November 12, 2003
Paris is Dissing
Rappers are getting political in Paris, and damn near the only rapper getting political in America is named Paris. What does this mean?
French rappers in war of words with government
A rap song which calls on fans to "screw France" and "exterminate" government ministers has so enraged the interior minister that he has threatened to take legal action against the band responsible.
But the group, Sniper, has responded in kind, threatening to sue Nicolas Sarkozy for defamation for calling them racist and anti-semitic.
Critics have denounced their music as anti-women, anti-French, anti-European, anti-semitic and anti-police. The lyrics of La France, a tirade against the inequalities of French society, triggered Mr Sarkozy's anger. The song describes France as a "bitch", and suggests that the only way for disaffected young people with "hatred running in their arteries" to get their voices heard is to go out and start "burning cars".
Another song on the band's latest album Stone Throwers attacks the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians and suggests that "carnage" is a logical response to destruction of homes.
Mr Sarkozy said last week that he would launch legal proceedings if the band again performed in public material which he described as "perfectly scandalous... racist and anti-semitic". He added: "Democracy dictates that one respects the rules. Those people who don't will have to answer to the nation's justice system."
This year Mr Sarkozy pushed through a bill which made "offending the dignity of the republic" an imprisonable offence.
The band's four members, El Tunisiano, Aketo, Black Renega and DJ Boudj, all from the northern Parisian suburb of Val d'Oise, said: "We are not anti-semitic, but we are on the side of all Israelis who want peace... You are wrong to think that we are racist.
"We are French like you, but we are beginning to wonder whether you accept us as such."
Raising the possibility that the minister had not listened to their songs, they added: "We would like to believe that you were ill informed and carried away by temporary demagogic hysteria, and we are ready to accept your excuses."
This triggered a fresh salvo from Mr Sarkozy, who said: "To say that 'France is a bitch' and a 'nation of fascists' which one 'should screw' is insulting, to say that one should exterminate the 'ministers' and that police officers are 'arseholes' is insulting."
Posted by jsmooth995 at November 12, 2003 11:45 AM
What does it mean? It means Biggie and Jay-Z have won. It means Bush is getting re-elected. It means Chuck D and KRS-One are pushing mp3s and selling records at their concerts. It means the PATRIOT ACT is rubberstamped. It means that I'm listening to French rap. (and Cuban, German, Chilean, Swiss, etc...)
Posted by: the seed at November 12, 2003 05:19 PM
Jay... I think you meant to say "Rappers are geting political"... not "Rappers IN are geting political".
Posted by: eric at November 12, 2003 08:05 PM
I am from France and Sniper is one of the best rap groups right now. They are not anti-semitic and if you listen to their lyrics you see that they say very truthful things about France and its political system. One admirable thing about french rap is that compared to american rap, they do not only rap about sex, money or dissing women but they talk about real society problems. It's much deeper.
Posted by: sabrina at March 23, 2004 04:57 PM
Sabrina, While I understand the generalization about "American Rap"'s vapid and materialist mucho bend, I think you need to recognize that that is simply a small fraction of popular hip hop in America, made popular only by pushing products and an image of ascenscion to a lot of people like for hope and escape. There still is plenty of -true- hip hop music which may not bump on Skyrock or at Les Bains, alive and well in America, as well as France. As an American living in Paris, I understand wholeheartedly where you are coming from. DJ's here will play MOP, follow it with a Nelly song, and call it a true hip hop set. Public radio is great, but lack the variety of opinions and sounds in New York or any urban American setting.
There's a difference between keeping it real and bringing it real. French rappers have a poetic tradition of putting down records with legitimate content and poignancy without losing a step on its cadence. However,don't be mistaken to think that there aren't some real poets transcending their frustration with a sense of progress and candor left in America. If you follow a site like this, I'm guessing this is obvious.
One,
E
Posted by: E-Lated at March 25, 2004 10:07 AM
i have never seen who the sniper bands members before, but i still like them so much because i heard one of their songs and it's called sans repere. even though i don't know what they're saying cause i can't understand french, i still hear in their songs that they speak from heart.
Posted by: unknown at July 27, 2004 04:44 AM
rap music is becoming shit,it went from hip hop to hip pop,adieux to the golden age of rap music,the 80"s and 90"s the best hip hop era at that time rap was still creative,unique and specialy it had integrity,rap music was pure and sharp like ninja sword it striked u where it hurt,it was the voice and heart of a forgotten part of the society who could not rise their voice make them self heard by our corrupted and racist leaders,rap music stand up for this people it was their porte parole,rap was so big and dangerous,it denounced wat was really going on,it became a threat....so our evil leaders panicked,they had to shut this dangerous movement it was too embarrassing for them,so if u cant shut some1 up just buy his silence and as ntm said 1 day l argent pourrie les gents,and that wat happen,now hip hop is a bitch not like the 1 it sing about in our days but a filthier 1,rap music sold it soul to the dieux dollar,all this new generation of rappers singing about bling bling crystal and money they dont know how pathetic they are,they are just doing wat big brother is expecting from them and they dont even know it,grandmaster flash ,africa bombata,krs one,public enemy, all your effort were vain,a last message for u so called hip hop artist your are not gangsters or bad boys you are just a fashion accessory, puppets,hip hop is dead long life to the hip pop
Posted by: sam at August 10, 2004 03:29 PM
I'm from Serbia and i don't understand french but I can tell that french rappers are the realest.I like their flows and instrumentals and language is great for rapping.German rap is becoming more like American.It's all about money,hoes,and jewelz.I don't say that there aren't real emceez in America and Germany,on the contrary,but I can say that rap is not what it used to be.
I make music for my people-NTM
Posted by: Qka at September 14, 2004 08:07 AM
i dont really know much on the subject of french rap artists, however i was hoping that someone here could help me. you see, i was watchina a film about bernard tapie, which by the way, was quite infectious, and during the film, they showed a famous french rapper in a video with tapie, and there was a girl singing "life is beautiful", the song is amazing and i really hope to find it. if anyone knows this song or who sings it pleasse email me at rolipoli83@yahoo.com. thanks bunches
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Posted by: Florida Mortgage at November 7, 2004 02:29 AM
Hi, I came across this site just now because I'm planning a trip to Paris in April and would love to meet Black Americans living in Paris and others who are interested in Hip-Hop--American and French.
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Posted by: cigarettes@hotmail.com at March 27, 2005 03:40 AM
i wanna say safe to Sam - wot u said about hip hop true and i knew it but didnt wanna face the truth. but your comments help me realise still that the only thing us rude bwoi had as our own, to express ourselves, is gone - manz made it out da endz then sold their souls, sold out their peoples. hip hop dead but hope aint. Tous mes gars stay strong, ton pied mon pied
Posted by: london bwoi at April 22, 2005 04:16 PM
Posted by: Simon at April 26, 2005 06:58 AM
French rap is ridiculous, the singers insults the French government and, most of the time, they don't know this government at all...
I am French, and I can tell you that all the french rappers write french language very bad, and they don't give a fuck because they're 'rebels'.
The NTM group (Nique Ta Mre : Fuck your mother) has composed a song titled "Nique la police" (Fuck the police), and the whole text can be resumed as 'Nique la police' a lot of times... And you call this 'deeper' ?? (see this article).
The worse is that this fuckin' group is very famous in France and appreciated by the youth.
I'm 17 years old and I can't bear this fucking youth obsessed by 'rap' and 'rnb', and fashion... I see people changing themselves into whores, bandits, etc.
Approximately every day, I hear young people insulting others, or even myself, even though I did nothing... -_-
Paris seen by strangers : a pretty city, full of old monuments, the Effeil tower, the wonderful french or italian restaurants etc...
Paris seen by french people, the truth : a plenty of shit, filled up by an infected youth that is conflicting with government ideas and police, obsessed by drugs, killing, sex...
I hope I did'nt write this for nothing.
G-FACTION
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