by Justine Allasia, MA
During the memory wars in 1990s and 2000s France, a branch of French rap emerged with the intention to denounce the colonial continuities in France and to put forward a dissonant memory of the French colonial past (see for example Béru 2011, Clément 2015, Djavadzadeh 2015, Sonnette 2018; on dissonant memory see van Huis et al 2019). In other words, it proposes a different narrative, notably denouncing the silences of the French collective memory and highlighting figures of Black liberation. As such, I argue that some rappers are engaging in memory work as memory activists (Rigney 2021). But how do rappers conduct this memory work? And how do audiences react to their memory activism? Those are questions I delved into in my Master Thesis about the construction and reception of dissonant memories in the work of three French rappers: Kery James, Médine, and Youssoupha.
An important part of the memory work is done by mentioning names of anti-racist and anti-colonial leaders. These "shoutouts" are a way for the rappers to pay tribute to the leaders, but also to maintain their memory and heritage. Rappers carefully choose the leaders they mention so they can identify with them. That contributes to including the artists in the (direct) lineage of the leaders. For example, in “Musique Nègre” (2016), Kery James identifies as an heir of Toussaint Louverture, while also providing a reminder of the Haitian revolution, the victory of enslaved people over the army of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the establishment of the first Black republic in 1804. Born from Haitian parents, the rapper delves both in his personal and collective heritage with this punchline. In addition, the videoclip is full of references to Black history, including rappers dressed as Black leaders.
Similarly, in “Speaker Corner” (2015), Médine connects himself to the Franco-Algerian figure of Jacques Mansour Vergès, a lawyer, political activist, and writer mainly known for his engagement in the Algerian War of Independence against French colonialism. Here Médine highlights his dual background, as both French and Algerian, advocating for the reconnection of the two - a renewing of this identity. In addition, he puts forward the memory of the Algerian war of Independence through the figure of Vergès, emphasising the armed struggle against colonialism.
In addition, the name of the song also refers to struggles for liberation. While speaker corners are public places where people are encouraged to express themselves on diverse topics, the one in Hyde Park (London, UK) is famous for hosting a lot of Pan African leaders. Medine then poses as an heir of these leaders, which is also evident in the video clip.
In “Noir Désir” (2011), Youssoupha proves his historical consciousness by acknowledging the leaders’ struggle and recognising the role they played in (his) history. Distancing himself from western figures, he highlights anti-colonial and Pan African struggles through a shoutout to Frantz Fanon and Thomas Sankara. In addition, playing on the double entendre of ‘histoire’ (as both ‘story’ and ‘history’), the rapper mixes individual and collective history and memory.
The selected rappers also insist on the continuity of the leaders’ struggles; they are not only something from the past, as systemic and global racism is still present in France. This continuity of struggles is for example illustrated by speech samples inserted in the tracks. In “One Love” (2007), Youssoupha chooses an original structure: speech - verse - speech - verse - speech. While putting forward the words of three Black leaders (Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Patrice Lumumba), the rapper establishes a call-and-response with them, as his own verses answer to the samples. In addition, the instrumental playing in the background during the speeches as well as during Youssoupha’s rap contributes to closely linking the rapper and the leaders together, in a cross-temporal struggle for Black liberation.
As the rappers identify themselves as leaders and claim the necessity to continue their struggles, it is no surprise that their audience in turn consider the rappers as leaders. This is visible through YouTube comments, which I analysed. It should be kept in mind that such comments are mostly posted by the most committed fans (Staiger 2005). However, the analysis can still be relevant to identify general trends among the rappers’ audience.
The analysis revealed that the audience connects the rappers to great historical figures, some that they mention in their raps. For example, Kery James is compared to Toussaint Louverture or Malcolm X. Médine is elevated as a leading figure for Algerian people. Inspired from a quote by Amilcar Cabral, “The revolutionaries have Algiers” (which the rapper also uses in one of his raps), the audience makes Medine a leader in the historical and memorial struggle about the French colonisation in Algeria, the Algerian Independence, and its aftermath (extending to today).
In addition, it is interesting to note the creation of knowledge networks in the comments sections. The names or events mentioned in the raps are not always clear for everyone, and some people ask about it, and are given answers by other members of the audience. Sometimes, people would mention books or movies on a similar topic as that tackled by the rapper, in case someone would want to dig deeper in it. This suggests that the rapper’s audience is interested in the colonial past and would like to know more about it. It also exposes, to a certain extent, the ‘knowledge fracture’ (Lemaire 2006) about this specific part of French history and shows that rap music can help in reducing it.
References:
Béru, Laurent. 2011. “Mémoire et musique rap. L’indissociabilité de l’esclavage et de la colonisation.” Mouvements, HS no. 1: 67-76. DOI: 10.3917/mouv.hs01.0067
Clément, Pierre-Alain. 2015. “La signification du politique dans le rap. L’exemple du ‘rap de fils d’immigrés’ (1997-2012).” Cultures & Conflits, 97: 123-141. DOI: 10.4000/conflits.18972
Djavadzadeh, Keivan. 2015. “Colonialité du pouvoir, postcolonialité du rap: l’émergence et la répression d’un rap français structuré autour de la critique postcoloniale dans les années 2000.” The Postcolonialist 3, no. 1: 1-9.
Lemaire, Sandrine. 2006. “Colonisation et immigration: des “points aveugles” de l’histoire à l’école?”, in La fracture coloniale. La société française au prisme de l’héritage colonial, eds. Pascal Blanchard, Nicolas Bancel, and Sandrine Lemaire, np. La Découverte
Rigney, Ann. 2021. “Afterword: the multiple entanglements of memory and activism”, in Remembering Social Movements. Activism and Memory, eds. Stefan Berger, Sean Scalmer, and Christian Wicke, 299-304. Routledge.
Sonnette, Marie. 2018. “La mise en scène des appartenances post-coloniales au sein d’œuvres de rappeurs contemporains en France.” Cahiers de Marge, 1: 1-7.
Staiger, Janet. 2005. Media Reception Studies. New York University Press.
Van Huis, Iris, Sigrid Kaasik-Krogerus, Tuuli Lähdesmäki, and Liliana Ellena. 2019. “Introduction” Europe, Heritage and Memory – Dissonant Encounters and Explorations”, in Dissonant Heritages and Memories in Contemporary Europe, ed. Tuuli Lähdesmäki, Luisa Passerini, Sigrid Kaasik-Krogerus, and Iris van Huis, 1-21. Palgrave Macmillan.
About the author
Justine Allasia completed a Master in Spatial Planning as well as one in Cultural History and Heritage at Utrecht University. For their latest Master thesis, they investigated the construction and reception of dissonant memories in French rap. Focusing on anti-colonial and anti-racist figures in rap songs, they showed how the French rap scene is a place of memory activism where rappers carry on the memory work done by grassroots associations, specifically since the 2000s. Justine is now an independent scholar, digging into diverse areas of interest including rap music, (post)colonial memories, urban graffiti, cultural heritage, and queer history.
Contact: justineallasia[at]live.fr