La Rumeur

Since forming in 1996, French-language four-person rap crew La Rumeur have been giving a voice to France's Black immigrant community living in the cités (or suburbs) of Paris. Hailing from Élancourt, Yvelines, France MCs Ekoué, Hamé, Mourad, and Philippe and DJs, Kool M and Soul G take an uncompromising approach to rap that lives in their politically confrontational lyrics and hard-boiled beats. Starting to build their name in the late 1990s, the group released their debut EP, Le Poison d'Avril, in 1997 and have doggedly addressed sociopolitical issues across releases including follow-up Le Franc Tireur (1998) and successor, La Bavar & la Paria (1999), before stepping out with their debut full-length album, Ombre Sur la Mesure, in 2002, on which they immortalised the immigration journey and experience of their parents. Over the next 20 years, they continued to put out releases and show a commitment to activism and speak out against police brutality. In 2002, Hamé was accused by former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, then the French Minister of the Interior, of defaming the police with the band also involved in a legal battle that ensued for years until they were eventually acquitted in 2010. Albums Du Cœur à l'Outrage and 1997-2007 Les Inédits were released in 2007, in the midst of this legal attention, with Tout brûle déjà (2012), Les inédits 2 (2013) and Les inédits, vol. 3 (2017) following. In 2023, La Rumer released new album Comment reste propre?

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