In Marseille, Rap Helps Keep the Peace
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/arts/music/19rap.html?th&emc=th
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- julietp
- added this
Rap from Marseille represents the city's multiethnic population and holds the city together.
An ancient, gritty seaport, Marseille flaunts its history as an immigrant magnet. Its population of 820,000 includes 200,000 Muslims, 80,000 North African Jews, 80,000 Armenians. One of the largest immigrant groups is made up of Muslims from the Comoro Islands, near Madagascar.
The other day, a dozen or so teenage rappers in baggy jeans and hoodies gathered outside a community arts center called Le Mille-Pattes in Noailles, a poor immigrant neighborhood here, hard by the Old Port.
One of this city?s most successful hip-hop artists, M?Roumbaba Saïd, who calls himself Soprano, lately wrote a track called ?Melancholic Anonymous?: ?I can?t help it, expressing my feelings, my melancholy in my lyrics,? he rapped. ?I can laugh at my sadness. It helps.?
An ancient, gritty seaport, Marseille flaunts its history as an immigrant magnet. Its population of 820,000 includes 200,000 Muslims, 80,000 North African Jews, 80,000 Armenians. One of the largest immigrant groups is made up of Muslims from the Comoro Islands, near Madagascar.
The other day, a dozen or so teenage rappers in baggy jeans and hoodies gathered outside a community arts center called Le Mille-Pattes in Noailles, a poor immigrant neighborhood here, hard by the Old Port.
One of this city?s most successful hip-hop artists, M?Roumbaba Saïd, who calls himself Soprano, lately wrote a track called ?Melancholic Anonymous?: ?I can?t help it, expressing my feelings, my melancholy in my lyrics,? he rapped. ?I can laugh at my sadness. It helps.?
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- groups:
- Entertainment, Music
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- tags:
- Entertainment, Music, Rap, France, 2 more
