PARIS — French rap artist Orelsan said Wednesday a «misunderstanding» likely caused his feud with soccer star Kylian Mbappé.
Orelsan, one of the most popular and bestselling current French rap artists, drew the ire of the Real Madrid forward with a line from a song on his latest record, «La fuite en avant.» The track — «La petite voix» — features Orelsan rapping in the manner of an inner voice that criticizes and insults the artist, his family and his fans.
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At one point, the voice also targets the Mbappé family — «You’ll sink your city like the Mbappés» — in a reference to the 2024 takeover of Caen’s soccer club by the striker’s company Interconnected Ventures.
Orelsan grew up in the Normandy city and is a longtime fan of the team, which was relegated to the third tier of French soccer last season.
Mbappé took the lyric personally, accusing Orelsan of being two-faced.
«You’re welcome to come ‘save’ the city you love so much,» the France captain wrote last week in a message on social media, adding in a postscript: «The guy kept begging us to join with 1% without paying a cent — because he’s broke — just to look like the nice guy from Normandy.»
Orlesan has since avoided escalating the spat, suggesting Wednesday a misunderstanding sparked the feud during an interview with Fun Radio.
«I don’t really feel like responding,» Orelsan said. «I’m still in the heat of the moment, and I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s a misunderstanding. I think I just need to properly explain the concept of the album.»
Elaborating on the song’s theme, Orelsan said: «These negative things form a kind of inner voice — an inner critic — that starts to eat away at me and only see the bad. It’s a big theme of the album.»
Asked about the controversy at France’s training camp, Mbappé declined to comment on Wednesday.
«Nothing to say, I’m not interested,» Mbappé said.
