French Rap Music Essay

2. A large portion of this class was spent analyzing and discussing the importance and chronology of the history of French rap music and its origins. It began with an admiration for traditional African rhythms and African-American artists. These artists were considered unique in France, and contrarily often neglected in the musical world of America. Styles such as jazz shaped the beginning etiology of the culture spreading into the banlieues and corners of Paris, Marseille, and other cities alike. As Dr. Durand mentioned, “since [hip-hop’s] arrival in France in the early 1980s, rap music has experienced immediate and ever-growing success, going from an underground sound to becoming the second largest market in the world…” American artists such

Hip-hop first appeared in France in 1979—its popularity due in part to a large African and Caribbean culture. The first known rap recording in French is ‘Paname City Rappin’ by Dee-Nasty, in 1984 and other artists such as Supreme NTM followed. In the late 1980s, IAM emerged, emphasizing their differences and turning this independence into a culturally admired strength. From 1989 on, several of their songs became widely popular around France. The first major star of French origin was Mc Solaar. He was considered ultimately open and positive, with strong literary talents.
3. Rap music in the Francophone ‘world’ originated from four different regions of the Earth, but specifically from Maghreb region—for those with African roots. Until the mid-1990s, Senegalese MCs copied original hits from both America and France, losing creative integrity and merely reciting what they heard from television and records. However, groups such as Native Tongues, Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, and X-Clan emerged, sparking the popularity even higher within the African Francophone area. One differing aspect of the two cultural rap scenes is the religious aspect that inhibited much of the profanity and

A lot of this culture was Muslim, which eliminated the efforts of offensive language. In contrast, American rap contains songs from a majority of its artists that are filled with explicative content. In Daara J’s song “Paris Dakar”, the content is specifically based on memories from the artists’ lives and the city in which they grew up in. “I like Dakar but not Ibiza” is a portion of the lyrics which defends the love of a home country, much like the lyrics in the American rap song “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z. “Yeah I’m out that Brooklyn/Now I’m down in Tribeca/Right next to DeNiro/But I’ll be hood forever” is similar context: Jay Z is expressing the same kind of defense and appreciation for his home neighborhood as Daara J. Bisso Na Bisso’s “In the Skin of a Chief” vividly describes the ongoing violence that is occurring within hometown