Pas Essentiel is Grand Corps Malade’s cheeky love letter to all the tiny pleasures we missed during lockdown. Over a relaxed beat, the French slam poet narrates his first walk outside: feeling sunlight on rooftops, sitting on a bench, sharing silent smiles with strangers. Each scene is punctuated by the tongue-in-cheek refrain "pas essentiel", the same label the authorities gave these simple joys when the world shut down. The irony highlights how so-called non-essential moments actually splash color onto everyday life.
In the second half he turns the volume – and the sarcasm – up: clinking glasses with strangers, dancing at concerts, hugging anyone in reach, then jokingly telling us not to listen because the song itself is "not essential." By repeating the phrase until it unravels, he flips pandemic vocabulary on its head and shows that life is built on the supposedly superfluous. The takeaway is clear: protect the futile, celebrate the "super fous," and never underestimate a real smile, a good book, or live music – they may be "pas essentiel" but they keep the human heart beating.