Respect Old School French Hip Hop

I spent most of this past Fete de la Musique in Paris at a Hip Hop block party. When the DJ put on this French Hip Hop song in the middle of his Old School set, the crowd erupted in cheers and started singing along. It was foreign to me, yet very familiar.

The song is “Respect,” by Alliance Ethnik, a French hip hop group from the mid-90′s whose members were all descendants of French immigrants from various Francophone countries. This song has everything that epitomizes the Golden Era of Hip Hop. Hip Hop Posse? Check. Positive lyrics? Check. Lyrical playfulness? Check. Vocals by Vinia Mojica? Check, check, check.

Alliance Ethnik’s album, Simple & Funky, was produced by Bob Power, who’s had his hand in many Hip Hop classics, perhaps most notably A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Maruaders, The Low End Theory, and People’s Instinctive Travels, as well as De La Soul’s Buhloone Mind State. You can’t get more Golden Era than that.

It’s nice to know the French have their own version of Old School Hip Hop. Journey with me back to the summer of ’95, and enjoy the video for “Respect.”