Hip Hop, the best-selling music genre in the world. It is widely known that that the US is the number one consumer of this urban phenom, but who comes in at number two? The UK? Japan? Cuba? Guam? All close but no cigarillo...the correct answer is..FRANCE.

Oui, Frenchy loves Hip Hop. But who are their top selling artistes? Fiddy? Kanyeezy? Hova? NON! The bestselling acts in France are French, artists that we never hear like IAM, AL Kpote and Arsenik.
Hip hop in France is like US Hip Hop was back in the good ole' days (the late 80's, that is) comprising of kids from the ghetto rapping on identity issues, racism and good ole' fashioned hatred for the po-lice.

'The Man' has always had it in for Rap, I think think this always had a lot to do with institutionalised (and subconscious) rascism, but as the genre became bigger and bigger, eventually emerging as the behemoth we know it as today it has became the mainstream rather than speaking out against it, and therefore the haters have to shout a whole lot louder to be heard.

This unfortunately doesn't seem to be the case in France. French rappers, who traditionally hail from the old French colonies of North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, mainly live in the the Banlieues or the poorer suburbs of Paris and beyond. They are attempting to vent their frustrations against a racist and ignorant society who see them as second class citizens. This is where historical contrasts can be drawn between French Rap artists and their US counterparts from the late 80's and early 90's. While things have changed for the better in the US for the Black community over the last decade the same unfortunately cannot be said for their French counterparts.

Racism within French society plays a large role in the success of French Hip Hop. In order to fully understand French Rap, however, I believe its imperative to consider and understand the political and social status of the minority groups living in France. So the violence and fury of Gallic Rappers is well placed at least, but thats not all they have going for them.

To further cement the idea of how much influence French Rappers have over their public, the 85% voter turnout in the latest French elections where Nicolas Sarkozy was sworn in was partly put down to the influence of French Rappers who, alarmed at the massive amount of support for a certain fascist politician, spoke out and 'did a Diddy', rocking the vote. Except people actually listened to them.

The French language as naturally poetic as it is, is especially suited for Rap, and the word games that make English (language, not country) Rap special are held intact within French verses. I have no idea what they're chatting about basically, but it sounds beautiful even if they are chatting about shooting someone in the face. You can't really say that about Gucci Mane can ya?

I apologise for my incessant waffling, but I am a firm fan of Gallic Hip Hop and I want to make it clear that those that state that French Hip Hop is just a carbon copy of US Hip Hop are surely mistaken. If I may allow myself to make an incredibly poncey ending statement, I would liken French Hip Hop as a whole to the nameless lead character in Albert Camus' 'The Outsider' (he's French-Algerian too! All the more relevant!) Nihilistic, violent, but ultimately misunderstood. Madames et Monsiuers, I beg you adieu.