Hip-Hop, Raï and Francophone Sound

French Music

Course 1 · Chapter 9 · Hip-Hop, Raï and Francophone Sound

France has one of the largest hip-hop scenes in the world outside the United States, and much of the music most listened to by young French people today draws on African, Caribbean and North African traditions brought to the country by immigration and by the legacy of empire. This chapter looks at that music: French rap, the Algerian pop style called raï, and the West African and Caribbean sounds that found a home in Paris. It also raises a question that the earlier chapters mostly avoided: who decides what counts as "French music"? The chapter reports the music and the arguments about it without taking sides in them. Names, dates and attributions are given from general knowledge and flagged where they should be checked.

French Hip-Hop

Hip-hop reached France from the United States in the early 1980s, through records, radio and television (check the details; one television programme devoted to the culture is often named, and its date should be checked). It took root first in the suburbs of Paris and in other cities such as Marseille, where it gave young people a way to describe their own lives in their own language. By the 1990s French rap was a major commercial force.

Artist or group	From	Known for
IAM	Marseille	Complex, historically minded rap; the album L'école du micro d'argent (1997, check) was a major success
Suprême NTM	Saint-Denis, near Paris	Hard-edged social commentary; involved in a prominent legal case over a 1995 concert (check the details)
MC Solaar	Paris suburbs	Born in Senegal and raised in France (check); admired for wordplay and a smooth, literary style from the early 1990s
Aya Nakamura	Paris suburbs	Born in Mali and raised in France (check); pop and R&B star whose songs are streamed around the world

A language of its own French rap and pop use slang, including verlan, a form of backslang in which syllables are reversed, and words borrowed from Arabic and African languages (check the details). Part of the appeal for listeners is that the language sounds like the street, not the classroom. This has made some of the music hard for outsiders to follow, and has also made it a source of tension with institutions that defend a standard French, a subject Chapter 10 addresses.

Raï and the North African Influence

Raï is a popular music from western Algeria, with roots in the city of Oran (check). It began as a rural and cabaret style, with sung poetry about love, drink, hardship and freedom, and in the 1980s it took on electronic instruments and a pop sound. Many of its stars lived or recorded in France, and Paris became a second home to the genre (check the details). Khaled, whose song "Didi" was a hit in the early 1990s (check), became the best-known figure, and the style reached mainstream French audiences as a result. Rachid Taha, who was born in Algeria and grew up in France, blended Arabic song with rock and electronic music (check the details).

West Africa and the Caribbean

West African stars in Paris

For decades Paris was a recording and touring base for artists from Senegal, Mali, Cameroon and elsewhere, among them Youssou N'Dour and Salif Keita (check). Their audiences ranged from their home countries to European clubs.

Afro-pop in French

Some African artists performed in French and some in local languages, and the industry in Paris helped shape which styles were heard abroad, for better and for worse (check).

Zouk

A dance music from the French Caribbean islands, popularised by the band Kassav' from the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the group's early base in Paris (check the details).

Belgian and Swiss voices

Francophone music also includes artists such as the Belgian singer Stromae, whose song "Alors on danse" was a European hit around 2009 (check). They are part of the French-language scene without being French.

Who Counts as French Music?

All of this music is made in French, in Paris and in French cities, by people who are French citizens or who live and work in France. Yet it is often discussed as "world music" or "urban music", labels that set it apart from a supposed mainstream. Some argue that these labels are a way of keeping it outside the national story, and others that distinct traditions deserve distinct names. The course uses a broad meaning: music made in France and in French, whatever its roots, belongs to French music, while noting that artists and critics disagree about the terms.

Notice the labels When a record shop, a streaming service or a newspaper puts an artist in a category, ask what the category assumes. A label can describe a sound, an audience, a place of origin or a market, and these are not the same thing. The labels used for the artists in this chapter are a good practice ground.

Check the details This chapter touches debates about immigration, race and national identity. It reports that the debates exist and does not settle them. Dates of albums, details of court cases and artists' places of birth are all worth confirming against reliable sources, and descriptions of controversies are best checked against more than one outlet.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Describe how hip-hop came to France and name two French rap acts from different cities, saying what each is known for.

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Exercise 2

Explain what raï is, where it comes from, and why Paris became important to its development.

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Exercise 3

Discuss whether the labels "world music" and "urban music" are helpful for the artists in this chapter. Give one argument on each side.

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Quick Reference

Hip-hop: arrived in the early 1980s; IAM, Suprême NTM, MC Solaar, Aya Nakamura
Language: slang and verlan; words from Arabic and African languages
Raï: from western Algeria; Khaled and Rachid Taha; Paris as a second home
West Africa and the Caribbean: Paris as a base; zouk and Kassav'
Belgian voices: Stromae is Belgian
Key question: who decides what counts as French music?
Check: album dates, court cases, places of birth

Next chapter: Capstone: Music, the State & the French Language, which traces the state's role from Louis XIV to the radio quotas.