by The hip-hop movement arrived in France in the 1980s through films, including Wild Style in 1983, concerts by Zulu Nation creator Afrika Bambaataa, and even broadcasts programs such as the cult Deenastyle on Radio Nova at the end of the decade. This program, presented by DJ Dee Nasty and rapper Lionel D, was the first rap show broadcast in France, featuring pioneers such as NTM, Ministère A.M.E.R., Assassin, and even MC Solaar. The beats on which these artists rapped were very often sampled from the B-sides of American rap albums, a practice emblematic of the era.
The 90s experienced a boom in the use of samples, thanks to artists such as MC Solaar. With hits like Bouge de là and even Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo, which samples Quincy Jones’ End Title, Claude MC succeeded in popularizing sampling. This first golden age of French rap was also marked by a paradisiacal situation where artists could sample more or less what they wanted, without any fear of legal reprisals whatsoever. This gave rise to such masterpieces as IAM’s Nés sous la même étoile, which sampled the famous Murder In The First soundtrack sample by Christopher Young. The immense repertoire that is music was therefore available to them without any restrictions, but ironically before it became as accessible as it is today. Up until the 2000s, when the problems began, beatmakers enjoyed “digging” into every genre to find the perfect loop. The master of this art is, of course, DJ Mehdi, who has 224 samples and 41 remixes listed on whosampled.com. To name just one, the 113 group’s emblematic track Tonton du Bled, composed by DJ Mehdi, sampled Ahmed Whabi’s song, Harkatni Eddamaa. Unfortunately, the group still has today copyright problems, explaining its absence from streaming platforms.
With the 2000’s French rap reached a turning point in its use of samples. Due to numerous successes and the sums of money they generated, sample rights holders began to emerge, claiming phenomenal sums following new copyright legislation. Several groups and artists of the time were threatened with having their records taken off the shelves, such as Les Chiens de Pailles and 113 at the time. Due to these complications, artists turned to live instrumentals or samples in the public domain. On top of this, the industry in general was in the throes of a recording crisis at the time, and with a few exceptions, rappers were unfortunately abandoned by record companies, which also had an impact on the use of samples in the genre.
When the industry began to take off again at the beginning of the decade groups such as 1995 emerged, appealing in their insolence, their striking punchlines, their multisyllabics and their boom-bap beats. They reappropriated the codes of the time and added their own spin on them. Rappers such as Nekfeu and Alpha Wann, but above all their producers of the time, who, like beatmakers in the ’90s, would dig out jazz and soul vinyl from the ’70s, and rework the distinctive melodies. The eponymous track from their first project La source is a perfect example, sampling the melody of I Love The Way You Love by Jamaican reggae-soul band The Chosen Few.
In the years that followed, rappers like Georgio and Némir continued to use this creative process. For instance, sampling The Eye’s horror film soundtrack illustrates the versatile use of the sample in French rap. In 2017 rapper Isha showed us that sampling is a tool that reaches far beyond the beats. In Tony Hawk, the Belgian rapper uses his flow (voice) to cover the melody of Entry of the Gladiators, a literally clownish military song composed by Julius Fucik in 1897. Indeed, at 1:30 Isha performs a mastered stylistic exercise, rhyming over this circus tune. At first glance, this may seem a bit dodgy, but when you think about it, you realize that some of the undisputed hits of French rap were composed in a similar way. Tracks like Jul and Alonzo’s Normal borrow the tune from Les Démons de minuit, or even Gradur and Heuss l’Enfoiré’s song Ne reviens pas cover Eiffel 65’s Blue Da Ba Dee. Proof that samples can take many forms and affect many aspects of a song.
In regards to the new scene emerging around the time of the pandemic, sampling is also an integral part of their music. From Jungle Jack with La Découverte Du Feu, who sample Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) by the iconics Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, to Jeune Lion who, in collaboration with Osirus Jack, cover La Bergère et le Ramoneur from the animated film Le Roi et l’Oiseau, the new generation have nothing to envy from their predecessors, especially when it comes to creativity. However, like the artists of their time, the ones today did not lose their love of digging. Furlax, for example, has gone and dug up a 1969 soul/funk sample with Motherlode’s Soft Shell, for the honey, Fantaisie. With hits like Mauvais Payeur by the leader, aka La Fève, sampling notes from the video game Hollow Knight, this generation proves that sampling is indeed a tool that transcends eras, relaying from one hip-hop enthusiast to another.
Hip-hop, in its very essence, is oriented towards other cultures, and sampling is the practice that best represents this cultural aspect, particularly in French rap. Indeed, despite the obvious American influence on French rappers, and therefore on their use of sampling, French rap possesses its own specificities. The creativity of certain artists is sometimes spectacular or even moving, such as Jul, who covers a children’s nursery rhyme on Pic et pic, Alcool et Drame and tells us about the pain and torment of his new daily life on a Jul-style prod, in other words, very catchy and cheerful. But sampling in French rap is also specific thanks to its attraction to Arabic music, film dialog extracts, classical music… A little-known example is the sample, by Ideal J and Daddy Mory on Evitez, of Charles Aznavour’s song Les deux pigeons, which is in fact his only sampled version to date, an uncommon feature in the discography of France’s respected Frank Sinatra. This almost traditional aspect, combined with the rap and modern sounds that accompanies it, creates a musical mix unique to France.
But sampling in French rap is also specific thanks to its attraction to Arabic music, film dialog extracts, classical music… A little-known example is the sample, by Ideal J and Daddy Mory on Evitez, of Charles Aznavour’s song Les deux pigeons, which is in fact his only sampled version to date, an uncommon feature in the discography of France’s respected Frank Sinatra. This almost traditional aspect, combined with the rap and modern sounds that accompanies it, creates a musical mix unique to France.
In French rap, sampling reveals an extraordinary creativity as the genre blends local and international influences to define its own richness. Despite legal challenges and changing technological contexts, sampling has always been one of the cornerstones of the genre, both across generations and as a means of asserting cultural identity. Indeed, it is through these passages that heritage can take its place in French rap, always reinventing itself while respecting its codes.
