Cyborg (Nekfeu album)

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Cyborg
Studio album by
Nekfeu
ReleasedDecember 2, 2016 (2016-12-02)
GenreFrench hip hop
Length60:30
LanguageFrench
Label
Producer
  • Diabi
  • En'Zoo
  • Hologram Lo'
  • Hugz Hefner
  • KLM
  • Loubensky
  • Nepal
  • VM the Don
Nekfeu chronology
Destins liés
(2016) 		Cyborg
(2016) 		Les étoiles vagabondes
(2019)

Cyborg is the second studio album by French hip hop artist Nekfeu. Released on December 2, 2016 by Seine Zoo,[1][2] the album entered the French Albums Chart at number 3, peaking at number 1.[3]

Cyborg was released without any prior promotion or singles, with Les Inrocks branding it a "surprise album".[4] On its first day of release on Spotify, the album broke the French record for most album streams within 24 hours;[5] within its first two weeks of release (on all platforms), the album was certified platinum in France with over 100,000 sales.[6]

Background[edit]

"Squa"
After the album's announcement at the AccorHotels Arena in Bercy, Nekfeu performed "Squa", the third song from the album, live in concert.[4]
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After releasing his debut studio album Feu in June 2015, Nekfeu embarked on the Feu Tour towards the end of the year to further promote his album. In June 2016, one of his groups, S-Crew, released a studio album entitled Destins liés.[7]

On December 1, 2016, during the final concert of the Feu Tour at the AccorHotels Arena in Bercy, Nekfeu announced the release of Cyborg as a "surprise album", having had no promotion or singles released prior to release.[8][9]

Reception[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

Cyborg was received with widespread acclaim from music critics. Music Feelings called the album "quite genuine," adding that it is "tied together, coherent and above all quite well produced."[10] Hip-Hop Infos France gave the album a score of 15 out of 20, commenting that Cyborg "brings a breath of fresh air to French rap, which has been going round in circles for too many months."[11]

"Vinyle"
"Vinyle", the eighth track from the album featuring Nekfeu's fellow 1995 member Alpha Wann, was described by Raplume as the "craziest sound of the album, in terms of flow."[12]
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Raplume gave the album a rave review, stating: "After the huge success and the quality of Feu, Nek's first album, he had to set the bar very high for himself and that is clearly what he did with Cyborg."[12] A reviewer from Culturovore, known simply as "Vincent", also liked the album, saying: "Since [the release of Feu] it has to be said, Nekfeu wasn't for me an honest rapper whose full potential I had yet to determine […] I decided to let myself try [listening to Cyborg] and 60 minutes later, my image of Ken Samaras' work changed a lot." They also commented that "the instrumentals fall in quality on the last three songs but voilà, we definitely have the French rap album of the year."[13]

Rémi Tschanz of Aficia commented that Nekfeu "balances his technique, his multi-syllabic creativity, his figures of speech. We are far from the atmosphere of his first album."[14] VraiRapFrançais heaped further praise on the album, saying: "Technically, it is still as impressive [as Feu], even more so because the context of the lyrics make the alliterations even more beautiful. Lyrically, Nekfeu proves that he is one of the best lyricists at the moment and that is set to last."[15] L'info tout court remarked that the album "stands out for its lack of melodies (except for the Clara Luciani feature on the melancholy "Avant tu riais"), and its cold and metallic atmosphere."[16]

Commercial performance[edit]

In its first week, Cyborg was only made available online, selling 18,000 copies via digital download as well as a further 24,000 copies via streaming, coming to a total of 42,000 copies sold in the first week.[17][18]

Two weeks after release, Cyborg was certified platinum with 106,000 copies sold, including 38,000 physical sales, 22,000 digital sales and 44,000 streams.[6] The album remained top of the iTunes Top Albums chart in France for three consecutive weeks after release.[19]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Humanoïde"
  • Diabi
  • KLM
  • Loubensky
6:26
2."Mauvaise graine"Hugz Hefner4:00
3."Squa"Hugz Hefner4:02
4."Réalité augmentée"
  • Hugz Hefner
  • Diabi
4:10
5."Avant tu riais" (featuring Clara Luciani)Loubensky5:06
6."Esquimaux" (featuring Nepal)Diabi3:24
7."O.D" (featuring Murkage Dave)
  • Hologram Lo'
  • Diabi
  • Loubensky
4:02
8."Vinyle" (featuring Alpha Wann)Hologram Lo'4:52
9."Saturne" (featuring Sneazzy and S.Pri Noir)Hugz Hefner6:03
10."Galatée"Loubensky3:54
11."Le regard des gens" (featuring Némir, 2zer, Mekra and Doum's)En'Zoo3:30
12."Programmé"Hugz Hefner3:39
13."Besoin de sens" (featuring Framal and Jazzy Bazz)Hugz Hefner3:50
14."Nekketsu" (featuring Crystal Kay)
  • Hologram Lo'
  • VM the Don
  • Loubensky
3:32
Total length:60:30

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[30] Diamond 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history[edit]

Country Date Format Label
France December 2, 2016
December 9, 2016 CD[32]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Nekfeu - Cyborg". Allmusic.com. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Cyborg - Nekfeu - iTunes" (in French). iTunes. December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  3. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes - SNEP (Week 50, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Comment Nekfeu a sorti un album surprise en plein concert à Bercy". Les Inrocks (in French). December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  5. ^ "Nekfeu au top avec Cyborg, il explose un record avec son album surprise". Melty.fr (in French). December 7, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Nekfeu : Disque de platine en 2 semaines avec Cyborg !". 13OR du Hip Hop (in French). December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  7. ^ Chassagnon, Marine (June 17, 2016). "Nekfeu et les membres du S-Crew nous racontent leurs "Destins liés"". Le Huffington Post (in French). Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  8. ^ Jenvrin, Sébastien (December 6, 2016). ""Cyborg", l'album surprise de Nekfeu annoncé en plein concert" (in French). Orange Musique. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  9. ^ "Nekfeu à l'AccorHotels Arena pour le Feu Tour, un concert qui restera dans les esprits". Melty.fr (in French). December 5, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  10. ^ "[Mini-Chronique] Nekfeu - Cyborg". Music Feelings (in French). December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  11. ^ "[REVIEW] Cyborg, Nekfeu dans la peau d'un androïde au rap chirurgical". Hip-Hop Infos France (in French). December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Cyborg, le nouvel album de Nekfeu". Raplume (in French). December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  13. ^ "REVIEW – Cyborg de Nekfeu". Culturovore (in French). December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  14. ^ Tschanz, Rémi (December 4, 2016). "" Cyborg " de Nekfeu : l'album rap français de l'année ?". Aficia (in French). Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  15. ^ "Chronique : Nekfeu - Cyborg". VraiRapFrançais (in French). December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  16. ^ "[Critique] Nekfeu : Cyborg en pleine mutation". L'info tout court (in French). December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  17. ^ "Nekfeu : les ventes de son album Cyborg !". 13OR du Hip Hop (in French). December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  18. ^ "Nekfeu : les chiffres de ventes de son album Cyborg !". Booska-p (in French). December 12, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  19. ^ "Le Cyborg de Nekfeu en tête des ventes de Noël sur iTunes France". LaDepeche.fr (in French). December 26, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – Nekfeu – Cyborg" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  21. ^ "Lescharts.com – Nekfeu – Cyborg". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  22. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Nekfeu – Cyborg". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  23. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2016". Ultratop. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  24. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2016" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  25. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2017". Ultratop. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  26. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2017" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  27. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2019". Ultratop. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  28. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2020". Ultratop. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  29. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2021". Ultratop. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  30. ^ "French album certifications – Nekfeu – Cyborg" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  31. ^ "Cyborg - Nekfeu". Spotify. December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  32. ^ "Cyborg". Amazon.fr. December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
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