historic event for French-speaking hip-hop

2023-05-12 18:32:48

“This event is a symbol, a celebration of this popular culture which has experienced spectacular growth in barely ten years but which still lacks recognition. » For Nesrine Slaoui, journalist and author ofillegitimate (Fayard, 2021), the bet is won. Considering itself mistreated by the Victoires de la Musique, the French-speaking hip-hop scene decided, Thursday, May 11, to organize its own awards ceremony at the Châtelet theater in Paris: Les Flammes. Born from a joint idea of ​​reference media Yard and Booska-P, the event notably awarded Aya Nakamura the prize for female artist of the year.

A revenge for the singer who, despite her success and several nominations for the Victoires de la Musique, only managed to snatch the trophy for “the most streamed “(the most listened to on streaming platforms, editor’s note), in 2022. The same category had rewarded SCH, another major artist in popular culture. “But she only salutes the numbers, not the artistic approach”deplores Nesrine Slaoui.

A popular culture that infuses society

“It’s actually the only prize that rap artists have won since the elimination, in 2020, of the category “urban music””, confirms Flaesh (real name Victor Fléchon), contributor to the specialized media Hype Soul. However, he acknowledges that “without this exclusion of the Victoires de la Musique, the Flames would probably never have existed”. For the young specialist, this event “organized by popular culture actors, for popular culture lovers, is historic”.

A ceremony with airs of revenge, which also allows “to come together to reclaim this massively influential hip-hop culture. Its codes influence art, fashion and are even taken up by advertising, but credit and legitimacy do not follow”, Estimate Nesrine Slaoui.

For its first edition, the ceremony was broadcast online and, later, on W9, but not in prime time on the television. ” Not necessary “according to the journalist. “The popularity of hip-hop culture has come about thanks to and with the Web, especially through streaming. The public is there, it seems consistent to me that it is happening on these platforms »she raises.

The new and the old generation celebrated

An audience who was therefore able to comment on the ceremony live on the broadcasting platforms and who, upstream, participated in the designation of the winners. The voters were divided into two groups: the public for half and a jury of professionals (record companies, producers and other specialized journalists) for the other.

Among the big winners, the rapper Tiakola, nominated in February in the “revelation of the year” category at the Victoires de la Musique, but then doubled by the Belgian Pierre de Maere. This time, in a custom-built arena judged by his peers, the wildly successful young hip-hop prodigy walked away with three awards. And if the younger generation was celebrated, so was the older one: Rat Luciano, a famous member of the Fonky Family, was rewarded with an “Eternal Flame” for his pioneering role.