French Hip-Hop

French Hip-Hop, or rap français, is the French-language hip-hop that developed from the mid-1980s in France, the largest rap market outside of the USA. Its defining characteristics are a heavy emphasis on lyricism and wordplay and a distinctive vocabulary: verlan, a slang formed by reversing syllables (l’envers, “the reverse,” gives verlan its own name), alongside frequent code-switching into Arabic, Wolof, Lingala and Antillean Creole reflecting France’s immigrant communities. It grew from imported American hip-hop combined with the French chanson tradition of the foregrounded lyric, taking root in the banlieues; the housing estates ringing Paris and the Mediterranean port city of Marseille. These two cities formed two regional schools that defined French Hip-Hop: the Parisian style, dense and confrontational, exemplified by Suprême NTM, and the Marseille style, drawing on the city’s funk, reggae and North African raï, exemplified by IAM. MC Solaar became its most celebrated lyricist. It has since grown into France’s dominant popular music and a major influence on francophone rap across Belgium and West Africa.