Over the last few years, Tizzo has proven himself one of Montreal's busiest MCs—a consummate collaborator with one foot firmly on the street and the other ready to take the next step towards stardom. It is this duality that the Ahuntsic rapper, born Teddy Laguerre, explores on his first proper solo album, Pour le Plug. It features his close studio partners PC, AlexDaGr8, and Shreez, but lesser-known names also show up on the tracklist. “I wanted to do something different, and I felt like empowering and recognizing the young artists who are always sending me beats,” Tizzo tells Apple Music. The title is a tribute to his late brother, and refers to a phrase Tizzo often repeats. “During my shows, when we yell, ‘pour le plug!’ [‘for the plug’], everyone answers with ‘on va débloquer!’ [‘we’ll unplug’], which is a way of saying that we’ll get out of this.” It also emphasizes that, while the artist continues to draw inspiration from his turbulent youth, he is nonetheless turned resolutely towards the future. “The lyrics talk about me and my old life, but mainly about how I managed to free myself from it,” he explains. “It’s important for me to show people that even if you’ve had a shit life, you can still get out of it using your talent.” Here he dives deeper into the topic as he talks through each of the album’s tracks.
"#PLP (Intro)"
“I had to start with this one because I conjure up memories of my brother, with allusions to the days when we were at school. He’s always with me. I recorded [2018’s] ‘On Fouette’ on the day of his funeral, and that’s when it all started for me. He believed in me, and today, I have to keep going for him. The instrumental is by Birdzonthetrack, one of the many young beatmakers I wanted to include on the album.”
"Robinet"
“When I say during my gigs that there aren’t any policemen, only firemen, it pretty much sums up the vibe at our concerts. There’s a reason our label is called Canicule [‘heat wave’]: We always have hot punchlines! This kind of tune, it’s just drip with a cool beat. We have fun naming brands and everything. It’s the sort of track people like, but you shouldn’t take advantage or play the millionaire. At the end of the day, it’s still important to us to have swag. My dream is to make a video with a fire truck.”
"Shewing Gum"
“I knew I had a good thing going with this track and I could have released it any day, with or without an album. It’s a response to those who criticize me. There are people who made fun of me because I did a song with [pop singer] Laurence Nerbonne [‘Uber’], and in the clip, you can see me in a bathtub, and then there are those who just think I’m not as good as I used to be. But that’s cool—the minute you do something good, there’ll always be people out there to criticize you.”
"Hennyyyyy" (feat. Shreez & JuicemanSF)
“Shreez and I were in the studio, and we were listening to loads of instrumentals, and we came across this beat and we loved it. We didn’t really know what to do with it, so we both turned to PC and asked him what we should talk about. Because he was holding a bottle of Hennessy, I simply started to spell out ‘H-E-double-N-Y’ and everything just flowed from there in a few hours. Shreez wasn’t convinced at first, but I persuaded him to just follow the vibe!”
"Pinel" (feat. Rach)
“I often say, ‘It’s crazy!’ and while listening to this really solid beat by Raphlex, one of the young newcomers on the album, I came up with the line ‘je suis vraiment fou, j’pense que mon vrai chez-nous c’est Pinel’ ['I’m really crazy, I think my real home is Pinel'], which quickly became the title of the track. Rach, who raps with me, is also a young newcomer I’ve known for a few years; it’s a track that’s perfectly suited to him. It illustrates the central theme of before and after, with phrases where I talk of going from the hood to Radio-Canada.”
"Viral" (feat. White Migz)
“In this song, I say that as soon as I push something, it goes viral. The instrumental is by Plutonic, another one of the young guys who send me beats. I remember when I wrote to all the beatmakers to tell them they were on the album, some of them couldn’t believe it! White Migz was in the studio and super motivated, and I suggested he get on board for this one. We did it all live in just a few minutes.”
"GDR" (feat. Connaisseur Ticaso)
“I talk about profiling and the prejudice we can have towards people simply because of their appearance, especially if they look like gang members. The beat’s quite slow and very current. As soon as I heard it, I knew I wanted Connaisseur Ticaso to come and rap on it.”
"Cajun" (feat. Shreez)
“My right-hand man Shreez had to be there. We’ve come back to the idea behind Canicule. I keep saying that it’s hot, that it’s burning and spicy, therefore it’s Cajun! It’s Birdzonthetrack, who also did the intro, who created the beat. You can see he really did his homework: He listened to everything I’ve ever done so he could create my style of sound.”
"Cheminement particulier" (feat. MikeZup)
“It evokes my school background, but it goes beyond school: What I’m saying basically is that in life, we all have our own ‘individualized education plan.’ I was in the studio joking around with MikeZup and I said to him, ‘You’ve gotta come on board for this track.’ As soon as he heard where I was going with it, he said to me, ‘Right away.’ The beat is by RKT. We’ve never met. I don’t even know what he looks like, but I think he’s real young, like maybe 16.”
"Intercom" (feat. J.BO)
“A beat that AlexDaGr8 sent me ages ago. I didn’t really know what to do with it, but it all started to come together when I invited J.BO, another young newcomer, to rap with me. It’s a reference to the fact that I always have my phone on loudspeaker. That’s why I say I’ve got nothing to hide!”
"Outro" (feat. YB)
“I think this was the first time I used that kind of intonation, which is very deep. I invited YB, one of the guys I met through Instagram, to stop by the studio, and we started writing together. He was a bit nervous at first, but I understand how he might have been feeling: I was the same when I recorded with Souldia.”