Back and Forth The Channel

It’s been well over a year since Tiakola and Dave dropped their double single, “Meridian”and “Special”, in which the former won a Flamme award as well as certified diamond in France – safe to say the duo was a crowd favourite last summer. Collaborations between British and French rappers are nothing new; “Polémique” by Freeze corleone and Central Cee was the first sound I heard back in 2021 that used such a tango, but we’ve seen collaborations between artists from the two countries skyrocket in recent years, especially in rap. Gracing us with catchy beats and witty verses that borrow one another’s language, this has also led to bigger audience reach.

Collaboration can’t be solely attributed to  two artists from the countries hopping on a track together-- it’s also been done through the composition of the songs and their own use of the language. Take the release of Tiakola’s “LA MELO EST GANGX” with Gazo for example: an interview with GRM daily touched on the fact that AFRIKANBADMAN is an Afrobeat sound that includes touches of what the artists call ‘shades of the British sound’. The song was produced by British-Ghanaian JAE5, who definitely left a ‘stamp’ on the song as the duo describe in the aforementioned interview. French rappers have always loved incorporating words from other languages in their songs, not just limiting themselves to borrowing Shakespeare’s language.

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On the other side of the Channel, the world has been graced with yet another song of the genre this past August with Central Cee’s collaboration with Paris’ 19th district representative,JRK 19 on“Bolide Noire”. Seems like Cench can’t get enough of Paris as he’s just dropped another single, “Moi”,  featuring Raye that opens with a beautiful melody mixing both languages:

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         Je pense à toi

         J'aimerais te voir ce soir

         Je ne suis pas amoureuse de toi (Fais semblant)

         Fais semblant avec moi

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         I wonder why

         There's a stone-cold breeze as I kiss him goodbye

         Paris is the city of love, they say

         But not for him and I

         C'est la dernière fois, fois, pour toi et moi

         Ouais, ouais, j'ai compris que même les bad bitches pleurent

         Je rentre à la maison en Eurostar

         Ce soir, fais semblant avec moi

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Her verse sets the scene for the rap to follow, as well as provides a soulful contrast for what’s to come. The use of language here provides another ambience to the song and adds just another layer of depth.

Songs like these don’t just tickle the ear, but also provide insight into different cultures and present sides of the two languages that can’t be found in textbooks. They open doors to wider audiences, are a fun deviance from typical monolingual music,  and create a new blend that is sure to grow in years to come.

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