Ben PLG & Orelsan Address Mental Health on “Mentir au psy”

Paradoxically, Ben PLG hardly has the typical credentials of a hardcore rapper. Northern France, once largely absent from the country’s mainstream rap scene, has certainly produced some formidable MCs over the years, from Gradur to ZKR and many others. But in a landscape where hard-hitting bars, testosterone-fuelled bravado and punchlines carved out of vanity often compete for attention, Ben PLG stands apart.

Born in Villeneuve-d’Ascq and raised in Tourcoing without his father, alongside a younger brother struggling with illness, Ben PLG later went on to work with people with disabilities. In other words, he hardly possesses the conventional street credibility associated with artists such as Soso Maness or Lacrim. If his life were ever turned into a biopic, it would probably make perfect material for Ken Loach — and bear little resemblance to “Top Boy”, let alone “Power”.

As one perceptive writer once put it: “Only those who step outside the frame can see the whole picture.” Beyond his career in social care and the mistakes of his younger years, Ben PLG is above all a child of the North — a region that has endured one crisis and trauma after another since the beginning of the last century. Historically defined by its working-class identity, it is also a part of France where the social landscape has darkened and where the shadow of the Rassemblement National has continued to grow.

So instead of rapping about himself, piles of cash hidden under his bed or some fabricated life as a drug dealer, Ben PLG tells the stories of the people around him — stories suspended somewhere between trauma and awakening. The artist, who described himself as the founder of “réalité rap musique” in Télérama, has above all helped popularise a form of “social rap”.

His career took an unexpected turn in 2022 when he appeared on Nouvelle École, the French version of Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow. He was eliminated in the very first round, but later summed up the setback perfectly in an interview with StreetPress: “I’m like the guy who missed the penalty in his first final, but who’s going to score a hat-trick in the next game.”

The artist went on to release Dire je t’aime and Paraît que les miracles n’existent pas in 2024 and 2025. Across those projects, he developed the themes closest to him, many of them rooted in what he sees as the social scars of his home region, the North. Now, with L’Histoire sans fin, featuring Orelsan, Camille Yembé and Mathilde, the rapper also explores his relationship with fatherhood.

Much like Orelsan, who has chronicled the evolution of his generation throughout his discography and into albums such as La fête est finie, Ben PLG evolves alongside the life he describes. He is not frozen in time like a sitcom character, condemned to remain essentially unchanged for twenty years.

Back in 2022, when StreetPress dedicated a documentary to him, Ben PLG spoke openly about his admiration for Lomepal and Orelsan. Now that he is living out some of those ambitions and is no longer the “KSOS” — French slang roughly meaning a social misfit or hopeless case — he once portrayed himself as, another danger emerges. As his own life moves further away from the hardships of the region he says runs “in his blood”, the rapper faces a very different challenge: becoming bourgeois.

Ben PLG and Orelsan address mental health on “Mentir au psy”

The track’s production comes courtesy of Neophron and Lucci Prod. Lucci Prod, in particular, has played an important role in shaping Ben PLG’s career. He has been there through many of the rapper’s defining moments, notably on Paraît que les miracles n’existent pas, including “On tombe, on essaie” and “Guerre des pissenlits”.

On this project, however, Ben PLG broadens his musical palette, venturing further into trap and more melodic territory. Neophron is part of that expansion on the production side. The Belgian producer has worked extensively with Ptite Sœur and FEMTOGO. Yet despite its broader musical approach, the track remains firmly rooted in rap.

Orelsan and Ben PLG tackle a subject that remains difficult to discuss openly in France and elsewhere: mental health. Relatively few established rap artists have addressed the issue head-on, with much of the most explicit discussion traditionally coming from independent artists. Diam’s, however, opened up about her own struggles in her final musical project, offering a particularly personal perspective on the subject.

Lyrically, the two rappers also look back at their childhoods, revisiting memories and personal contradictions, while the accompanying visual pushes that introspective dimension even further.

“I’m like the guy who missed the penalty in his first final, but who’s going to score a hat-trick in the next game.” — Ben PLG.

« La vieille aime pas les drogués, sauf qu’elle vit sous calmants
Pas d’protects’ quand je skate, j’me déchire sur la rampe
Tu vois l’entretien d’embauche, on dirait qu’j’fais un prank
Pas du genre à chercher loin, j’aime la fille des voisins
Mes potes me disent qu’elle est moche, donc j’lui dis qu’c’est la fin » — Orelsan.

As has become customary with Ben PLG, the visual was directed by Bien Vu Productions. Since the beginning of his career, Ben PLG has used symbolic storytelling throughout his music videos, building visual narratives around the subjects explored in his songs. This time, mental health sits at the heart of the concept.

He had already worked with Bien Vu Productions on “Dire je t’aime” and Paraît que les miracles n’existent pas. The production company has also collaborated with Dinos and Vacra on “Tise & Ken”, and recently directed Ninho’s latest visual, “Des Piges”.