Since the Mongols have become experts / Surrounded by Mongols, the Mongol Empire / We make the Mongols to please the Mongols “. Orelsan, crowned with the success of his latest album, is the target of a petition calling for the term to be banned. In “The Odor of the Essence”, the Norman rapper repeatedly used this expression considered racist and degrading. According to the association Routes Nomades, echoed by Le Parisien on Thursday 23 December, “the use of the term ‘Mongolian’ in this way is not only insulting, but also undermines Mongolian identity and trivializes the disrespect for human dignity ”.
The petition, posted on the Change.org platform, has been signed nearly 13,000 times. In his song, Orelsan does not use this term to insult a whole people. However, this term “Mongolian” is associated in everyday language with an insult to people with Down’s syndrome and, more broadly, to people who are considered stupid. “If the meaning of the song here refers to an idiotic person, and does not refer to people of Mongolian nationality or origin (from Mongolia), its use remains racist and discriminatory,” insists the association. Objective of Nomadic Routes: to abolish the offensive connotation of this famous term.
“I am not evil incarnate”
To support its denunciation, the petition intends to mobilize the signatories of the text to boycott Orelsan. It is notably a question of publicly condemning the text of “L’Odeur de l’essence” but also of putting pressure on the media so that they no longer broadcast the artist on their antennas. This controversy comes on top of other casseroles the main party has been subjected to. The Alençon native sparked heated controversy in 2009 after the release of his radical track “Sale Pute” and “Saint-Valentin”, two titles in which he utters violent words against an ex. “It was taken out of context and reduced to misogyny, yet I’m not a misogynist. I am not evil incarnate “, he had reacted at the time to L’Express, believing that he could not be” always politically correct “.
