenon is even more pronounced when they are racialised. In their case, they are accused of being “hautaines”, a label that helps cast them as supposedly arrogant or ungrateful as soon as they assert their choices. After all, accepting or refusing a feat is simply a choice, whether personal or artistic.
Booba and Gims: ego above all else
The artist who has taken the brunt of criticism in the French music industry is Aya Nakamura. But, thanks to her success, the singer nicknamed the Queen of France is much sought after when it comes to collaborations.
In January, Gims explained that he had offered “La Parisienne” to Aya, who turned it down. After that refusal, he gave it to La Mano 1.9, who appears on the track. Rather than celebrating the public’s warm response to the song, the former member of Sexion d’Assaut lashed out at Aya, arguing that the song is a hit, unlike the tracks on her new project. “Je lui ai proposé le titre La Parisienne, elle a pas eu la vision, la pauvre… Maintenant, c’est une masterclass, un classique digne de Paris, et elle n’a pas eu la vision, c’est dommage ! Est-ce qu’elle a un titre aussi gros dans son projet ? Je ne sais pas !”, he said, according to Generations.
Booba, meanwhile, does not leave Aya alone. Although he had initially sought to work with her, the rapper has become one of her main critics. Between Aya and the Duke, things are no longer going well.
It had all started well enough: Booba publicly admitted that he regretted not collaborating with the singer, given her international success. “J’avoue avoir été sceptique au début de sa carrière mais là, c’est confirmé, c’est la BOSS.”, he wrote on X. The two artists then appeared to be on good terms, until the day Booba shared a series of WhatsApp messages exchanged with Aya Nakamura, after she had suggested a restaurant “pour parler business”. Since those messages were made public, relations between the singer and the rapper have deteriorated sharply. On X as well as in the media, B2O has multiplied his attacks on the performer of “Djadja”, who has chosen not to respond. “Je ne la supporte pas. Je la trouve hautaine, surcotée, elle a des hits mais sur l’écriture, c’est niveau sixième. Et encore, un sixième qui redouble.”, he said in an interview with Le Parisien.
While nothing allows it to be said that Aya had refused Booba’s proposal during a “business” discussion, another story of a rejected feat has recently resurfaced. According to Adelphitefrance, the Duke is said to have proposed a feat to Rihanna in the past. Her team reportedly responded by naming a price, a condition the rapper clearly did not appreciate, apparently believing that an artist who has not released an album since 2016 was in no position to dictate terms to him. He is said to have replied: “[…] Je suis dans le turfu, elle est dans le trou noir.”