a book to pay homage to the past without falling into the trap of “it was better before”

This anthology, published by the online magazine “l’ABCDR du son”, focuses on French rappers from the 90s.

Where to start ? This is perhaps one of the questions that animated the collective when constructing this work before opting for a chronological framework, even if certain themes are transversal. At the start of the 90s, once Dee Nasty, Sidney and others had accompanied the beginnings of rap in France, the time came for some to take the plunge and go into the studio. Thus NTM, IAM, and MC Solaar released their first album the same year, in 1991.

“The slightest idea, the slightest spark, at the very beginning of the 90s, will trigger something else afterwards. If we take the case of NTM who will make a suburban rap, but also for Kool Shen to make a piece like ‘That’s my people’ which will become a yardstick of many things for French rap, of urban melancholy, it’s a real constant domino game”, explains Raphaël Da Cruz of the ABCDR of soundfor whom everything fits together and follows one another according to a logical progression.

The end of the 90s: the era of success

Collective emulation, creativity, the Paris-Marseille rivalries and therefore also between IAM and NTM, will have been a sort of common thread of this decade. The emergence also of Time Bomb or Secteur A and their new way of rapping inspired by the New York style offered several classics of French rap for two years. Also at a time when the majors believe in it, give budget, and where CDs are sold by the thousands. For Raphaël Da Cruz, the end of the 90s was a pivotal moment when many artists “arrive at a moment of total mastery of their music, (…) but in addition they manage to achieve public success beyond measure”he enthuses.

Paying homage to the past, by analyzing it, by explaining it, without falling into nostalgia or the trap of “it was better before”, this is the balance achieved by this work, 1990-1999, a decade of French rap.