2019, a summer of rapology

The summer of 2019 is the French rap that took control of sales and streams. © iStock / caesargfx

09/08/2019

For those who have spent the last few months in a spaceship, we recall that this time for sure: French rap has taken control of sales and streams. The summer of 2019 is that of the French rhyme, rap zumba mode for some, or orthodox hip hop for others. Review of some of the albums published in recent weeks, with Heuss The bastard, Marwa Loud, Vegedream, Jul, Kekra, Chilla, LIM.

His first CD has been released since January, but Heuss L'Enfoiré's single is one that continues to ignite dancefloors . Khapta featuring Sofiane (pronounced "Capta" according to Nikos Aliagas on TF1, who had selected in his show " The Song of the Year" ) is a certified hit, potential summer hit with his gimmick "I'm a mold, you're a mold / I'm in spirit, you're in spirit . " Funny and talented, this newcomer could well make a career.

The success of Marwa Loud

Surprise return of the one that smacked the charts in 2018 with her first album Loud , it is Marwa Loud who proposes My Life , second album which was preceded by a series of videos in mode "diary" on YouTube . We find on this disc light and dancing the hit Oh La Folle and the duo with the Marseillais Alonzo Amis & tickets . The recipe has not changed much and is aimed more at a young audience, even if the title My Life goes a little further and tells with some emotion "A complicated year, betrayal and injury / A combined year between illusions and lust " . Yes, success is not necessarily accompanied by happiness ...

Vegedream, for its part, created the surprise with a simple and basic piece that became the anthem of the World Cup won by France, Bring the cup home . After two editions of his mixtape Sand Merchant , here comes the album Ategban , announced by the very effective and self-tuned duet with Ninho, She is good his mother . Twerk club in the video and refrain atmosphere reggaeton, it feels 30 ° in the shade on the beaches and in discotheques.

For those who love references, we recall that the sample of this single is See you on your way , the song of the movie The Choristers , new proof that the French rap is no longer afraid to be in the popular. Damso, guest on the title Person , is content to hum the chorus, with once again a spade to the record companies, as on its title with Nekfeu, Cheater . Note the use of afro rhythms ( Lagoh ) and the regulatory reference to cult film Scarface ( Tony Sossa ).

The stakhanovist Jul

The stakhanovist of the southern rap, Jul, released his new album, Nothing 100 Nothing , and even the fans admit to having trouble following the pace. Thus Amine Diouane, talented young musician discovered on social networks with his French violin classics rap ( @ amine_d1 on Twitter ), who confessed to us not having time to finish assimilating the 40 pieces of The Zone in person (2018) and the 17 of the Free Album Volume 5 (March 2019!).

It must be said that this 18th album rich of 23 tracks explodes the timing of the CD (but hey, who, under 30, still listening to CDs, this is the question), and invites some big heads of the rap news. So Ninho on Tel Me , Heuss L'Enfoiré on GTA and Vald on J'suis loin , which put in trance some young female fans of the MC sarcastic on the air of "Oh no, not Vald with the Marseillais auto-tuné " , forgetting a little fast that Valentin the rapper has never hesitated him either to force on the Auto-tune.

The clip of JCVD sets the tone, in line with the previous 60 singles: chicha at the edge of the pool, lyrics first degree ( "You want good, the little one crushes two Dolipranes / Si in the bus, you're kidding, the kid will come back armed with a bike " ) and an understandable gimmick from kindergarten to the halls: " Nanana, nanana " .

In the same way "nursery rhyme", but with more emotion, Jul makes his Papaoutai (or his Allo Maman Bobo , according to whether one is 20 or 50 years old) with Papa Maman , the trafficked vocals and the single couplet, which will speak to the children of couples who tear themselves apart. It will have been understood: Nothing 100 Nothing , with its superb cover signed Fifou, will change the minds of the fans of MC Marseille, or detractors.

Kekra and Charles

Eight albums (counting the mixtapes Freebase vol 1/2/3 and Vréel vol 1/2/3) in four years. If he still does not remove his mask black block MC, Kekra rarely releases the microphone. This rapper who divides his time between France and Thailand had never shared the microphone with another MC. It is now done with the song that gives its title to the album, Vréalité , produced by Kore and on which Niska releases a couplet, full of a few key words including his famous "charo" and the most recent "zoba", slang Lingala denoting an idiot ( "Zip seller, do not play zobas" ), all in an obvious street ( "We're not here to study" ).

We note Kekra's second reference to Charles Aznavour in the title Aznavour ( " Young Charles Aznavour, I'm at the bottom of the tower" ), which he had already name-dropped in the song Uzi in 2017 ( "In a BM listening to La Bohème d'Aznavour " ). A way to assert oneself as a popular artist, and to dare a bold parallel between the one who sang for a time that the under-20s could not know and the rapper of Courbevoie obsessed with street stories.

Finally, just to continue this brief summary of rap albums of the summer with a first-rate kicker, we will mention Chilla, whose album Mün shows his evolution and his desire to remain in a certain rapological orthodoxy, with finely chiseled couplets and a certain taste for performance.

So Bridget , song about conformism and the fear of finishing alone as the heroine of the famous rom-com (romantic comedy for those who do not like abbreviations). "Our image is the mirage of what is dictated to us , " says Chilla in this flagship title of a solid disc, resolutely feminine, but which avoids both the pitfalls of "bitchery" and those of inverted machismo. "I'm not the dog or the michto," says Mareva (his real name) in Am Stram Gram , produced as the majority of the album by Fleetzy. A duet with Gromo, Ego , is the dialogue of a separated couple, another sign that the man / woman relationships are at the heart of this ambitious album that does not hesitate to tell personal wounds, like the loss of his father in Tic Tac .

Finally, we will conclude this overview of French rap releases of the summer with the return of LIM after two years of discographic silence. The album Renaissance is entirely written, composed and realized by itself, without featuring or producer in the mode, with its style of skinned alive.

We will note some surprising titles, like this title called Viol which shows some terrible statistics on this painful subject, as well as Love , song of love dedicated to the one that made him change of life. That the hardcore fans of the MC now residing in Marseille reassure themselves, it's love to the LIM sauce, and his words accompany the instrumental appeased as soon as the intro: "It's simple, the first time I l I saw, I was totally dark in the street trying to confuse me with the heads . " LIM does not change, and that's why we love it.

Heuss The Enfoiré In Spirit (Midi Midi Production / 150 Prod / All Points / Believe ) 2019
Marwa Loud My Life (Because music) 2019
Vegedream Ategban (Kensho) 2019
Jul Nothing 100 Nothing (Gold and Platinum) 2019
Kekra Reality (Because) 2019
Chilla Mün (Millenium) 2019
LIM Renaissance (Lim) 2019

By: Olivier Cachin

Vegedream - Chilla - Marwa Loud - Jul - Heuss The bastard - Kekra - LIM

streaming - Rap - record industry - France