“Le hip hop” and “le rap” have long been popular with France’s disaffected, multiracial youth. The country is thought to have the world’s second-biggest hip-hop scene, introduced by a Paris radio show, Rapper Dapper, more than 40 years ago and sustained since by artists from economically deprived suburbs, or banlieues.
So when French ministers decided to require hip-hop teachers to obtain a state diploma of the sort already demanded in ballet, they thought they would be congratulated for their inclusiveness. Instead, they are facing a backlash; accused of seeking to institutionalise street culture through a neo-colonial approach.
On one side of the row are advocates of the French Republic with its commitment to liberty, equality and fraternity, and its belief that such notions require
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