It was revealed on Tuesday that Céline Dion’s eldest child, René-Charles Angélil, has taken on a new persona and (sort of) followed in his mother’s footsteps.
Angélil, 17, is now a rapper known as Big Tip, and he’s posted numerous songs to a SoundCloud account. Some of his songs are covers of Toronto artist The Weeknd, including Catwalks (instead of The Weeknd’s Sidewalks) and Loft Music Remix.
The songs hit the top of the Canadian SoundCloud R&B charts on Thursday, with Catwalks hitting No. 1 and his version of Loft Music at No. 2. They stayed in those positions on Friday.
He’s also released three of his own original tunes: The Kid, The Apple and Never Stop. His two The Weeknd samples feature album covers with the Montreal skyline in wintertime, while Never Stop showcases an aerial view of Las Vegas, where his mother continues her multi-year residency at Caesars Palace.
Each song includes original lyrics retelling Angélil’s personal experience as the son of famous parents.
READ MORE: Deadpool, Celine Dion partner up for music video for song ‘Ashes’
“Move to the desert, sweeter than some dessert, fake homies that deserted me, I do not deserve,” he rhymes on Never Stop, which was posted late Monday.
On Catwalks, which samples The Weeknd’s Sidewalks, Angelil opens by rapping that he “ran out of tears when I was 16.”
Angélil didn’t tell his world-famous mother about his side music career until his songs hit the top of the SoundCloud charts. Obviously, it would have been much easier to ask Dion — who has all the music contacts in the world — for assistance, but Angélil wanted to do it himself.
READ MORE: Neon Dreams on their undefinable music and leaving the Hedley tour
Despite the success of the tracks, there is much negativity online, mostly directed at Angélil’s privileged upbringing and frequent use of Auto-Tune. But it’s not getting to him. In fact, he said, it’s driving him to create more music.
“It just drives me more,” said Angélil to the Gazette. “I kind of look for that. I’m scavenging the internet looking for people who are trying to bash me. I kind of get motivation from that. I want to prove these guys wrong.”
As for the name Big Tip, it’s related to his years in second-year bantam hockey, when he had the most “tipped in” goals in front of the net.
Global News has reached out to Dion for comment.
— With files from The Canadian Press