French Awards To Celebrate Rap Artists Snubbed By The Mainstream

France, the second biggest market for rap music in the world after the US, will host its first awards ceremony for rap, R&B and Afrobeats music on Thursday, after years of criticism that the popular genres are woefully underrepresented at the country's mainstream music awards.

- Anissa Rami

Rap, R&B and Afrobeats dominate streaming in France in what is considered to be a new golden age for French rap, four years after the US hip-hop magazine DJBooth deemed Paris the world's most successful city for hip-hop.

Last year, more than half of France's 20 top-selling albums were by French rappers. Rap accounted for 65% of listening on streaming platforms last year, but beyond the specialist radio stations Mouv' and Skyrock, it makes up only 12% of music broadcast on French radio.

Rap's absence from France's mainstream music awards has long been a source of controversy and scandal. There was a wave of indignation when the rising young star Tiakola was overlooked for "revelation of the year" at February's Les Victoires de la Musique awards, despite his acclaimed performance on stage.

Now two media companies, Booska-P and Yard, have organised the first awards ceremony - Les Flammes - to celebrate culture they say grows out of working-class neighbourhoods, "and the creativity of the people who make it".