They are called Jul, Gims, Nekfeu, PNL, or Soprano. By the end of 2019, the rapper will be at the top of album sales in France. A real success born in 2010. Of the 10 artists most listened to on Spotify France in 10 years, 9 are French-speaking rappers.
The era IAM was saying is over “I do rap, not variety”..Type of today Conquer the general public, Easily certified as a “new French variety”. For 10 years Established itself as the first music in France. Streaming, diversity, communication, and madness of grandeur… Franceinfo tells us how rap soared in the French charts.
“I’m no longer aiming for the top”, Check out the NLP brothers in their tube With DD, Almost tired of the scale of their meteoric success. Ranked second in the title at 10 years on Spotify France, their single is at the top of the French charts just eight months after its release last April. On YouTube, 130 million views of a clip of two rappers moving from the top of the Eiffel Tower makes it the most watched video of the year in France on the platform.
Spotify, Deezer, YouTube… The explosive growth of streaming in the 2010s revolutionized the rap scene. According to the National Union of Phonographic Publishing (Snep), between 2014 and 2018, the number of audio streams per year almost quintupled, from 12 billion to 57.5 billion. To the point of encouraging the organization in charge of the certification of albums and titles to include 2016 streaming in the best sales rankings. The decision causes a big bang. “Suddenly, a French variety appeared. She became PNL in the best play of the month. ”, journalist for the Days, Boulevard du Ruisseau (Ed. CastorAstral, 2017)..
Children aged 13 to 25 noticed that they weren’t listening to Arcade Fire, but July.
Fanen sophien
to franceinfo
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“Rap is a youthful music”, continue the journalists. And this generation, which has never known the golden age of CDs, mainly listens to streaming music. In May 2019, 72% of 16-24 year olds said they had listened to music streaming in the past 6 months. In contrast, French represented 44%. Taking advantage of this alignment of planets, rap artists have reached the pinnacle of online listening.
This is not the first time that Sophian Fanen has benefited from innovation in the music movement. A series of articles published in Les Jours (Subscriber Articles), journalists draw similarities between Yé-yé’s success in the 1960s and the success of rappers in the past decade. The former took advantage of the advent of portable transistors and 45 rpm, and the latter took advantage of audio and video streaming.
By generating sub-genre galaxies
For rappers, these new listening methods have changed the game. “Streaming allows you to break away from tuned radio links.”, Said Amadou Ba, editor and co-founder of Professional Media Booska-P. Today, a growing number of successful rappers are creating their own albums and distributing them directly to streaming platforms. “We are freeing ourselves from the pyramid scheme of the record company.”There are a lot of Olivier Katins, journalists and French rap experts. Like July, a symbol of independent success, we are proud of: “Gold record in 3 days, I don’t know. I don’t think there is such a record company. ”
Enough to leave more room for artistic freedom. Since the 2000s, when production became more cohesive, 2010s rap has included both the festive songs of Aya Nakamura or Veggie Dream, the dark melodies of Damso, and the more aggressive sounds of Carlis, Buba and Gradur. .. Far from the NTM which chanted “Varièt” takes the initiative ” In 1993, this new generation of artists began to flirt with more commercial genres, such as pop from Lomepal and French chanson from Gims. “In recent years, self-adjusting vocals have taken the complexity out of French rap. The rappers dared the melody rather than the text, making it accessible to the general public. ”, Olivier Kachin.
“The variety of this rap is recent, because the style has grown and matured.”, pleases Amaduba. It has matured to become music that fascinates beyond young people. “Niska broke generational barriers because he was also listened to in his 30s and 40s.”, Montre Sophian Fanen.
However, in this universe of a thousand planets, few female artists enjoy the same infamy as male artists. With the exception of Shay from Belgium and Chira from Switzerland, few female rappers shine like male rappers on streaming platforms. That’s not counting the supernova Aya Nakamura, which alone has surpassed one billion views on YouTube.
Getting out of the media orbit
“We don’t use their radio, we shoot, that’s fine”Sang NTM in 1998 We are always here.. Twenty years later, Gen Z rappers have fulfilled the prophecies commanded by the ancients. Today, he turns his back on mainstream media with his stratospheric performances on streaming platforms.
“At that point, without the radio transmission, you were ‘dead in the movie’.I remember Olivier Kachin. Today, they no longer need media coverage, and social media has made them stars. “
It’s a fascinating combination of “undergroundism” and “magnificent public relations”.
Olivier Kachin
to franceinfo
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On Instagram, Niska is followed by 3 million users and Booba by 4.5 million users. It is three times that of Emmanuel Macron and his million and a half subscribers. In this new world, “radio silence” has even become a communication strategy. On Facebook, Jul, one of the biggest record sellers in France with more than 30 gold and platinum records, talks daily with “La Team Jul”, which has over a million fans. , to have an interview with Marseille “Months of patience and many negotiations with those around him”,Tell Release..
As for PNL, it’s a whole bus of journalists who broke their teeth trying to meet them – including those from franceinfo.fr-. “F *** Your interview, I may have been in your dog’s report.”Decide on two brothers with you do not knowThe headline they talk about their past as drug dealers with normal spleen. They’re even snubbing Skyrock’s flagship show, “Planet Rap,” by sending their representative monkeys to the studio.
“Revolution of thought”According to Laurent Bouneau, general manager of the Skyrock program. “In the past, selling records always required attracting new listeners, which required media.Explains a fifty-something who has been raining and shining on French paper for 24 years. Streaming counts the number of plays, not the number of records sold. Rappers can now contact each other directly on social media and rely on the hardcore of fans who listen to songs repeatedly. “
Dare to aim for the moon
Small concerts at the MJC are old fashioned, but many rappers squat posters at festivals and large concert halls. Wald, Romepal, July… In November 2019, seven of the 11 concerts at the Accor Hotels Arena in Paris were performed by urban music artists. Renne from Columbine and Romeo Elvis from Belgium were scheduled to perform at more than 14 festivals this summer.
When it comes to announcing gigs and album releases, the rapper is gaining momentum. In June, Nekfeu combined the release of his album Wandering star It is a documentary film that follows the concept of optical discs. Promotional bombshells: 100,000 people in 200 rooms will take part in this unique screening.
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At the end of November, it was PNL who created the surprise by installing “space capsules” in Nice, Toulouse, Lille, Strasbourg, Nice and Paris. The goal is to scan the QR code so that fans can purchase pre-sale tickets for future tours.
“We are faced with artists who invest themselves in creating events. They have ambitions and know how to put on a show., analysis by Olivier Kachin, in particular a clip of two rappers from Corbeil-Essonne at the top of the Eiffel Tower. “It was a very strong image and had a great impact on the world.”, continues Amadou Ba, editor-in-chief of Booska-P.
For Laurent Bouneau, rap is the only French music that can be exported internationally. “Obviously there were Daft Punk, but nothing shows that their music is French. Conversely, French rap is in the French-speaking world, in North and West Africa, and even elsewhere in the world. It is also exported to. club in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, gets slaughtered by Veggie Dream or Aya Nakamura. “ If rap became the first music in France, it would probably be the first music to hit abroad in the language of Molière.
