French hip hop

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This article is about hip hop music from the country of France, and does not cover the hip hop scenes in other French speaking countries like Senegalese, Belgian and Canadian hip hop. For information on these countries, see world hip hop.

Template:Frenchmusic Most French hip hop artists come from poor suburbs of Paris, Strasbourg, Toulouse or Marseille. Unlike the African Americans who live in urban ghettos in the United States, the birthplace of hip hop, France has had a much wider social safety net, meaning that poverty has rarely been as extreme in France's North and West African communities (where most of the artists have their roots); however, many performers come from HLM housing projects inhabited primarily by poor Africans or Arabs or berbere like kabylian or morocco berbere Template:Ref. Some pioneers were ethnically French, such as the Breton group Manau, one of the pioneering French rap crews Template:Ref.

The majority of French rappers are descended from African immigrants. Even though some of the pioneers like Lionel D and DJ Dee Nasty are not of African descent, ethnic Africans have dominated the music scene. Many are also immigrants from former French colonies who have moved to France for education or a better life. MC Solaar, who was born in Senegal, released his first CD in 1991. Within France, the two cities with the largest hip hop scene are Marseille and Paris, especially the northern suburb of Saint-Denis Template:Ref.

1 History
2 See also
3 References
4 Notes

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History

Hip hop first appeared in France in 1979, just as the genre was achieving some success in the US. By 1982, a number of hip hop radio stations had appeared, including Rapper Dapper Snapper, and the future star DJ Dee Nasty made his first appearance. That same year saw the first major hip hop concert, the New York City Rap Tour, sponsored by Europe 1 and featuring Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmixer DST, Fab 5 Freddy, Mr Freeze and the Rock Steady Crew.

By 1983, hip hop was a notable part of the French music scene. Paname City Rappin (1984) by DJ Dee Nasty was the first album released; it was a funky record, released on Nasty's own Funkzilla record label. The middle of the decade also saw the rise of performers like Johnny Go, Lionel D, Destroy Man and Richy, as well as Dee Nasty's influential Le Deenastyle radio show on Radio Nova. At the end of the 1980s, Afrika Bambaataa's Universal Zulu Nation was well-established in France, which was home to the second largest chapter of the organization (after the Bronx), which promoted black unity and brotherhood. However, in the early 1990s, a series of controversies wracked the organization, and it ceased to exist.

The first major star of French hip hop was MC Solaar, whose 1991 Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo, was a major hit. The European Music Office's report on Music in Europe claimed that the French language was well-suited for rapping, and that MC Solaar's popularity came about "probably because of his very open and positive attitude, his strong literary talents and humour. He became the spokesman of a whole generation - not only of the immigrant communities but also of the White middle class teens — who could not find itself neither in romantic stories nor in pure aggressiveness". Solaar inspired many budding hip hop fans in France, and laid the foundation for the future scene; he also set many records, including the first French hip hop recording to go platinum.

Following MC Solaar's breakthrough, there were two styles of recorded French hip hop; Solaar, Dee Nasty, Alliance Ethnik, and a few others were mellow, thoughtful rappers, while hardcore performers like Assassin and Suprême NTM found their own niche group of fans. These hardcore rappers, especially Ministère AMER and Suprême NTM, sometimes found themselves at the heart of controversies over lyrics that were seen as glorifying the murder of police officers and other crimes, similar to outcries over violent thuggish lyrics in American gangsta rap. However, in France the lyrics were generally more political.

The mid-1990s also saw the rise of an instrumental hip hop tradition, inspired by British trip hop bands like Massive Attack and Portishead. Prominent DJs from this period include Dimitri from Paris, DJ Cam, Kid Loco and DJ Seeq. In about 1996, this French electronic music scene peaked in international popularity with the success of Dimitri from Paris and Daft Punk. In 1997, IAM sells "L'école de Micro d'Argent" with more than 1 million discs.

French hip hop has since come full circle and back to a more "ghetto", African-American flavor. A new group of artists, among them Ol Kainry and Disiz la Peste, are very close to contemporary American rap music.

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References

Krümm, Philippe and Jean-Pierre Rasle. "Music of the Regions". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 103-113. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
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