“You come to Sevran, you get attacked, who invited you? With us it’s Sevran RGT, the city to avoid! Under the hood, the incredible energy of Kalash Criminel, black albino rapper, one of the most prominent artists on the French scene. In the text, a reference to his hometown, in Seine-Saint-Denis. In many pieces, he refers to this town of 50,000 inhabitants nestled in the east of 93. And its district: the city of Rougemont.
He’s not the only one: Sevran has been on the airwaves for a few years, the city being the cradle of some of the biggest sellers of French rap records: Kaaris, but also Maes, the new rap star dubbed by Booba, “The old” Da-Uzi, the 13 Blocks collective, and the most recent Benab or Bigor, just 18 years old and signed by a big label. All, with well-felt rhymes, pay homage to their city in many songs.
But Sevran, which many rap specialists describe as the current capital of French rap, is also the… of the clash: on social networks, some well-known Sevran rappers are regularly scaring themselves off. And, behind the clashes, the neighborhood war – today a bad memory, say the police figures anyway – is never far away.
Above-average credibility
“Sevran is now clearly the city with the most popular rappers per square kilometer. Only Marseille has perhaps as many artists in sight, with Jul, SCH, Soprano, or Soso Maness… but it is not the same scale: there are only 50,000 inhabitants in Sevran, and almost 900,000 in Marseille ”, analyzes Génono, music journalist.
For him, several ingredients explain this success. “Sevran is a tough city, where there are many obstacles for young people. So the determination is stronger there than elsewhere, ”continues the musical expert. What confirms Mohammed, a thirty-something who grew up with several artists known today: “It is not a cliché to say that rap is a way out in Sevran. For some, it is less a fantasy than becoming a business manager… ”
Another reason for success: the experience of rappers. “In Sevran, artists don’t rap things they don’t experience, they tell what they’ve experienced. A guy like Maes did jail time (Editor’s note: 18 months in Villepinte remand center at 18). As a result, they have above-average credibility. The rappers of Sevran, they navigate between two worlds: that of the street, of shit, and that of the artists. It can be heard in their words and it pleases their audience. And besides, many of their listeners do not come from a city, some are a bit sore. They come to seek the thrill, ”explains Mohammed.
Listeners like this “experience”, adds Génono: “Sevran’s texts are very down to earth. We don’t tell you great American stories. It’s less spectacular, of course, but more real. It’s a… local business ”, decrypts the journalist.
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Typical example with the texts of the group 13 Blocks which describe without embellishment and with realism the parallel circuits. Over the rhymes of the song “Streaming”, they evoke “phones without an app. (Editor’s note: which are only used for appointments with deal customers) “, Or” empty carboys “, in” Empty “. In a jumble, they more readily cite the inexpensive Quechua brand than Gucci or Philippe Plein, the high-end usually popular with artists.
Clash of artists … on social networks
An unparalleled success at the present time. And yet: on Instagram and in a part of the opinion, sometimes even among fans of rap, the clashes take as much importance as the music. A fight that is played mainly on social networks and which found its climax in a 100% Sevran mixtape project launched this year by rapper Da-Uzi.
In summary: while Kaaris was surprised not to be included in this project, believing to be the trigger for the success of his colleagues, Maes replied sharply on Instagram that he had never been seen in the stupor. (Editor’s note: drugs) nor in the works ”. A way of implying that he was very far from Sevran. Da-Uzi also cracked a comment indicating, in essence, that no rapper had given strength to Sevran, not even Kaaris. Conversely, Kalash-Criminel sided with Kaaris. Never very far: Booba, the boss of French rap, not originally from Sevran but close to Maes, also tackled Kaaris, with whom he has been at war for several years. Their brawl at Orly airport in August 2018 had both landed them in prison.
However, it is clear that the borders of these clashes respect those of the neighborhoods. Because, if Kaaris and Kalash-Criminel are from the city of Rougemont, Maes comes from Beaudottes and Da-Uzi, from Trois-Tours. Neighborhoods that have not always been at peace …
Behind the clashes, a neighborhood logic?
Today, Sevran has calmed down, but the city experienced, ten years ago, a wave of inter-neighborhood violence. In 2013, in particular, a fight between residents of Beaudottes and Rougemont had caused the death of an 18-year-old. And this, on the sidelines of a rap concert. That year, three young people had died in the town.
“But these tensions between neighborhoods no longer exist,” says Commissioner Olivier Simon, responsible for the district of Aulnay-Sevran. What a local elected official confirms: “Ten years ago, you couldn’t walk to Les Beaudottes if you were from Rougemont, and vice versa. However, in recent years, this has changed, there are no more brawls or shootings. “
But this inter-neighborhood logic has “infused” over the years, according to a lot of residents. “It’s a bit like France-Germany in football: there is always a bitter aftertaste… whereas the generations pass and have nothing to be ashamed of between them. That is to say that there is a peace, let’s say, of facade, but there is still a rivalry, at least symbolic ”, decrypts Mohammed. For him, this “cold war therefore transpires in rap in Sevran”. But, tempers Fares, an inhabitant of Rougemont, “it’s not unhealthy as long as we don’t shoot ourselves”. “We challenge each other, we bedroom, a bit like football,” concludes Mohammed.
Génono, it is less clear cut. “The territorial question may exist, but I am not sure that it is central in the clashes between rappers from Sevran. In my opinion, it is probably more linked to the generational difference between Kaaris and the others. “
A fight broke out at Orly airport in August 2018, between rappers Booba and Kaaris and some of their staff (Archives) .DR
Still, some also wonder about the turn these clashes can take. Thus, about the shooting which injured someone on the set of Booba’s clip in Aulnay-sous-Bois in the summer of 2019, there is still a rumor that the shooter – who has still not been arrested – would be a close to Kaaris. “That’s what he said to himself in Aulnay. The victim’s brother went to the Rose-des-Vents district, thinking that he would find the author of the shootings there, ”recalls Faïza ( the first name has been changed ), a resident of the city. A hypothesis not at all confirmed, as it stands, by the investigators.
The young generation wants us to talk about rap
Anyway, for the young generation, these clashes between rappers risk “extinguishing the light shined on Sevran”, regrets Bigor, one of the most promising rappers in the city, whose first project is due to come out early 2021. For him, we have to stay on the right track.
“What makes Sevran’s artists stand out is precisely that we give each other strength between us: we play together. Today, it works well for me so I pass the ball to the colleague ”, explains the young man. A process that works, according to Génono: “In Sevran, once one or two artists have broken through, the others said to themselves: We have a chance ! And since they also had talent, it worked. “
So, the clashes, many want them no longer. “Look, he’s a guy from Rougemont, and yet I say hello to him without any problem,” laughs, one evening in October, Bigor, pointing his finger at one of his friends who came to chat at the foot of a Beaudottes building. “For me, clashes are also a bit of a spectacle. But that can kill Sevran’s good image when it comes to music! “
Same story with Béro, the manager of Bigor, who lives in Les Beaudottes and is very involved in local rap: “Me, I say to young people: stay pro, do rap, don’t talk about each other, no. ‘do not go to clashes and do not wake up tensions between cities, it is useless. “
