Jonathan Takagi (jtakagi@millennianet.com)
Sat, 17 Apr 1999 13:00:01 -0700
B. Allison wrote:
> The sleeve said French hip-hop is taking off
> because the Legislature there demanded 40 percent of
> all radio play be French-speaking music. I thought
> that was interesting.
Everyone seems to believe that these laws exist but
if you actually listen to the radio, you'll notice that
very few stations follow these guidelines. Laws like
these (if they even exist) are unenforceable and just
not practical, or even feasible. Many people believe
that there's some type of language police going around
citing people for their anglo influnces. But the truth
is that there is no way to stop borrowing from English
in advertising and other mass media.
If French hip hop is popular, I would assume that one
can only listen to words one doesn't understand for so
long. "Things Fall Apart" seems to be really popular
in France right now, but I can't help wondering how
non-English speakers perceive this music, or anglophone
music in general. If I can't understand all the lingo,
it must be straining for a non-native speaker.
I encourage as many people as possible to check out
French radio for themselves, which earns my vote for
best radio anywhere. Talk radio is refreshingly informative
and thought-provoking. And of course, the world famous
Radio Nova, hands down greatest radio station anywhere.
Within a half hour, you're likely to hear house, drum and
bass, hip hop, reggae, soul, techno, samba...amazing.
(and certainly not 40% French ;)
Jonathan
ps A lot of the most popular French hip hop (IAM, NTM etc.) can be
just as annoying as American gangster stuff, they're probably
even greater hypocrites with their violent posturing.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Sat Apr 17 1999 - 22:26:24 MET DST