The timer has passed 24 hours. Since Friday noon and until this Saturday midday, the artist Rilès repeated the same gesture: hitting with his hand, covered in red paint, the blank CD covers which parade on the mechanical carpet in front of him. In 24 hours and 42 minutes, he signed more than 20,000 unique covers.
To mark the release of his third album, the rapper, already known for completing a 24-hour non-stop run in February 2025, completed this extraordinary new artistic feat: creating unique album covers himself for 24 hours.
Separated from the public by Plexiglas windows, the rapper created around 800 covers per hour of his album “The 25th Hour”, for a total of 20,000, which visitors can purchase on site.
“Each cover will be unique and numbered. It’s a personal connection between the artist, the object and the person who will buy it,” explains the 29-year-old artist in an interview with AFP.
A challenge inspired by “Tegata”
Broadcast live on YouTube, this performance is inspired by the “Tegata” of Japanese sumo wrestlers, the handprint they leave as a signature. It also serves as a “statement” in the face of an era “where we are gradually replacing man” in creative processes, according to the artist.
The rapper, originally from Rouen and born January 4, 1996, is used to challenges. He became known in 2016 with his series “Rilèsundayz”, a title broadcast every Sunday for a year. He explains that he seeks to “challenge” himself by pushing his limits, and to express himself “through other mediums than music” such as painting, or physical effort. “I have a bit of a phobia of comfort. If I don’t have a little fear and apprehension, it’s because there’s something wrong,” confides the man who says he is “attached” to mental and physical endurance.
After signing in 2018 with Republic Records, the American label of Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and Stromae, and releasing a first album certified gold, he did not renew the contract and chose against all odds to become independent again.
Rilès stands out for his lyrics in English, a way for the artist to “keep a shell while being vulnerable”, and to ensure that his parents do not understand the lyrics. Although he started out in rap, his universe gradually expanded. Today, Riles is inspired “as much by folk as by alternative rock, hip-hop or western music”.