Africa Is a Country

Shoutout Banlieue

Shoutout Banlieue

By
Hinda Talhaoui

Number 8 in our series, Paris Is a Continent, showcasing the music of the French capital, is about bragging rights and one song.

A screenshot from the music video from Claise's "Vive le Banlieue."

Loads of Paris suburbs or departements get shouted out in this song by a cast of the city’s rappers: 75 (Paris), 77 (Seine Et Marne), 78 (Les Yveline), 91 (Essonne; my suburb), 92 (Hauts de Seine), 93 (Seine Saint Denis), 94 (Val de Marne) and 95 (Val d’Oise). This a break from the usual enmity between suburbs (often manufactured to aid record sales), like the long-standing “beef” between Rohff (from the 94th) and Booba (the 92nd).

Watch.

Editor: For those interesting in the history, politics and culture of the banlieues or suburbs, we can recommend the following in English: “Banlieue” by Ernesto Castaneda; “Uprisings in the Banlieue,” by Etienne Balibar; “Police Power and Race Riots in Paris;” “French working-class banlieues and black American ghetto: from conflation to comparison;” “Grassroots Political Militants: Banlieusards and Politics, Mute Magazine” by Emilio Qiadrelli;  the films: La Haine, Ma 6-T va crack-er, Games of Love and Chance, Neuilly Yo Mama; “Arab Noise and Ramadan Nights: Rai, Rap, and Franco-Maghrebi Identities;” and “The Paris Banlieue: Peripheries of Inequality.”

Further Reading

Not exactly at arm’s length

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Ruto’s Kenya

Since June’s anti-finance bill protests, dozens of people remain unaccounted for—a stark reminder of the Kenyan state’s long history of abductions and assassinations.

Between Harlem and home

African postcolonial cinema serves as a mirror, revealing the limits of escape—whether through migration or personal defiance—and exposing the tensions between dreams and reality.

The real Rwanda

The world is slowly opening its eyes to how Paul Kagame’s regime abuses human rights, suppresses dissent, and exploits neighboring countries.

In the shadow of Mondlane

After a historic election and on the eve of celebrating fifty years of independence, Mozambicans need to ask whether the values, symbols, and institutions created to give shape to “national unity” are still legitimate today.

À sombra de Mondlane

Depois de uma eleição histórica e em vésperas de celebrar os 50 anos de independência, os moçambicanos precisam de perguntar se os valores, símbolos e instituições criados para dar forma à “unidade nacional” ainda são legítimos hoje.