Poésie et discours social dans le rap français et camerounais : Booba, La Fouine, Valsero et Maalhox le Viber

Like other “traditional” literary modes of expression, rap is a space where all forms of individual and social malaise can be enunciated and denounced. In addition to its aesthetic, poetic, musical and visual resources, rap reveals a social discourse. Its themes are inspired by personal experiences...

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Main Author: Jovensel Ngamaleu
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Pléiade (EA 7338) 2021-12-01
Series:Itinéraires
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/itineraires/9022
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author Jovensel Ngamaleu
author_facet Jovensel Ngamaleu
author_sort Jovensel Ngamaleu
collection DOAJ
description Like other “traditional” literary modes of expression, rap is a space where all forms of individual and social malaise can be enunciated and denounced. In addition to its aesthetic, poetic, musical and visual resources, rap reveals a social discourse. Its themes are inspired by personal experiences used for collective expression. This article considers the texts of four rappers from a transcultural and performative perspective: Booba (“Jimmy”), La Fouine (“Mes repères”), Valsero (“Lettre au Président”) and Maalhox le Viber (“Tu es dedans”). The first two are French and the other two are Cameroonian. All come from precarious social backgrounds and have directly experienced difficult situations (immigrant life, poverty, unemployment, incarceration, etc.) and their work could be described as satirical and auto/socio-therapeutic rap. They narrate themselves by depicting the social world through a rhetorical performance. According to them, reality, although poetized in many ways, should be submitted to crude and harsh (d)enunciation in order for change to take place. Thus, the two French rappers stage a daily life that is characterized by violence and precariousness, which both set the course for the suburban immigrants. For their Cameroonian colleagues, the focus is on atrophied/asphyxiated youth, who are left to their own devices and whose dreams have become vain because of a selfish political caste and bad governance (Valsero). These youths, lacking reference points, take refuge in the outrageous sexual debauchery (Maalhox le Viber). In both cases, rap is not only a poetic-musical discourse but also one characterized by its use of satire. Rappers, like committed writers, know how to combine words and woes in their art, making it into an instrument at the service of their audience’s pleasure and a tool for social progress.
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spelling doaj-art-830cda2ae24b4f0f962b4e29ab18a8a72025-08-20T03:07:34ZfraPléiade (EA 7338)Itinéraires2427-920X2021-12-012020310.4000/itineraires.9022Poésie et discours social dans le rap français et camerounais : Booba, La Fouine, Valsero et Maalhox le ViberJovensel NgamaleuLike other “traditional” literary modes of expression, rap is a space where all forms of individual and social malaise can be enunciated and denounced. In addition to its aesthetic, poetic, musical and visual resources, rap reveals a social discourse. Its themes are inspired by personal experiences used for collective expression. This article considers the texts of four rappers from a transcultural and performative perspective: Booba (“Jimmy”), La Fouine (“Mes repères”), Valsero (“Lettre au Président”) and Maalhox le Viber (“Tu es dedans”). The first two are French and the other two are Cameroonian. All come from precarious social backgrounds and have directly experienced difficult situations (immigrant life, poverty, unemployment, incarceration, etc.) and their work could be described as satirical and auto/socio-therapeutic rap. They narrate themselves by depicting the social world through a rhetorical performance. According to them, reality, although poetized in many ways, should be submitted to crude and harsh (d)enunciation in order for change to take place. Thus, the two French rappers stage a daily life that is characterized by violence and precariousness, which both set the course for the suburban immigrants. For their Cameroonian colleagues, the focus is on atrophied/asphyxiated youth, who are left to their own devices and whose dreams have become vain because of a selfish political caste and bad governance (Valsero). These youths, lacking reference points, take refuge in the outrageous sexual debauchery (Maalhox le Viber). In both cases, rap is not only a poetic-musical discourse but also one characterized by its use of satire. Rappers, like committed writers, know how to combine words and woes in their art, making it into an instrument at the service of their audience’s pleasure and a tool for social progress.https://journals.openedition.org/itineraires/9022songpoetryrapsocial discoursemusical engagement
spellingShingle Jovensel Ngamaleu
Poésie et discours social dans le rap français et camerounais : Booba, La Fouine, Valsero et Maalhox le Viber
Itinéraires
song
poetry
rap
social discourse
musical engagement
title Poésie et discours social dans le rap français et camerounais : Booba, La Fouine, Valsero et Maalhox le Viber
title_full Poésie et discours social dans le rap français et camerounais : Booba, La Fouine, Valsero et Maalhox le Viber
title_fullStr Poésie et discours social dans le rap français et camerounais : Booba, La Fouine, Valsero et Maalhox le Viber
title_full_unstemmed Poésie et discours social dans le rap français et camerounais : Booba, La Fouine, Valsero et Maalhox le Viber
title_short Poésie et discours social dans le rap français et camerounais : Booba, La Fouine, Valsero et Maalhox le Viber
title_sort poesie et discours social dans le rap francais et camerounais booba la fouine valsero et maalhox le viber
topic song
poetry
rap
social discourse
musical engagement
url https://journals.openedition.org/itineraires/9022
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