I am back again with a new top 5 of French rap songs from 2020 that I enjoy listening to. Again, this is a personal selection, I am not here to say, in an objective way, that those songs are the best ones of the year in France. Let’s start this list of the best French rap songs in 2020!
1 ) Bande Organisée – Jul
This is an artist where you need to like the musical effect, the auto-tune. He is using it in every one of his songs. Fun and surprising fact about Jul, he is the biggest rap disc seller of all time in France and for the last decade, he is the second-biggest disc seller in France after the iconic Johnny Hallyday.
This song is from the album with the same name “Bande Organisée” (Organized Band). This song and this album is a big project that Jul came up with. He decided to bring together the rap scene of Marseille with the main rappers of the southern city of France. “Bande Organisée” was probably the big rap summer hit 2020 in France.
From the song releases from Jul in 2020, I could add the song “Je suis Marseille” from the same album where he did the featuring with a total of seven rappers including two members of the most famous French hip-hop group from Marseille named IAM. I could also add the song with the French rapper SCH named “Mother Fuck”, a song from his third album of the year “Loin du monde”. This artist never stops I could add again another one from his first album of 2020 with “Veste Quecha” (and many other ones). It is hard to keep up with Jul since he is releasing on average three albums per year, crazy right? Do you want to discover more French rappers? Read my article about ten actual French rappers where I mentioned Jul: 11 Current French Rappers That You Should Listen to Now.
2 ) 911 – Damso
The established Belgian singer Damso came up in 2020 with a G-Funk vibe song with 911, a song from the successful album QALF. In the video clip, he plays a gangster/spy living a love story with a woman, played by the model Noémi Lenoir. I like this clip that has some James Bond vibes with the luxurious cars and the visual style.
3 ) MERCI LA HESS – Gambi
Gambi released in 2020, the album “LA VIE EST BELLE” translated into English Life is beautiful. From this album, I will pick the song “MERCI LA HESS” (Thanks to the misery). The term “Hess” is Arabic slang that could be translated to misery or crisis. By the way, you can learn more about French slang in this article: 50 French Slang Words You Won’t Learn in a Classroom. In this song, the young artist Gambi is simply happy about his current life situation and he is thankful to “the street” that allows him to reach happiness.
I could add another song from him from 2020, he released in January an EP named “Dans l’espace” (=In the space) featuring another popular French rapper Heuss l’Enfoirée.
4 ) 1992 – Heuss l’Enfoiré feat. Vald
Heuss l’Enfoiré and Vald made collaboration not for a song but for all an album named “Horizon Vertical”. The album is composed of 12 tracks concocted with their respective beatmakers Seezy and Zeg-P. The result gives a rhythmic and dancing French rap album. I would select from this album the song “1992” an energetic French hip-hop song that compares the stories of people living the best moments of their lives with those of people who did not live up to their expectations.
5 ) Michel en illimité – Michel
Michel is a new French hip-hop artist from the suburbs of Valenciennes, a French City located in the north. I made the mistake, in the beginning, when following him on social media to think that he was from Belgium since the North region of France is quite similar to Belgium in terms of landscape, accent, and culture. His musical style is between French rap and deep house. I like the fact that he is trying to create an apathetic character with his hairstyle, small sunglasses, and streetwear vintage clothes.
From this artist, I would probably, for the moment, prefer his French song “Michel en Ride” that he released in the same album “Le vrai Michel” (=The real Michel). I also enjoy from this album “Michel et sa go” and “Michel en PLS”. For non-French, Michel is quite an old fashion first name and many famous French artists have this name like the singer Michel Polnarreff, for example. By saying, he is the real Michel he probably wants to stand apart from all the Michel in France.
Bonus
Other French hip-hop songs from 2020 that could have been on this list:
- Magma – ISHA
- Savoir Faire – Deen Burbigo
- Beauseigne – Zed Yun Pavarotti
You can find those rap songs on my Spotify playlist:
I hope you enjoy discovering this list of French rap songs 2020. Is there a rap song from 2020 that you couldn’t stop listening to? Let me know in the comment section about it! I invite you now to read my selections:
- 5 French Rap Songs from 2019 That You Should Know
- Top 10 French Rap Songs of 2021
- Top 10 French Rap Songs of 2022
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