FRANCE: African rapper Rost challenges French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy with lyrics as he gives voice to disadvantaged youths in Paris' suburbs

Record ID: 603872

  • Title: FRANCE: African rapper Rost challenges French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy with lyrics as he gives voice to disadvantaged youths in Paris' suburbs
  • Date: 18th November 2005
  • Summary: CLOSE OF ROST LISTENING TO MUSIC ON HEADPHONES
  • Embargoed: 3rd December 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADM74YY0EW071F50BBHRT7KML7
  • Story Text: Rost is a black young man living in one of Paris' poorest areas since he came from Togo, west Africa, as a kid from a family of 9. As many people his age, he holds the French conservative government responsible for racial discrimination and unemployment which makes life difficult for those who live in the country's city suburbs, but he has found a non-violent and positive way to express his resentment: words.
    Since he wrote his first rap lyrics at the age of 13, Rost has sold 250,000 copies of his 23 albums across France, which doesn't make him a pop celebrity but gives him just enough to live well. Now 29 years old, he owns a small but well equipped production studio in Paris and an independent label he created in 1996 so that he wouldn't be forced to censor his texts.
    "Many people think that rap music spreads violent messages, but they are wrong," Rost says. He thinks rap lyrics give a voice to those who are marginalized by society and ignored by politics. They gave to him an alternative way to express his anger instead of doing what he calls "silly things".
    When a wave of violent unrest erupted in France's city suburbs at the end of October, Rost went with his camera to the neighbourhoods where hundreds of cars were being torched every night by angry teenagers and interviewed them, just to find out that they felt lost and hopeless. They have two alternatives for their life, Rost said: "they can follow the example of an older brother who studied and got a good job or make some easy money by joining the illegal business."
    "Often in the suburbs the second way prevails, because it's much easier to enter that business than to find a job," said Rost, whose real first name Fofo means "big brother" in his first language.
    The Togolese rapper was inspired by what he had seen in Paris' suburbs during the riots as he started composing the songs for his next album, to be out in February. Back to his small studio, he wrote down harsh words against French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, which he had already targeted in his songs and challenged in words the curfew imposed by many local authorities in order to curb violence.
    Rost thinks that Sarkozy is one of those politicians who took advantage of the unrest in order to increase his popularity by playing hard on criminals. He said that he was disappointed and angry when he read that the minister's popularity increased by 11 points in the last polls.
    Though Rost is not directly involved in politics, he thinks that his music can be seen as an ultimate form of policy, as it expresses people's needs.
    Born in Togo and grown up in French capital city since the age of ten after he spent a couple of years in Gabon, Rost still doesn't have a French passport. He feels close to today's desperate suburban youths. He spent his adolescence as a street kid, forced out of the 20 squared-meter flat where he lived with his large family.
    He says rap music gave him something to work for which prevented him from following a wrong path. Now he doesn't even smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol.
    Rost, whose full name is Fofo Adam 'Megaa, chose his current name as a signature for the graffiti he used to make on walls when he was a kid. He's one of France's many black and white rappers who are mostly popular amongst youths in the country's urban areas.
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