"Kissing someone: not essential, opening a book: not essential, sincere smile: not essential, going to concerts: not essential" : in his new song Not essential, Grand Corps Malade describes the life that the French have known since the onset of the coronavirus then the establishment of curfews and other confinements. Strongly impacted by the government's decision not to reopen concert halls, cinemas and other places of culture, the singer decided to turn his frustration into music, as he explained on Saturday December 12, 2020 in an interview with at Parisian : "It had been running through my head for a while. Ever since I heard that concert halls, bookstores, theaters were considered 'non-essential' … It was violent, awkward."
Grand Corps Malade and Roselyne Bachelot: the clash about culture
Fabien Marsaud, whose real name is, had already slashed in November on this subject with Roselyne Bachelot, the Minister of Culture, on the set of the show We are live (France 2). "I am not speaking for the artists, I am speaking for those who are breaking the bank today, the technicians. Are there deadlines or not at all? Is there a time when January, February, March will reopen?", had thus asked the interpreter of But I love you, annoyed by the lack of prospects offered by Jean Castex and his ministers. "You can imagine that we are on the lookout for all the windows that will open, do you really think that we are doing this for our pleasure?", replied Roselyne Bachelot.
Despite everything, Grand Corps Malade remains hopeful. Despite the current situation, he does not consider himself "non-essential", as he explained to Parisian : "I think we are. Because there are so many people who ask us 'when are you going to go back on stage', so many who want to go back to the theater, to the movies". It's a safe bet that the party will be there when, finally, Fabien and the other artists will be able to offer shows again.
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