PortraitBehind the counter of a legendary New York record store, the Frenchman Romain Dalmasso, known as Lord Funk, introduced forgotten nuggets of French variety to big names in American hip-hop. Who recycled them in several of their tubes. A podcast pays tribute to this little-known smuggler.
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What connection can there be between old vinyl lying around in an Emmaüs de la Nièvre and some of the greatest hits of American rap? Only one. Unlikely. The eventful journey of Romain Dalmasso, alias Lord Funk, 52, producer, DJ and above all a music smuggler between the shores of the Atlantic. The man is as talkative as he is little publicized. The general public is discovering today the name and the life of this pioneer with an obscure but essential role in the history of urban music.
Italian-born programmed to run a pizzeria – “like my father, what”, he explains -, Romain Dalmasso, who grew up in the suburbs of Paris, ended up, for love of music and driven by a formidable business sense, behind the counter of A-1, one of the most legendary stores in New York records of the 1990s. There, the little guy from Rosny-sur-Seine (Yvelines) tactfully converted the cream of Anglo-Saxon hip-hop and electronic music producers to French vinyl of the 1970s.
“At the store, you could come across the guys from Cypress Hill, Beastie Boys, Massive Attack…”, he lists. So many names which, in the last years of the XXe century, make the “one” of the musical newspapers and are a hit in sales. Comedians Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon and Tim Robbins also come to shop in his East Village store. Lord Funk’s plus? Offer records that no one has heard of in the United States. And especially to chew the work of the producers by indicating the most interesting tracks to them to sample to recycle them in their own hits.
“His name is circulating in hip-hop circles in New York as that of a legendary guy… He has this monastic side of the guy who listens to thousands of records to find the five-second drum loop that kills”, testifies, fascinated, Sébastien Carayol, initiator of the podcast “Lord Funk, dealer of records” and curator of a previous exhibition – “Jamaica, Jamaica” – at the Philharmonie. Thanks to Romain Dalmasso, more or less identifiable excerpts of pieces made in France will thus be incorporated into dozens of urban music titles. Including those from major albums like The Blueprint, of Jay-Z, or A Musical Massacre, des Beatnuts.
A 45-laps from Line Renaud’s husband
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