The French Empire extended through large parts of Africa well into the 20th century. France still exerts huge influence in francophone Africa, and it's the ambition of millions to at least get into France long enough to make some cash to send home to family, if not to settle. Some have long-term plans to stay in France long enough to earn X amount of money in order to set themselves up more successfully in a specific business back home. Regardless of immigration motive, France faces the common European problem of being the recipient of mass immigration, legal and illegal, large enough to have a major impact on the national culture for the first time in the modern age.All of that territory-taking and spreading of the white man's language(s) is catching up to the declining powers of Europe, and tensions sometimes run high. Good comparisons could be made with the US and Latin America, although in the US the scale of things is better offset by the number of Americans already here. It's harder to hide a million here or there in a nation 20% the size of the US or smaller.
Amadou & Mariam - "Sénégal Fast-Food"
This exciting act (a charming blind couple) from Mali really surprised me when I first heard this in 2005. It's a smooth blend of the typical bright African guitar sound and recent African pop with elements of western rock, pop and blues. This makes it a 300-year cultural sonic feedback loop, exactly the fusion of cultures it was meant to represent. This track was produced by Manu Chao, the Basque/Galacian proponent of "world music" (a genre I'm generally no fan of) popular in Europe and on the touchy-feeliest of American public radio.
The street scenes of Dakar really make me want to visit West Africa. We follow a young Senegalese migrant on a disappointing journey in the visual story of this one.
113 - "Tonton du bled"
This video takes a more humorous look at the situation of the modern French immigrant. When I was traveling around Tunisia in 2000 it was impossible to get away from this song, blasting from every storefront, in every louage and train car. 113 is a group of tower block-dwelling immigrants from various parts of the French Empire who rap about life in that environment. I love the sample of the traditional Arab orchestra on this, again a metaphor for the culture mix in which these fellows find themselves. Bootleg mixes of French/Arabic rap and rai are available everywhere in North Africa, and this song appeared on every one of the several I bought. The CD might have overtaken the cassette at this point, but when I was there one looked for stores with a "K7" sign, as the French pronunciation of that letter-number combo is cassette. Clever, eh?
Here we have the "uncle from the sticks" (tonton du bled), who appears to have put down some roots in France, revisiting his hometown in Algeria in a car overstuffed with relatives and gifts. Nice use of metaphor as his clothing and transport changes the farther south he goes. Extra points for ululation, at the point in the lyric when he brings the young ladies jewelery.
Bérurier Noir - "Salut à toi" [live]
Here we have one of the best-known French punk bands of the 1980s. "Best-known" in France in any event. Sworn anti-fascist leftists, these guys were playing this song, essentially a litany of welcome for immigrants into France, when a lot of French rightists were chanting anti-immigrant slogans. I don't think this is their best song by any means, but could anything meet this theme better? The band worked a lot of Situationist-style visuals into their act, including a demented clown motif I never quite got. Even in punk, the French still had their own thing going...
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