I'm still fascinated how in France as opposed to the UK, radio stations support domestic music, coupled with a language thats not english artists like Oxmo Puccino are able to flourish.
I love the beats and the flow a french "Biggie" on a jazz tip.
Oxmo Puccino has a new album out now called "L'Arme de Paix"
my space: www.myspace.com/oxmopuccino
web: www.oxmo.net
Oxmo Puccino was born in 1974 in Mali. He came to Paris one year later, and lived in the XIXe arrondissement from the age of 5. He is the brother of basketball player Mamoutou Diarra. He appeared in the 2006 film Arthur and the Minimoys.
Puccino drew on the street-smart American hip-hop of the Notorious B.I.G. and other icons to document life in Paris' hardscrabble 19th district. Born in Mali in 1974, he arrived in Paris at age five as part of a family that included younger brother Mamoutou Diarra, later a professional basketball player of some international renown.
A longtime hip-hop fan, at age 21 Diarra began his collaboration with the fledgling rap collective Time Bomb, honing his craft alongside future superstars like Booba and Diam's. He quickly developed into a lyricist with a metaphorical ingenuity far more advanced than his contemporaries, crafting violent yet strangely poetic portraits of urban Paris life.
In 1996 Oxmo Puccino made his recorded debut with Pucc. Fiction, a contribution to the compilation L432. A series of subsequent mixtape appearances solidified his growing reputation within the French rap underground, and in 1998 he issued his solo debut, Opéra Puccino. Its 2001 follow-up, L'Amour Est Mort, proved Puccino's creative and commercial breakthrough, while 2004's Le Cactus de Sibérie confirmed his superstar status. After signing to the venerable jazz label Blue Note, Puccino assembled a new backing group, the Jazzbastards, to record 2006's Lipopette Bar. (wikipedia)
2 comments:
In France it is compulsory for radio's to play at least 40% of francophone music. This law (http://www.csa.fr/infos/controle/radio_quotas_accueil.php) has been voted in 1986 as a protection of 'French culture' against the great influence and dominance of English in Western pop culture.
A direct (and unplanned) consequence of this political descision is that french hip hop found its way to the mainstream radiostation from the mid nineties on.
SkyRock FM, which was a rock radio until the early 90's revolutionised into a French R&B/rap radio station because there was much more fench rap than french rock to play.
Today the most popular music style among french youth (wether, white, brown, black or whatever)is (french) rap and R&B and you will hear it everywhere.
One
It's been many years since I listened to Oxmo, back in the days his tunes were quite a big part of French rap. I remember my favorite song being 'Le jour ou tu partiras' featuring K-reen, if you have time download the song and the lyircs... good times!
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