French Hip Hop 18 Items

Like an ode to your Walkman and to those 90-minute tapes that you used to rewind with your pen, DA BREAK's first LP was all about Funk & Hip Hop 90's flavors.
That album immediately found itself on playlists on all your favorite radios (Radio Nova, FIP, Couleur 3, France Inter, RFI, BBC 6…), and enabled Da Break to play live in major festivals and venues (Nuits Sonores, Nuits Zebrées Nova, Radiomeuh Festival, Woodstower, Festival de Marne, Hortus Live…).
This was completely unexpected, a major learning experience, and above all a lot of fun and gave the Lyon-based gang a whole lot of ideas for the next stage in their musical journey, propelling them towards new musical horizons: infectious riddims with grooving keyboard & guitar licks as their bedrock and free association leading them into jazz, broken beat, soul or disco vibes … During the creation of Let It Shine, all doors were wide open and all musical genres potentially welcome.
The production still has a « home made » feel to it, like the previous album, but with a modern, sonic twist when needed- a result of three years on the road together and new creative input from group members. Whether it be on a New York summertime roof-top, or settled in a Low-Rider with some G-Funk, or moving to some phat Jamaican style bass-lines or getting sensual on a tight breakbeat, lead singer Hawa knows how to shine her feminine and versatile brilliance on the project. She gives to the songs the final touch and the emotion needed to share with us her stories about human relationships - everyday tales sharing her real life-experience. This ever-expanding musical spectrum, Da Break play with it, explore it and also let it kick completely free at times ! Song after song, they bring a magic glow to LET IT SHINE.

After a long hiatus, Tokyo-based french producer Dela comes back with Électrique, a new project paying tribute to hip-hop legends André 3000 and Big Boi, known together as OutKast. This new 7inch record includes three tracks of Électrique : Yosky Wosky Pisky Wisky, Dimanche Matin, and the bonus track Cergy. Known for his laid-back, jazz influenced, dreamy rap instrumentals, Dela introduced his music to the world with his Atmosphere Airlines mixtapes and his albums Changes Of Atmosphere (2008) and
Translation Lost (2011). A student of Q-Tip, Pete Rock and J-Dilla amongst others, Dela’s work foreshadowed today’s increasively popular lofi hip-hop / chillhop movement. Side A features Yosky Wosky Pisky Wisky, a remix of Stankonia’s classic Humble Mumble,
featuring Eykah Badu. Dela changes the mood of the original track, mixing samples and live instrumentation together to turn a salsa-breakbeat groove into a melody infused otherworldly superfunk. On side B, Dela remixes Sole Sunday, a Goodie Mob featuring Outkast track, edited to feature only the two ATLiens and renamed Dimanche Matin. The beat is reminiscent of his early work, layering boom bap drums over a haunting saxophone melody. Also on side B, the bonus cut Cergy turns a Brazilian MPB sample into an ode to Dela’s hometown with the help of live drums, bass, electric keyboards and a few of his friends singing.

The Strasbourg MC returns with a new album with high-flying lyrics. A year and a half after the release of his album “Bohemian Rap Story”, that definitely established Dooz Kawa as an essential rap artist of the French rap scene.
This fourth album “Contes Cruels” offers 12 tracks still as rich in poetry and great instrumentations. Dooz Kawa tells stories about love and hate with the same passion. No matter how much time passes, Dooz Kawa's words will always have an effect on the listener. Featuring: Lucio Bukowski, Lautrec and JP Manova.

Dumi Right and the late Cadence of Raw Produce were frequent collaborators who connected after becoming label mates on the fledgling Domination Records. This led to a number of incredible creative works including a project called Alternate Reality. While much of their work has since seen the light of day, this song remained, unheard and locked in the vault until now. Produced by Cadence, “Opposite Day” features each MC hilariously playing the role of a rapper rhyming about things totally contrary to what they would do in reality. The song highlights all too common contradictions inherent in much of the commercial rap that is popular today.
The “Nightfall” is another dope track by Dumi Right that features Mr. Lif in a cautionary tale about working to not get caught up in negative cycles. Nightfall serves as a metaphor for falling victim to the darkness and self destructive activities that would lead one down a dead end path.

Beatmaker / DJ from Rennes (France) J-Zen stood out with his first album entitled Managua, composed during a trip in South America and recorded between Rennes, Paris, Berlin, New York and Los Angeles is a call to travel, his first source of inspiration. Four years after this first opus and even more passport stamps, he presents Standa Lone.

Tasty Boombap 7inch produced by French beatmaker MOAR (The Vibe Drops) featuring 2 legends MC from the indy Rap scene, SADAT X (Brand Nubian) & EL DA SENSEI (Artifacts), on a limited pressing.
From the forthcoming MOAR's LP.

This is a historic mixtape (1994) in the history of French hip hop, featuring even the first steps of the famous French rapper Booba, at the age of 14!

For The Geek and VRV, everything is a matter of time. Since they first met six years ago, the two beatmakers have been broadcasting their music to the four corners of the world, and their collaboration is as strong as ever after the years. Vanguards of the French instrumental hip-hop scene, they’re coming out today with their first album, Time Machine, a synthesis of the sounds and the ideas they’ve been working on from the very beginning of their careers. A trip back through time, as its name suggests, demonstrating the range of sound possibilities that they created in previous projects and on their international tours.