Let’s discover what the French rap scene brought us this rich year. Here is a selection of ten French rap songs of 2022.
This is a personal list and I am aware that I could have selected other French artists for these top French rap songs. Feel free to leave a comment on this blog post, I am always happy to read you.
By the way, I made another music selection of the best French songs of 2022. Let’s start this list of the top French rap songs of 2022!
Find the YouTube video of French Iceberg about five French rap songs of 2022:
List of the Best French Rap Songs of 2022
Let’s start this selection of the top French rap songs of 2022!
- Vengeance!!! – Stupeflip
This unique old-school French rap band is back with a new fifth album “Stup Forever”. The band that describes itself as a UFO of the French music scene is composed of King Ju, Mc Salo, Cadillac, and Pop-Hip, the leading members of the band.
They love to switch styles from rap to pop, punk, rock, or even techno. Every French people know them through the big hit “Stupeflip Vite !!!” released in 2011. They reached fame in 2013 but they decided to stop everything and stop making concerts to focus only on music production.
With this new album, they stayed in a production-oriented 90’s rap style. In “Vengeance!!!”, they explain to us that they use Stupeflip in order to deal with the actual society. They are taking their revenge as the title says it (=vengeance). I recommend you from this last album the titles “Sharkattack” and “Dans ton baladeur (DTB)”.
- 4 juin 2022 – Jul
What would be a ranking of the best French rap songs from French Iceberg without Jul? Nothing I guess! His rap songs are full of French slang words, perfect to learn French! Jul finally made his concert in his hometown of Marseille in the football stadium of the Vélodrome with 60,000 fans coming to see him.
From this performance, Jul released a live album “Extraterrestre (Édition Vélodrome)” and this song “4 juin” produced live with his fans, or like he likes to call them “Team Jul”. Watch the video of the live performance. It is pretty cool!
Read also: Top 10 French Rap Songs of 2023
- Nuit sans lune – Gaël Faye
Gaël Faye is a Franco-Rwandan singer-songwriter and rapper. He is so far my biggest discovery of 2022. Amazing production with a trap style and electro, excellent lyrics, all the cocktail to become the new big thing in France. “Nuit sans lune” is my favorite one from his last EP named “Mauve Jacaranda” released in 2022 but there are the songs “Des graines” and “Taxiphone” with artistic and visually worked clip.
The main themes of this EP are racism and ostracism. The artist had to fly away from Burundi as a kid when the war happened and arrived in a new country with a new society.
For the story, in 2013, he released the album “Pili Pili sur un croissant de beurre” and the song “Petit pays” which had success with the French general public. The song became a book, then a movie. This song got the inspiration from his childhood in Burundi and the trauma of the war.
- Bleu – Prince Waly & Feu! Chatterton
Interesting French rap song featuring Prince Waly from his real name Moussa, a French rapper, with the French pop rock band, Feu! Chatterton. This song is part of the new solo album named “Moussa” by Prince Waly.
The rapper from Montreuil (Paris) is telling how difficult life can be especially for him. The French artist successfully came back with this project after an imposed break of three years. The artist won his fight against cancer after two promising singles Junior (2016) and BOY Z (2018). The French band is back again in the ranking this year since they were already in my selection of the best French songs of 2021.
- Papoose – Vald
The inevitable Vald is back in 2022 with a successful rap album “V” with some collaborations (Orelsan, Hamza, or Suikon Blaz AD). The famous French song from this album is “Anunnaki” but I can also recommend you to listen “Happy End”, “Maudit” and “Peon”. Or listen to the whole album since it is a pretty good one.
In “Papoose”, a French rap song of 2022, the French singer says how proud he was to make the first part of a concert of Papoose (an American rapper), in 2013, in Paris. His pride comes from the fact that he was listening to his remixes when he was a teenager at 14 years old, in 2006.
- Ma Vie D’avant – Luther
The young rapper of 18 years old released his second album in 2022 with “GARÇON”. He is part of the record company “Sublime” created by the French rapper Disiz (aka Disiz La Peste). He produced for the moment his songs from his room and prefers to keep his face hidden to preserve his identity.
In this song-oriented on himself, he is dreaming about not going back to his old life. He simply wants to grow up, be independent, and be a successful young adult.
- Sex (Interlude) – MadeInParis
In this very short French rap song of one minute and fifty seconds, the rapper MadeInParis sings about sexual desires, in this fourth album. To amplify the theme of the song, he went for a super cliché French sentence for the album title: “Voulez-vous couchez avec moi”. Also, he says it in the lyrics of the song “Sex (Interlude)”, that makes sense!
- Dans le mur – JeanJass
The Belgian rapper signed the year 2022 with a great album with some cool collaborations with some French rappers as Youssoupha, Jazzy Bazz, Tuerie, and the Belgian artist Fuku. This fourth album “Doudoune en été” has mostly productions made by the rapper himself. This project is his second solo album after “Hat Trick” in 2021.
He is moving away from his famous duo that he formed with the rapper Caballero. In “Dans le mur” (= into the wall), JeanJass sings about how successful he is while smoking and driving at 250 km/h with, from time to time, humorous verses.
- Argentine – Jwles
When listening to this song for the first time, I directly enjoyed the production. After some research, I discovered why. The production was made by Mad Rey, a French techno artist that I am a big fan of, and Kostral One (that I did not know). This project is a single from this new emerging Parisian rapper. He tried to have simple and meaningful lyrics and he does not feel related to the general trend in French rap where the artists try to be violent and superficial with many characters.
In “Argentine” he describes a relationship with an Argentine woman and his daily life. Fun fact, he started his career in English since he did not like to hear his voice in his native language. He switched to French recently and it took his lyrics to another level.
- FADE UP – ZEG P, Hamza, SCH
With two famous French-speaking rappers, Hamza (from Belgium) and SCH (from Marseille), and one French beatmaker ZEG P, we obtain the excellent French rap title “FADE UP”. It is not the first success of the beatmaker since he did the production of “Khapta” by the artist, Heuss l’enfoiré (that was in my selection of the best French rap songs of 2019).
Fun fact, ZEG P showed this production to Vald who did not select it for his last album “V”. This single ended up being one of the summer hits in France thanks to Hamza and SCH. This is their second collaboration after the single “HS”. In “FADE UP”, is a romantic song where the two artists plan to enjoy their success with their loved ones.
Other French rap songs of 2022 that could have been in this list:
- LIF – SCH
- Ichiraku – Bob marlich
- DIE – Gazo
- Mauvaise Nouvelle – BEN plg
- +33 – Evans
- Turquoise – SAFT
- Mauvaise Musique – HJeuneCrack & Beamer
- Marathon – BU$HI
- Element 115 – Jazzy Bazz, Nekfeu
- Chicha Ski Nautique – Isha, Laylow
I hope you discovered some new French rap artists or songs. Were there any missing French rap songs of 2022 that should have been in this article? Let me know in the comment section!
If you want to discover more songs, you should read our last French rap songs selection of 2021 or our selection of the current French rap artists. Finally, you can follow my Spotify French rap playlist at this link:
Current French Rap Songs Spotify Playlist
Photo Credit: @Charlotte Lapalus with Gaël Faye