Punchlines are raining down on the French far right. A collective of rappers denounces, in a song released this Tuesday, July 2 at midnight, the rise of the far right in France.
The day after the first round of early legislative elections which put Jordan Bardella’s RN in the lead, a hard-hitting title from 9 minutes and 43 seconds was published in reaction. “Fuck the gathering”, “Jordan you’re dead”, “I know the far right is using my disconnection / So anti-RN”, “They forget that Deschamps won the World Cup with the sons of immigrants” can be heard for example.
Brought together under the leadership of producer and composer DJ Kore and artistic director Ramdane Touhami, the artists (including Fianso, Akhenaton, Mac Tyer, Seth Gueko, Zola, Soso Maness, Alkapote…) created the title Not pass, in reference to the Spanish slogan against the regime of General Franco in the 1930s.
The collective began producing this epic piece the day after the European elections, where the National Rally (RN) also came out on top, provoking the act of dissolution of the National Assembly decided by Emmanuel Macron.
“I come from a culture where the FN, or the RN, is enemy number 1”
Not pass is full of punchlines addressed to Jordan Bardella, the head of the RN, the Le Pen family and Éric Zemmour (Reconquête!), denouncing the past of the French far right and police violence. This is not the first time that a group of rappers has delivered a political title, in 1997, seventeen artists from French rap, including Akhenaton, had already signed 11:30 against racist laws.
“I can’t let it go. I come from a culture where the FN, where the RN is enemy number 1. So, we had to react, explains artistic director Ramdane Touhami on RTL. I was surprised to see that the world of music, of rap, had not reacted as much as at the time with rock… That’s why I felt obliged to move everyone. The idea is to talk to young people with all the rappers you like, from all generations, from all regions.”
“It’s a long piece, but it says things. Personally, I don’t agree with everything but it will speak to millions of young people. It’s going to be a buzz, you’ll see.…”, he predicted.
Funds generated by listening to the song Not pass will be donated to the Abbé Pierre Foundation.
Beyond this collective, other voices from the hip-hop sphere called for voting during the legislative campaign, like heavyweights like Soprano or DJ Snake. A hundred organizations, like Greenpeace France or SOS Racisme, also called on Sunday evening to vote against the RN in the second round of the legislative elections on July 7.
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