Hocus Pocus: Jazzy French Rap Group

Take the legendary Roots Crew (aka The Roots), add in some world champion DJs, and translate their lyrics to French, and you’ve got the French Rap group Hocus Pocus.

The group includes two members of the 4-time DMC world champion DJ/turntable team C2C (DJ Greem and 20Syl — who’s also the MC and producer for HP), along with musicians Antoine Saint-Jean, David Le Deunff, Herve Godard, and Matthieu Lelievre.

Hocus Pocus makes precisely the kind of Hip Hop I like most: The scratches are very reminiscent of DJ Premier and DJ Babu (Dilated Peoples), the music has elements of Funk, Soul, and Jazz a la A Tribe Called Quest, and the lyrics and flow are of the “vanilla aromatherapy” variety I tend to favor. (See: Common, ATCQ, Slum Village, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Little Brother/Phonte/The Foreign Exchange, Blu, Gift of Gab, Strange Fruit Project, The Roots, The Last Poets, Gil Scott Heron, etc.). It’s music I can nod my head and balance my checkbook to.

They are often compared The Roots, because their sound incorporates live instruments, of course, and also because they’re considered heroes in French Rap — in the same way The Roots are the torch bearers for artistry in American Hip Hop.

The “conscious Hip Hop” band is three albums deep now, and each one is superb. Their first album is called 73 Touches, their second is Place 54, and the latest album, is called 16 Pieces. (They’ve got a numeric titling theme going on.)

Place 54

If you like mellowed-out Jazz Rap, then this is your group. Nowhere was the style better executed than on their 2007 sophomore album, Place 54. With crisp horns, cool keys, funky samples, and smart instrumentals througout, the music alone would make for a brilliant jazz album. Rapper 20Syl traverses the tracks with just the right tone and energy to make the sound complete.

The UK Soul Singer Omar (one of my faves) is featured on “Smile,” and female rapper T-Love guests on “Vocab” — which has a profanity-laced chorus that I could do without. “Je la Soul” is expectedly soulful. And my favorite French Rap song ever “Mr. Tout Le Monde,” appears on the album. It’s a cautionary tale about a man’s quest for fame.

In 2010, the group released, 16 Pieces, which further showcased their melodic, jazzy, poetic flavor. It didn’t top Place 54 in my opinion, but it was still a good album that showed off their signature style. Check out “Equilibre,” featuring Oxmo Puccino.

Buy 16 Pieces by Hocus Pocus >>

Also from 16 Pieces, here’s the funky single “Beautiful Losers,” featuring Soul singer Alice Russell and a cameo by an animated Barack Obama.

Tetra

While there hasn’t been a proper Hocus Pocus album in a few years, the boys haven’t left us emptyhanded. In 2012, C2C (the DJ portion of the group) released a killer album album called Tetra, which spawned the number 1 hit “Down the Road” and the top 20 hit “Happy,” and they won the Victoire de la musique for Best Video in 2013 for their single “F.U.Y.A.”

Tetra is kind of like Wax Tailor meets Daft Punk. If that sounds good to you, check it out.


Here’s the video for “Down the Road,” and an unofficial video for the delicious slice of Soul, “Who Are You” (featuring Oliver Daysoul on vocals):