A selection of 5 French rap video clips
written by Lou Touyarou
As the Francophone rap scene keeps evolving and diversifying, different rapers are putting more focus on the visuals that accompany their music in their video clips. Here is a selection of 5 French rap video clips that are worth checking out.
Sopico - Slide
After working in the studio for more than a year, Sopico comes back with a strong video clip to announce his newest release “Nuages”.
To be completely honest, I have not really been convinced by this last album, although I always loved his music pretty much since he started making any; I definitely recommend listening to his previous albums “Episode 0” and “YE”.
Nevertheless, this video clip is worth checking out. It is the only song on the album that I actually enjoy listening to, and the performance is really impressive. At the top of what seems to be an abandoned tower, Sopico just starts walking on one of the walls while playing the guitar. The production studio “Dissidence” are the ones in charge of the clip and had already worked with Sopico on the videoclips created for some tracks of “Episode 0”. They had a very different energy and were way more focused on creating trippy visuals with animation, but also definitely worth checking out.
Anyway, Dissidence studio is now well established in the francophone music industry and has a very popular visual identity to their work. Their work is also quite impressive in terms of technique, this video clip for Sopico shows that aspect very well.
After working in the studio for more than a year, Sopico comes back with a strong video clip to announce his newest release “Nuages”.
To be completely honest, I have not really been convinced by this last album, although I always loved his music pretty much since he started making any; I definitely recommend listening to his previous albums “Episode 0” and “YE”.
Nevertheless, this video clip is worth checking out. It is the only song on the album that I actually enjoy listening to, and the performance is really impressive. At the top of what seems to be an abandoned tower, Sopico just starts walking on one of the walls while playing the guitar. The production studio “Dissidence” are the ones in charge of the clip and had already worked with Sopico on the videoclips created for some tracks of “Episode 0”. They had a very different energy and were way more focused on creating trippy visuals with animation, but also definitely worth checking out.
Anyway, Dissidence studio is now well established in the francophone music industry and has a very popular visual identity to their work. Their work is also quite impressive in terms of technique, this video clip for Sopico shows that aspect very well.
Sheldon - Quasar
Sheldon has a very important role in the Parisian rap scene as he is the founder of the collective “75e session”. The meeting point of many talents, new or already established in the scene, many great rappers have emerged from this collective (go see Nepal, Sopico, Georgio, Inspire, Zinee, and many more).
Not only he puts important work into creating this creative community and allowing other artists to have tools and people around them to give life to their work, he also releases music on his own which often comes with a powerful visual identity.
For one of his previous releases “Lune Noire”, Sheldon had not only made an album, but also presented some comic strips on his Instagram along with it, as well as a video game, and some video clips (I could recommend checking all of them out, but if you are into animation, the clips of “4eme Quart de Lune”, “Prophetie” and “Carnaval are must watches). This alone shows how Sheldon has already put a lot of effort into creating a universe around his music and does not hesitate to accompany his music with other artistic mediums.
This time for the release of his new album “Spectre” he comes up with some next-level animation of a spaceship taking a trip to space. It is visually breathtaking and I would recommend watching this on something at least as big as a computer screen because I can guarantee you the quality of those visuals does not deserve anything less.
Sheldon has a very important role in the Parisian rap scene as he is the founder of the collective “75e session”. The meeting point of many talents, new or already established in the scene, many great rappers have emerged from this collective (go see Nepal, Sopico, Georgio, Inspire, Zinee, and many more).
Not only he puts important work into creating this creative community and allowing other artists to have tools and people around them to give life to their work, he also releases music on his own which often comes with a powerful visual identity.
For one of his previous releases “Lune Noire”, Sheldon had not only made an album, but also presented some comic strips on his Instagram along with it, as well as a video game, and some video clips (I could recommend checking all of them out, but if you are into animation, the clips of “4eme Quart de Lune”, “Prophetie” and “Carnaval are must watches). This alone shows how Sheldon has already put a lot of effort into creating a universe around his music and does not hesitate to accompany his music with other artistic mediums.
This time for the release of his new album “Spectre” he comes up with some next-level animation of a spaceship taking a trip to space. It is visually breathtaking and I would recommend watching this on something at least as big as a computer screen because I can guarantee you the quality of those visuals does not deserve anything less.
Sheldon - Agrabah
“Agrabah” is one of Sheldon’s older video clips, with a very different style from “Quasar” which is mentioned right above. This video makes use of animation as well but you will find yourself immersed in a pixelated version of “Agrabah” the central location of the movie “Aladdin” described as a “glimmering, bustling Arabian desert kingdom”. The contrast between the pixelated-looking images, usually referring to nerdy 90s aesthetics and the traditional and ancient feel of the city made it particularly stand out to me.
However, this is not the first time that this kind of pixelated animation style can be found in Sheldon’s clips and is already present in the clip of “FPS” produced by Lax Vision. Here again, some insane work done as it is not an actual video clip but the sequence of a video game. They created an entire game and the video clip is basically what anyone would see if they entered this game. Yes, some people are clearly next level.
“Agrabah” is one of Sheldon’s older video clips, with a very different style from “Quasar” which is mentioned right above. This video makes use of animation as well but you will find yourself immersed in a pixelated version of “Agrabah” the central location of the movie “Aladdin” described as a “glimmering, bustling Arabian desert kingdom”. The contrast between the pixelated-looking images, usually referring to nerdy 90s aesthetics and the traditional and ancient feel of the city made it particularly stand out to me.
However, this is not the first time that this kind of pixelated animation style can be found in Sheldon’s clips and is already present in the clip of “FPS” produced by Lax Vision. Here again, some insane work done as it is not an actual video clip but the sequence of a video game. They created an entire game and the video clip is basically what anyone would see if they entered this game. Yes, some people are clearly next level.
Ichon - C’est pas le moment
Ichon is sort of the outlier in this selection because many could argue that his artistic evolution has brought him more towards the “pop” end of the spectrum than the “rap” one. I still decided to put him here because rap is still the style he comes from and I did not want to miss the chance to talk about this video clip.
Once I showed this video to a friend and told him “You’ll see, nothing happens but it’s beautiful.” and he really agreed with that description after watching it. You are just observing Ichon and an actress acting a scene on a set. What is interesting is that eventually you also start seeing the life on the set, what happens when they stop acting, the entire team running around. There isn’t a clear narrative to the whole thing and eventually, you just let yourself get carried away by the life of the set. You find yourself starting to wonder what is being acted for the purpose of this video or if these are raw shots of an actual set where people are not really paying attention to the fact that someone else is filming.
I have always been a big fan of Bleu Nuit, the production studio that made the clip, on which I wrote one of my very first articles. There is always such an elegant and strong energy to their visuals, I find their aesthetics very inspiring. If you enjoy paying attention to the outfits as well, Ichon is wearing a very cool shirt, quite flowy and dramatic, worth checking out on its own.
Ichon is sort of the outlier in this selection because many could argue that his artistic evolution has brought him more towards the “pop” end of the spectrum than the “rap” one. I still decided to put him here because rap is still the style he comes from and I did not want to miss the chance to talk about this video clip.
Once I showed this video to a friend and told him “You’ll see, nothing happens but it’s beautiful.” and he really agreed with that description after watching it. You are just observing Ichon and an actress acting a scene on a set. What is interesting is that eventually you also start seeing the life on the set, what happens when they stop acting, the entire team running around. There isn’t a clear narrative to the whole thing and eventually, you just let yourself get carried away by the life of the set. You find yourself starting to wonder what is being acted for the purpose of this video or if these are raw shots of an actual set where people are not really paying attention to the fact that someone else is filming.
I have always been a big fan of Bleu Nuit, the production studio that made the clip, on which I wrote one of my very first articles. There is always such an elegant and strong energy to their visuals, I find their aesthetics very inspiring. If you enjoy paying attention to the outfits as well, Ichon is wearing a very cool shirt, quite flowy and dramatic, worth checking out on its own.
Di-Meh x Small X - Globe
Finally, the last video clip of the selection brought to us by Di-Meh a rapper from Geneva featuring Small X, a Morrocan rapper also part of the duo “Shayfeen”, which is a very important duo in the effervescent Moroccan rap scene.
Here again, another animated video clip, relatively simple in terms of technique compared to those mentioned previously in the selection, but somehow still feels powerful in its own way. The video as well as the lyrics touch upon important and serious topics such as migration or the racism faced by migrant populations when arriving and living in Europe.
If you want to hear more about Di-Meh’s music, there is an article available about one of his recent releases “Mektoub”.
Finally, the last video clip of the selection brought to us by Di-Meh a rapper from Geneva featuring Small X, a Morrocan rapper also part of the duo “Shayfeen”, which is a very important duo in the effervescent Moroccan rap scene.
Here again, another animated video clip, relatively simple in terms of technique compared to those mentioned previously in the selection, but somehow still feels powerful in its own way. The video as well as the lyrics touch upon important and serious topics such as migration or the racism faced by migrant populations when arriving and living in Europe.
If you want to hear more about Di-Meh’s music, there is an article available about one of his recent releases “Mektoub”.