Four years after the success of 13 Organized, the collective initiated by Jul is back this Friday October 4 with a new album. A record on which more than 160 artists from Marseille are invited to promote the rap scene of the Marseille city.
Marseille rap is making a comeback. After the dazzling success of the album 13 Organizedin 2020, carried by the tube Organized bandthe collective of Marseille artists, initiated by Jul, is back this Friday, October 4 with a second project called 13 Organized 2.
Strong from the success of the previous part – certified double platinum disc – Jul brings together on this album more than 150 artists from Marseille, all generations and popularity combined, to give them visibility and highlight the richness and diversity of the Marseille city’s rap scene.
“The J gave us a decisive pass”
While Marseille, one of the cradles of rap in France, is seeing the emergence of new artists, Jul, one of the major figures of the genre, decides in 2020 to bring together all these talents under a single banner, that of the collective 13 Organized.
The idea behind this group is simple, but ambitious: to promote the rap scene of the Marseille city, whose popularity has been slightly declining since the 1990s, and to strengthen its identity at the national, even international, level.
In this context, the collective’s first album, entitled 13 Organizedwhich brings together more than fifty artists from the Marseille rap scene from all walks of life.
There we find some already very popular rappers like Akhenaton and Shurik’n from the group IAM or SCH and Soso Maness but also other more confidential talents like Houari, Solda, AM La Scampia or Kamikaz.
In order to put everyone on an equal footing, Jul decides to grant each of the artists present on the album 13 Organized the role of producers and thus receive the same share of the project’s revenues, regardless of their popularity. the rapper renewed the initiative with the more than 150 artists of 13 Organized 2according to his management, contacted by BFMTV.com.
“It’s unheard of in the history of French rap,” assures BFMTV.com Fred Musa, host of the show ‘Planète Rap’ on Skyrock.
“Generally, there is a producer who will take a maximum of royalties and leave a few crumbs for others. But here, Jul really wants a sharing between all the artists present,” he continues.
“The J, the person who could have played it alone his entire career, gave each of us a decisive pass instead of scoring alone,” adds rapper Kofs, present on the album, at the microphone of Mouv radio.
A “launching pad” for young artists
Upon its release, 13 Organized had the effect of a bomb on the French musical landscape and sold more than 36,300 copies in one week, driven by the success of the single Organized gang. Having become a true anthem, this title is the first piece in the history of music in France to so quickly receive platinum single certification, then diamond single.
He also holds the record for the French rap song to have reached 100 million views on YouTube the fastest.
“We have sold thousands of albums, so it allows a young artist who is just starting out to make a name for himself and join a real economy,” says Fred Musa.
“To be on a project like 13 Organizedit’s definitely a boost so if you’re a developing artist and you’re a little smart, you’ll use it as a launching pad,” adds the specialist.
Thanks to this success, many young talents from Marseille appearing on the album 13 Organisé were able to emerge on the national rap scene and gain legitimacy to offer themselves new artistic connections with already established rappers.
Thus, according to Chartmetrics data, an artist like Dadinho, present on two tracks of the album 13 Organizedwent from more than 11,000 monthly listeners on Spotify on October 8, 2020 (the day before the record’s release) to 239,630 just one month later. This gain in popularity has allowed him to release two albums, in 2021 and 2024, and to work with key artists of the rap scene like Gazo or Ninho.
Same spotlight for Solda. Present on the song Organized bandthe Marseille artist, member of the group Guirri Mafia saw his number of monthly listeners on Spotify increase from 13,000 on August 14, 2020 (the day before the release of Organized band) to more than 2 million a month later, according to Chartmetrics data.
“That’s all the power of an artist like Jul. It’s a bit of a wave that carries with it everything in its path. He has managed to put the spotlight back on the Marseille scene,” analyzes Fred Musa.
In addition to young talents, the success of 13 Organisé also gave a boost to already established artists like SCH. Already known to the general public thanks to the success of his albums Anarchy et JVLIVSthe rapper went from 1,637,515 monthly listeners on Spotify, on August 15, 2020, (day of release of Organized band) to nearly 4 million just a month later, according to Chartmetrics data.
“His verse on the first ‘Organized Band’ brought him yet another notoriety and allowed him to go even higher and further,” specifies Fred Musa.
“’13 Organisé’ did not change the landscape of Marseille, because the stars were already there, but some entered a new dimension. Apart from Jul, most of them were in the top 20 in sales and they now dominate the top 5 “, says Henzy, editor-in-chief of Rap Sales in the columns of the rap media Booska-P.
“We have a golden generation”
An effective recipe that Jul decided to reuse in 13 Organized 2. But for this second part, the Marseille artist thought even bigger with a disc of 27 tracks (compared to 14 for the previous one) which brings together more than 150 rappers from the Marseille city.
As with the first part, Jul brings together old and new generation of artists. The Rat Luciano rubs shoulders with Kamikaz on Oh yeah my bloodOussagaza offers a feat with Naps while Jocksmoke collaborates with Alonzo.
“It’s a source of pride. This will bring Marseille together again and give exposure to the city, full of talent, I am happy with this union and to see the arrival of new faces, we have a golden generation and it “it’s cool of Jul to support all that”, assures the artist Janis, present on the project, to the newspaper The Parisian.
And the success of 13 Organized also inspires other rappers to create compilations highlighting the talents of their region or country like the album 100% Congoinitiated by the artist Gradur, which should see the light of day this year.
Carla Loridan with Théophile Magoria
