29.07.2016
1) 1. French Hip-Hop genre is famous for several names of people, who have made a large contribution to the development of hip-hop culture in France: Dee Nasty, Phil Barney, Bernard Zekri, Jean Karaks, and Sidney.
Dee Nasty is a DJ Radio Nova’s producer and a pioneer of Hip-Hop genre in France. He has produced the first Hip Hop record in France in 1980s and soon became world-known. He took part in many DMC World DJ Championships. Dee Nasty is also known for the distribution and development of graffiti, break dance, and funk music in French culture. In 1982 he worked with a famous rapper Lionel D.
Phil Barney is a French singer and songwriter, who was a large success in 1987 with his song “Un Enfant de toi”. Much of his music career was devoted to pop music and pop ballads, but later he changed his musical preferences and recorded rap songs as well. When he was 24, he contributed to the creation of free radio Carbone 14 in Paris, which was concentrated in black music and hip hop. For this he is sometimes called the person who has brought rap music to France. He is also known to be the only French artist who has worked with the American singer, Marvin Gaye, at the Château d'Hérouville studio. During his musical career he has published seven studio albums and even collaborated with Marlène Duval in a duet.
Bernard Zekri is a French journalist, who has devoted much time and effort to musical journals and magazines, and now heads Radio Nova. He spent much time in New York and today is highly appreciated for bringing hip hop culture to France. He organized many concerts which revealed rap culture to France through the performance of young Madonna, DST, and Afrika Bambaataa.
Jean Karakos (whose last name is a reduced form of Georgakarakos) was a French producer, record store and label manager, who is famous as a founder of a record label Celluloid Records in 1976. Together with a producer Bill Laswell he contributed to the records of early hip-hop artists, like B-Side, Grandmixer D. St., Fab 5 Freddy, etc. His company has released many hip hop albums and punk/funk works, too.
Sidney (also known as Sidney Duteil) is a French rapper, DJ, musician, song writer, who took part in many TV and radio shows. He is widely known in France for his connection to the first signs of French hip hop. In 1982 he started his own hip hop program on the radio and in 1984 he was invited to the popular TV show H.I.P.H.O.P. on TF1, which had an exclusive significance, since he was the first black man in France to do it and that show signified the growing popularity of hip hop music in French culture and society. During his work on this channel he hosted many hip hop starts, including Herbie Hancock, Afrika Bambaataa, Art of Noise, Madonna, The Tribe, and many others. He continued working with hip hop music afterwards and recorded many songs with famous musicians, like Steve Wonder and David Guetta (Prévos 3).
2. Zulu Nation is an international group devoted to hip hop music and culture, which was established by Afrika Bambaataa in 1970s. He was also the person who introduced France to the Zulu Nation in 1980s. It was situated in Paris suburban area, where many African immigrants were living at that time. This movement helped to introduce hip hop culture and rap music to young people in the poor suburban areas of Paris and popularized breakdancing and sidewalk dancing. This connection between the Zulu Nation and the French hip hop became tighter since 1987 and spread to other cities of France. It made a profound effect on French rap and hip hop as a specific genre. However, the Zulu Nation has lost its influence soon and very few French rappers adhere to its ideas nowadays. French rap music is defined as an exceptional multicultural collaboration of France and Africa (Prévos 8).
3. French rap and hip hop evolved under the influence of American culture, which also served as an origin of French jazz in 1930s, pop music in 1950s, folk in 1960s, disco in 1970s. French and “Francophone” rap emerged in 1980s – the first recordings of French rap compositions were made in 1982-1983 by B-Side. The band Chagrin d'Amour was the first to release a rap album under the influence of New York rappers and now they are treated as the first representative of French rap. Some other bands also used rap techniques in their compositions. There were also bands imitating young French bourgeois trying to imitate French rappers. Since French rap originated from American rap techniques and ideas, the final variant of French hip hop music represented a collaboration of borrowed styles and original, French peculiarities, i.e., focus on puns and various phonetic combinations. The first anthology of French rap called Rappattitudes, which was actually a neologism and a pun, marked the “rap explosion” in France. In those times most rappers borrowed much from American models and likewise included boasting and other themes from American compositions – pressure of Arab minorities, life hardships in poor areas of France, critique of French society, etc. We can say that the first period of French rap evolution was marked by the adoption of African-American musical styles and ideas. We can name such rappers and singers as Les Garcons Bouchers, Manu Dibago, Charles Trenet (famous for his lyrics), bands like Assassin, New Generation MC, IAM, Original MC (whose texts focused on unity, hard everyday life, and social issues), and others, whose works were regarded as adaptations and imitations of American hip hop culture (Prévos 9-10).
4. The second generation of French rap music encompasses the period of 1990s until the present day. Later with the development of French rap and hip hop culture, there appeared a tendency to use stylistic devices using local dialects and closely connected to reggae and ragamuffin music, which was far from typical American rap. Their main tendencies were “hardcore”, the so-called “pharaohism”, and “zulu”. The performers from hardcore category include bands Supreme NTM, Ministere AMER, and Assassin, who represented classical understanding of rap and resembled American tendencies and gangsta style. Zulu tendency has gradually declined and today very few rappers and bands adhere to its ideas (like Les Little and Sens Unik). Bands like IAM advocated pharaohism – the tendency associated with ancient Egypt, scriptures, and the pharaohs, underlining their Arabic ancestors and reacting to the Western cultures. Thus, the second generation could no longer adopt the concepts and features of American standards of rap music, but created their own models and concepts based on the Arabic culture and everyday life of Arabic people living in French environment. The most typical representatives of the second generation, along with the ones named above, are Daddy Yod, Saï Saï, Tonton David, IAM, and others. Thus, we can say that French rap undoubtedly had its roots in American and African-American culture and was first strongly influenced by it, but later acquired its unique characteristics (Prévos 12-13).
5. French rap, especially the later representatives were situated in particular regions of France, due to their division and separation from the rest French traditions. Thus, the Zulu Nation, which came at the dawn of French hip hop and gave birth to it, situated mostly in the northern part of Parisian suburban area. Many groups were working and performing in the southeastern part f France – regions like Marseilles and Montpellier, which strongly refused the “integration into the Parisian sphere of influence” (Prévos).
2) 1. According to Bazin, dance is the best way to comprehend and feel the essence of hip hop in France. One of the reasons for that is that dance helps to convey the tendencies in the French society and the hardships it bears. Unlike other kinds of popular art, dance doesn’t depend on economic aspects and the cultural industry so much. It differs from other genres of dancing by its freestyle manner and improvisational character. Moreover, at the beginning of its development is was far from commercial influence – most dancers were performing in the streets, which was unusual for dancing, as well as hip hop music and rap were unconventional for the society. Thus, music and dancing merged into one entity challenging the society and traditional customs (Bazin 99)
2. Hip hop dancing as a separate genre appeared first as “breaking” in the 1970s in New York, the Bronx and represented the collaboration of dancing traditions of the African-American and Latino communities. First dances of hip hop (toprock) were strongly influenced by uprock from Brooklyn, New York. Alongside with New York’s dancing, there appeared street dance in California, which later evolved to funk styles of locking and popping. Soon these kinds of dancing became more and more popular and started to develop and spread to other countries. Thus, hip hop dance training schools appeared in France in early 1980, in the time, when rap music wasn’t widely accepted. From 1984 to 1985 dace practices were exploding along with Sidney’s program H.I.P.H.O.P. broadcast on French television and public radio. Soon the show ceased to broadcast, and many people stopped dancing, turning to another theme or tendency. Nevertheless, some stayed true to their occupations and continued practicing and training – these people became the pillars of the revival and the next generation of hip hop dancers. The first shows appeared in 1990s and more and more lessons were organized in different places. Dancers moved from staircases and nightclubs to theaters and venues. Today many professional hip hop companies work in France (Bazin 100).
3. There are many hip hop dance companies in France – in Paris (for instance, companies Boogi Sai, Aktuel Force Black Blanc Beur, Choréam ), Lyon (Accrorap, Traction-Avant, Art MOUV'IN Silence, Azania), Toulouse (Olympic Starz), Greater Lille (Melting Spot, Funk Attitude, In the Street Dance), Bordeaux (Revolution), Montpellier (Mega Cool Rap), Nantes (Hb2), Strasbourg (Magic Electro) etc. (Bazin 101). Some other popular crews are: the Centre Chorégraphique National de Nantes in Nantes and Les Gens du Quai (in English People of the Quay) in Montpellier. The Centre Chorégraphique National de Nantes was founded by Claude Brumachon and Benjamin Lamarche and Les Gens du Quai was established by siblings, Anne Lopez (choreographer, dancer) and François Lopez (composer, performer). Besides, there are many hip hop dance classes in Paris, like Centre de Danse du Marais, Institut International de Danse Janine Stanlowa, Studio Harmonic, Centre de danse Elephant Paname, Le Divan du Monde, and many others. Many hip hop theaters were founded in 1990s, like the Compagnie Käfig, founded in 1995 in Créteil and represented by dancers of mostly Algerian descent. Their performances include different elements of hip hop dance – locking, popping, gymnastics, b-boying, mime, merged classical and rap music, and Andalusian guitar. In 1996 there started a hip hop theatre festival called Rencontres de la Villette in Paris, which was, by the way, supported by the government. There is an annual street dance festival Juste Debout held in Paris since 2002, focused on hip hop new style, house, locking, and popping. There are also many hip-hop dance crews in France, among them the Vagabonds, the Pockemon, Wanted, and The Family. Each year a Battle of the Year takes place in different cities, where French hip-hop dancers, crews, and companies also take part and sometimes win (Bazin 103).
4. H. Bazin believes that “one is not born hip-hop, one becomes hip-hop” (Bazin 104). As far as I am concerned, that means that a person would hardly be born with the ideas and the tendencies of hip hop in his/her heart and mind. As hip hop has been developing and acquiring its unique character, by evolving from its African-American origin, borrowing from other dances and cultures, changing and developing its techniques, the person devoting his life to hip hop and rap launches the process of working on his/her skills and personality and reflecting his/her life experience and ideas in movements. One must have a certain life experience to feel and understand the culture and ideas of real hip hop singers and dancers. After that one can try to express his/her emotions through locking, popping, or another element. Then goes constant development and hard work, and only as some time goes by, one can get absorbed by hip hop and its nature. But it is never given with life itself. Nobody is born with hip hop kind of mind (Bazin 107).
3) 1. The IAM is a hip hop band from France, Marseille. The group was established by Philippe Fragione, Geoffroy Mussard, Eric Mazel, Pascal Perez, and François Mendy. The name of the band has several treatments, like “Invasion from Mars” (probably, from Marseille) and “Imperial Asiatic Man”. The group has its unique features, which make it an outstanding band among other French hip hop collaborations.
One of IAM’s central themes is Africa, which is seen in numerous allusions to Africa and ancient Egypt, particularly, myths and other stories about pharaohs. The band has elaborated its unique rap style which consists of French beats and lyrics and Egyptian and Middle Eastern traits. Moreover, the musicians have chosen the stage names of Egyptian origin – Kheops (a pharaoh famous for his pyramid), Akhenaton (a pharaoh and a reformer, who tried to step from the traditional religion and polytheism), Shurik’n (whose name Shurik’n Chang-Ti conveyed his interest in the Oriental world, judo, karate, and kung fu), Imhotep (an Egyptian polymath and a pharaoh’s chancellor, the earliest architect, engineer, physician, poet, and philosopher), and Kephren (eng. Khafra, an pharaoh of ancient Egypt, who has built the pyramid of Giza and the Sphinx). This Egyptian influence, also called “pharaohism”, allows the IAM present the connection to the modern Arab world. Such a hidden allusion makes it possible to connect the works by the IAM with the “Franco-Maghrebi” cause. This kind of rap charges the songs of the band with a special political meaning – they try to destroy the ideas of racial superiority and discrimination and offer the concepts of multiculturalism in the French society. Therefore, the band also interlaces social implication into their lyrics and struggle with the racial intolerance (Jacono).
2. The song by the IAM “Born Under the Same Star”, originally called “Nés sous la même étoile”, was recorded in 1997 and was one of the songs in the album “L'école du micro d'argent”. The song is devoted to the problem of social division and racial intolerance. In particular, we listen to the story of a boy, probably of Arab origin, born in France and enduring the hardships of life, at the same time encountering a better life of his peers. The major part of the song is focused on the complaints of the boy and the comparison of his life to the life of a more successful (probably, white) person. For that the author uses many oppositions: “why was I born with empty pockets, when his are full of cash”, “my dadto go to work on his moped, when his father was driving a BMW”, “the coke for him, the cops for me”, in order to underline the differences in their lives, thus making an accent on social division.
Moreover, the author uses literary devices in his lyrics, which is a typical feature of French rap songs. So, we can find the examples of metaphor, like “money is a good-looking woman who does not marry the poor” and “for me it is soccer field without the goals, without net, without even a white line”, where the white line can be treated as another metaphor for a happy and successful period in life. Another vivid literary device of the lyrics is the anaphor – many lines start with the word “Why”, in original “Pourquoi”, so the song mostly consists of rhetorical questions, which have only one answer – social inequality.
There are some details, which tell us about the life of a typical person from a ghetto region – there are large families where elder children take care of their little brothers and sisters and start working very early (often in illegal and dangerous conditions), neglecting school and education. This aspect of life is reflected in the line “Why didn’t he have a brother to feed” In the lines “Incandescent bothersome adolescent/ Innocents, witnesses of guys shot in the street” we learn about the childhood of kids living in a French ghetto. We can say for sure that the author is speaking about France due to the line “Endure to grow up in one Franc”.
Since the French hip hop and the songs by the IAM have such a typical feature as allusions to the Arab world, we can surely find one clear allusion in this song: “my sister was wearing a veil” and right here we see the sign of racial intolerance: “I remember the other kids making fun of her look”, conveying the racial problem in France, connected with the Arab and the African. Moreover, the song title “Born under the same star” is itself an allusion to the Arab world and the religious scriptures, where the phrase “to be born under the star” comes from.
Thus, the song turned out to have a number of features, typical of the French hip hop and the band the IAM, in particular. It has its strength in the form of expression and the problems it raises, so that every person listening to it will sympathize with the main character and the social situation in the country. However, very much in the song is devoted to complaints, which puts it in a rather weak position.
Works Cited
Bazin, Hugues. "Hip-Hop Dance: Emergence of a Popular Art Form in France."Black, Blanc, Beur Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture in the Francophone World. Lanham, Maryland, and Oxford: Scarecrow, 2002. 99-105. Print.
Jacono, Jean-Marie. "Musical Dimensions and Ways of Expressing Identity in French Rap: The Groups from Marseilles." Black, Blanc, Beur Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture in the Francophone World. Lanham, Maryland, and Oxford: Scarecrow, 2002. 22-32. Print.
Prévos, André J. M. "Two Decades of Rap in France: Emergence, Developments, Prospects." Black, Blanc, Beur Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture in the Francophone World. Lanham, Maryland, and Oxford: Scarecrow, 2002. 1-21. Print.
