Marseille and Hip Hop

Pioneers of the genre in France

Hip-hop culture arrived in France via Sidney’s H.I.P H.O.P programme in 1984. Graffiti gradually invaded urban spaces and in just a few years went from ‘urban vandalism’ to works of art for some. In Marseille, the Cours Julien was one of the first neighbourhoods to be covered in tags and graffiti, and later to host rap concerts with the Espace Julien, which opened in 1984.
At the end of the 1980s, following in the footsteps of funk music, rap first appeared in the city centre, around the Cours Julien of course. But also in the areas around the Gare Saint-Charles, the Opéra and the Panier district. Spearheading the movement is the group IAM (and its iconic leader Akhenaton), who take their inspiration from the US sounds of groups like Public Enemy and Afrika Bambaataa.
Ancient Egypt is also a source of inspiration for the group, who adopt pseudonyms such as Akhenaton, Imhotep, Kheops and Khephren.
Another rapper made in the city centre was Bouga, who penned the famous ‘Belsunce Breakdown’ from the soundtrack of the film ‘Comme un aimant’.
It was only later that rap reached the city’s northern districts, now a breeding ground for talent. IAM was a pioneer, and would go on to spawn groups such as Psy4 de la rime, le 3e œil and the Fonky Family (FF). All with the success we know today.

Rap made in Marseille VS Parisian rap

Inherited from the time of Louis XIV, the rivalry between Marseille and Paris is nothing new. However, in the early 1990s, it took on a new dimension with football and the OM-PSG matches.
At the same time, musically, the Parisian lyrics of NTM, with their harsh, raw lyrics, clashed with the Marseille rap of IAM, with their committed, local and festive lyrics.
The years 1997, 1998 and 1999 were the golden age of rap in Marseille, with productions such as L’Ecole du Micro d’Argent (which has sold 1.6 million copies to date and has gone platinum), Sad Hill and Chroniques de Mars, all of which left their mark on the music scene.
The cinema has also called on them for the soundtracks to ‘Taxi’, ‘Comme un aimant’ by Kamel Saleh and Akhenaton, and ‘La Haine’ by Mathieu Kassovitz.

A constantly evolving scene

Building on its success, IAM has produced a number of local groups such as Psy4de la rime (Alonzo, Soprano…) to promote and share the city’s hip-hop identity. Since 2010, new artists who are very much in tune with the times have been contributing to Marseille’s rap reputation:
Soprano, one of the leaders of the group Psy4 de le rime, is renowned for his unique style, combining hip-hop, pop and urban music influences, and for his lyrics that tackle themes such as resilience, hope and diversity. Jul, a child of the St Jean-du-Désert neighbourhood, is perhaps the best album seller in the history of French rap, with 3.5 million albums sold (ahead of MC Solaar). And numerous gold, diamond and platinum discs. In fact, he has named his label ‘D’or et de platine'(Of gold and platinum)! And that’s just the beginning.
Alonzo, Soprano’s cousin and partner from his Psy4 days, has been pursuing a solo career since 2009, and went gold in 2016. And so many other artists, SCH, Soso Maness etc…

Recently, on Jul’s initiative, the younger generation (Jul, SCH, Kofs, Naps, Soso Maness) got together for the track ‘Bande organisée’, which was a big hit in the autumn of 2020! Most of these artists sold out the Velodrome stadium during their concerts.
With this new scene, we’re once again talking about Rap that’s more Marseillais than ever, with slang and local expressions (verbal and gestural) that will be imbued all over France. Even the goal celebrations of footballers like Dimitri Payet.