La musique rap et les minorités ethniques des banlieues populaires françaises

Abstract

The author of the article is interested in the subjects touched upon in the texts of French rappers. The first part of the paper presents a short story of rap in France, next characterizes suburbs of big French cities, and then goes on to the analysis of selected authors’ lyrics (MC Solaar, Ministère A.M.E.R., Disiz, Assassin and Keny Arkana). In the 1990s French rappers became spokespersons for socially marginalized residents of the suburbs of French agglomerations and, on their behalf, refer to important social problems, among which important to mention are: exclusion, unemployment, injustice, racial discrimination as well as disappointment in the model of integration. The rappers also make a reckoning with history restoring the memory of the colonial past of their ancestors. The author of the article forms a thesis that the engaged texts expressing social criticism become an anthropological record of the situation of ethnic minorities in France and make a significant voice in the process of forming their identity.