25 Years of French Hip-hop

A Short History of French Hip-hop, with one track by year. I couldn't mention all good rap crew. If you like the tracklist, check also La Cliqua, ATK, L'Armée 12, Kerry James, Svinkels, Les Gourmets, Akhenaton, Les Sages Poètes de La Rue, Busta Flex, Hocus Pocus, Fonky Family, La Rumeur...

The Roots

French Hip-hop didn't exist yet, but we could find some seeds, in the USA, with Beside singing in French on an American tune, and the Great Gainsbourg sampling a hip-hop chorus.

1983 Fab Five Freddy feat. B-side - Change The Beat
1987 Serge Gainsbourg - Your Under Arrest

The Youth

MC Solaar, NTM, Assassin and IAM are the founding fathers of French rap. They created a real French sound, inspired by, but different from the American model.

1990 MC Solaar- Bouge De Là
1991 NTM - Le Monde de Demain
1992 Assassin - L'Ecologie: Sauvons La Planète
1993 IAM - Le Shit Squad
1994 MC Solaar - Nouveau Western

The Golden Age

French Hip-hop was now matured and the best LPs were released those years. I put two great songs with prestigious American featuring.

1995 NTM - Affirmative Action feat. Nas and the Firm
1996 Doc Gyneco - Ma Salope A Moi
1997 Afro Jazz - Striclty Hip-hop feat. Old Dirty Bastard
1998 Idéal J - Un Nuage De Fumée
1999 Saian Supa Crew - Angela
2000 Lunatic - Pas Le Temps Pour Les Regrets

The Renewal

While some artists became huge stars, some became commercial or redundant, others tried new ways, incorporating electronic music, Arabic music, chanson, ragga, or jazz... and rap about new topics.

2001 Oxmo Puccino - Le Laid
2002 113 - Les Bronzés
2003 Klub des Loosers - Baise Les Gens
2004 TTC- Dans Le Club
2005 La Caution - Thé A La Menthe
2006 Oxmo Puccino - Perdre Ou Gagner
2007 James Delleck - Gérard de Roubaix
2008 Sefyu -Mon Public