From NYC to Paris - the World of French Rap

How French Hip Hop Became a Global Phenomenon, with a Little Help from Afrika Bambaataa

I’ve been diving deep into all kinds of French music lately, but before I got into Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Dutronc and Dalida, it was the rap scene I was listening to. Growing up in the NYC suburbs during the 1980s, hip hop was massively influential. It was everywhere and full of unique artists and styles. I met De La Soul at a comic book store in Amityville once and went back every week for 6 months, just to see if they might be there.

When I got to college, I discovered French rap, and even though I couldn’t understand the lyrics. One of the first tracks I heard was MC Solaar’s 1990 Bouge de là (“Get out of the way,” more or less), built around a sample from Cymande's The Message, the track has a smooth, clever and cool delivery, even if you don’t speak the language. And the video is beautifully 1990s.

MC Solar Bouge de là

Solaar was one of the first hip hop artists to have a truly massive hit in France. Blending social commentary with humor, it propelled MC Solaar to international fame and marked a turning point for French hip hop, setting the stage for its global influence.

France is the number two country in the world for rap, but the massive breadth of Francophone hip hop extends far beyond its borders, with significant influence in Canada, Belgium and African countries like Senegal, Ivory Coast, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In these regions, rap has become a powerful tool for cultural expression and social commentary, each one following Bambaataa’s ideals, blending local rhythms and languages with the foundations of French rap to create a unique and vibrant hip hop scene across the continent.

Solaar has had eight studio albums and his debut album, Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo ("He who sows the wind reaps the tempo”) in 1991 was one of France’s first commercial successes in the genre, selling over 400,000 copies. It’s considered a classic and is worth a listen to in its entirety. His 1994 "Prose Combat" sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

Bambaataa’s Influence

Hip hop started in France in the early 1980s, shortly after it began in the US. The movement began to take shape around 1982-1983, mostly in the suburbs of Paris. It was introduced through imported of American hip hop records, breakdancing, graffiti art, and early hip hop films like Wild Style (it’s like a rap musical. Fantastic.) and Beat Street.

The French government supported hip hop with the Toubon Law, requiring 40% of music played on French radio to be in French. This wasn’t the law’s first intent, but it ensured significant airtime for popular genres like French-language rap. The government helped legitimize hip hop with cultural funding, grants, and community programs that taught dance, music and even how to bomb graffiti on Metro trains in Paris, as hard as that might be to believe. Paris did have their own problems with graffiti and their own crackdowns, especially after the Louvre station was completely tagged, but just the same, all of this was crucial in giving French hip hop a platform to flourish and in integrating it into the broader cultural landscape.

The first significant hip hop event in France was the New York City Rap Tour in 1982, bringing American artists like Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force, Grandmixer DXT, and the Rock Steady Crew to perform in France. This tour marked a turning point in hip hop culture across the country.

Afrika Bambaataa was inspirational and had a global mindset that played a crucial role in expanding the genre's reach, including in France. Bambaata’s 1982 message was simple and clear, "If you're from France, rap in French; if you're from Germany, rap in German. Don’t just copy American styles—hip hop is about expressing your own culture and language."

The rise of French rap was a collective effort. After Bambaataa, a combination of artists collaborations, along with the French government's and radio language laws were crucial in helping French rap develop its unique identity, making France the second-largest hip hop market globally.

One of the first things I learned about French rap was through Afrika Bambaataa. When Public Enemy and De La Soul name-checked an artist, my friends and I would buy cassettes, trade them, and make mix tapes and play them until they wore out.

The 1994 Toubon Law required French radio stations to play at least 40% French-language music in an effort to counter anglophone influences on French culture, but also wound up boosting the visibility and growth of French rap in the 1990s.

By 1984, France had its own hip hop TV show, H.I.P. H.O.P., hosted by DJ Sidney – the first hip hop show in the world and France’s first Black TV presenter. It had a huge impact, even though it only aired for 1 year. In the late 1980s, artists like DJ Dee Nasty, Assassin, Suprême NTM, IAM, and MC Solaar laid the groundwork for the French hip hop scene.