Really great french rap album (occasional english interjections & guest spots). Production's deeply indebted to southern US rap, but is a more than competent entry in that lineage (definitely produced by someone who loves/understands that stuff). Flows have somewhat more diverse reference points, but definitely skew towards west coast/down south street rap. Really well put together, catchy, lots of attention to detail. Can’t really comment on subject matter or FCCs in the main rapper’s native language, but english FCCs are noted. FCC stuff should mostly be ok for safe-harbor, except maybe #11?

RIYL: Three 6 Mafia/Hypnotize Minds, Spaceghostpurrp, The Underachievers, trappy southern rap beats in general

1. ringing bells, big halting slightly fuzzy bassline comes in after a few bars, stuttery 808 shortly after. some english phrases about hustling to start, but then alternately halting and rolling french raps, with some debt to west coast and southern gangsta rap cadences. english guest verse at the end. 2:54
2. (FCC: “muhfucka” towards the end) rising spooky bells, quaking sub bass, slow rolling 808s. bells go a bit quiet/subdued and beat goes minimal for a while around :30, then comes back in. a bit of rising synth pad in the background at points, some deeper bell accents occasionally. flows switch btwn halting double-time on verses & something sparser on the hook. dark old school hypnotize minds stuff. 2:54
3. starts like record being spun up with echoed sampled vocal for hook. lush pads with a bit of brightness/bite, dry intermittent snares. pads and sample get submerged, slow loping 808 kicks with a bit of cymbal interspersed. then much bigger boomier kicks come in and a bit more stuttery/trappy cymbal, but it stays chill. beat drops out and builds back slowly in the middle. flows mostly match the beat with occasional dips into double-time. vocals mostly a bit hushed, but a bit more emphatic in some spots. ends with nod to dj screw as things get pitched down on outro. 3:45
4. (FCC: “fuck”, once, early) high synth line, growling mid-range synth sweep, spooky hollowed-out three 6 mafia bells. the whole thing (beat & rap) has a slow loping half-time feel. beat gets spare or drops out at points, but also comes back big and trunk-rattling at points. another little screwed outro. 3:49
5. nervous chopped violin loop to open, stays throughout. steady claps and cymbal rolls come in around :20. big slow rolling kicks and shell-casing clinking around :40. possible FCC (“bitch”), but really hard to tell since it’s in the middle of what’s otherwise all french. beat drops out and elements get run backwards at end with a scream. a skit about gunplay? 1:24
6. strobing synth pad in background, clattery cymbals sound sampled (and slightly indebted to jungle), then big booming slow rolling 808 kicks come in. pads smooth out in middle but strobe again later. 1:09
7. (FCC: “n---a” a few times early) growling slinky sort of bright midrange synth, chirpier strobey synth line in the background above, reverby synth bells. does that thing where it appropriates rave textures/signifiers and reworks them into a slab of narcotic dirty south funk. flows bounce all over the beat, hook in english by guest. drums drop out and leave the atmosphere at the end. 2:43
8. (FCC: “n---a” a number of times) ethereal pads, sparse slightly wah’ed guitar notes, slow stuttery 808s. opening verse in english from guest (with a nice little geto boys - “mind playin tricks on me” reference). chopped and screwed hook. lunikar’s verse plays a bit with double-time. beat gets sparse when he comes in but builds back up as he goes. 3:36
9. plaintive growly swaying synth, sample of sniffling/low crying, choral pads way in back. drums start to come in slowly (and stay tentative) just before 1:00 along with rap that feels double-time for the languid atmosphere. beat changes up and gets lower around half-way, but tempos stay the same, then it goes back to what it was a bit later. hook is way pitched down sample (“what a life”). drums threaten to get big, never do. 4:13
10. (FCC: “fuck who finds out” towards end) buried indecipherable plaintive R&B sample and filtered pads. gives way to stuttery 808 cymbals and cleaner (but slightly reverbed) guitar and half-sung guest hook (“chillin with my vixen”). then drums fill out a bit (but never get to knocking that hard) and main verse comes in (in french). vocal breakdown in english at the end from guest. 2:23
11. (FCC: “n---a”, “muhfucka”) confident slow rolling trunk rattling night-time underwater dirty south style funk. thick syrupy bass synths, ticky cymbals, punchy kicks. flows switch between on-time and half-time, with occasional quiet half-sung parts. beat drops out and comes back in parts. favorite thing on here, too bad about the FCCs. 4:31

recommended: 11 (FCCs!), 3, 4 (FCC), 7 (FCC), 9