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Rhythm And Poetry.

Most French hip hop artists come from urban areas outside of Paris known as the banlieues (including Lunatic, Mafia K1 Fry, La Brigade, Secteur Ä), Lyon, Lille, Le Havre (La Boussole), Strasbourg, Toulouse (KDD) or Marseille (IAM, Fonky Family, Psy 4 De La Rime, 3ème Oeil, and others). Many French rappers are products of the HLM and use their tough upbringing as sources of inspiration in their lyrics.

The majority of French rappers are descended from African and DOM-TOM immigrants. Even though some of the pioneers like Lionel D and DJ Dee Nasty are not of African descent, Africans have dominated the music scene. However, in contrast to the United States, France has always featured numerous racially-mixed groups. Many of the most important rappers in France are Caucasian (including Kool Shen, of Portuguese and French descent; Akhenaton, of Italian descent; Diam's, of Cypriot and French descent; and Sinik, of Kabylian and French descent). Many are also immigrants from former French colonies who have moved to France for education or a better life. MC Solaar, who was born in Senegal, released his first CD in 1991. Within France, the two cities with the largest hip hop scene are Paris (the majority of French rappers come from the suburbs of Paris.) and Marseille.

History
Hip hop first appeared in France in 1979, just as the genre was achieving some success in the United States. Its popularity was due to the large African presence in France. By 1982, a number of hip hop radio stations had appeared, including Rapper Dapper Snapper, and the future star DJ Dee Nasty made his first appearance. That same year saw the first major hip hop concert, the New York City Rap Tour, sponsored by Europe 1 and featuring Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmixer DST, Fab 5 Freddy, Mr Freeze and the Rock Steady Crew.

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