TH Brings OldPee Into the Ice-Cold World of “Audi RS”

Since the very beginning, TH has cultivated a singular aura. At the heart of his musical identity lies E-TRAP, an aesthetic he began developing early in his career. The rapper takes the trap sound popularised in Atlanta by artists such as Gucci Mane and strips it down to the bone. What emerges is a colder, more mechanical and futuristic form of music, punctuated by glitches, synthetic textures and silences that carry almost as much weight as the notes themselves. This distinctive approach first earned him a place on Booska-P’s list of Bondy’s most promising artists, before Les Inrockuptibles published a glowing profile of him: “TH’s music is a particle accelerator, a turbine generating concentrated bursts of punchlines and imagery.”

Born in Fort-de-France and raised in Bondy, TH pushes minimalism to its furthest limits. Beneath the apparent coldness, however, lies a meticulous exploration of textures, ruptures and atmosphere. His music does not attempt to fill the available space: it shapes it, hollows it out and turns every sound into a source of tension.

On 23 February 2023, long before the release of E-TRAP, his first major project, TH unveiled “Audi RS”. The track already contained the foundations of the universe he would later develop. Over an ice-cold production composed by Jay-Jay, a handful of scattered notes accompany a succession of words, objects and images evoking the different stages of the drug trade. Rather than following a conventional narrative, “Audi RS” operates like an underground assembly line: stark, repetitive and dangerously hypnotic. In retrospect, the track feels like one of the earliest prototypes of E-TRAP.

Three years later, TH breathed new life into the track by inviting OldPee to appear on the remix. The choice of the Sevran rapper and longstanding 13 Block member was anything but random. His weighty delivery, deep roots in street rap and ability to navigate stripped-back productions make him a natural extension of TH’s universe. In their own way, 13 Block, TH and a handful of other figures on the French scene are keeping alive the raw creativity once inseparable from American gangsta rap: the ability to forge a language, an aesthetic and sometimes an entire genre from the streets.

TH brings OldPee into the ice-cold machinery of “Audi RS”

The track’s instrumental is once again the work of Jay-Jay. Having already worked with Freeze Corleone and Alpha Wann, the producer occupies an important place within TH’s musical orbit. His credits include “Isuzu”, a collaboration between TH and Alpha Wann, as well as “Chemin long” for Stavo, OldPee’s fellow member of 13 Block.

Equally comfortable working with drill and E-TRAP, Jay-Jay reduces the production to its most elemental form. The beat moves in pulses, allowing the voices to occupy almost the entire soundscape. Amid this torrent of lists and fragmented images, certain punchlines erupt without warning, as though breaking free from an inventory being recited at full speed. Trap is reduced to its essence: rhythm, tension and voice. This stark arrangement gives TH the ideal space to deliver a few flashes of brilliance:

“The pros and cons? I ain’t got time to weigh them up
What matters isn’t love, it’s making money
There’s enough in the magazine to fire at random”

Directed by Styco, the video extends this aesthetic without attempting to polish or romanticise it. Dark, direct and minimalist, it draws on the visual language of street videos to accompany this nocturnal chronicle of the underground economy. There is no spectacular staging here: the setting, the silhouettes and the darkness are enough to create a sense of menace. Street rap finds its visual equivalent—raw, immediate and uncompromising. Styco was already familiar with OldPee’s world, having previously directed the video for “A1 A3 Part. 3”.