La Rumeur-Paris, October 2004

Paris, October 2004

Since 2002 I have been following the musical evolutions of this atypical French rap band. In late 2003, I devoted a two-part radio series on La Rumeur for Radio France International’s World Tracks programme. (For more information, see the 2004 Freemuse publication “Shoot the Singer” (Zed Books, London) and the chapter “Rap and Censorship in France” - see http://www.freemuse.org/sw3452.asp#516_2280)

I go to a La Rumeur concert at the Transmusicales festival in Rennes to gauge the impact of the controversial band on rap followers. The reaction to their no-holds barred lyrics is mixed

La Rumeur has been highly critical of the French rap scene and the radio stations that vehicle rap music. Skyrock FM responds to the criticism. The six-man group is led by university graduates Ekoué and Hamé

Olivier Cachin is a leading authority on rap music. His perception of La Rumeur and its impact on the French hip hop scene. The parallels with, and influence of, American rap bands Public Enemy and NWA

Part two of the two-part series on the band whose lyrics are characterised as "an iron fist in an iron glove". The links between La Rumeur and other hardhitting French rap bands. The deep-lying philosophy behind the group's lyrics

Yet La Rumeur does not hide its admiration for certain French cultural values like Edith Piaf, Jean Gabin and 1950s film noirs. These contradictions are the fruit of intense exchanges between the six members

The band's trials and tribulations with the French legal system reflects the difficulties France continues to have in accepting hard-edge hip hop. This could be the result of their uncompromising critique of French colonialism and neo-colonialism

Daniel Brown