French is made for rap. Forget all that American-English mincing, listen to the rhythmic drone that good French-language rap offers. One of the possible benefits of a self-absorbed US and a post-Brexit Europe is that we might start hearing that beautiful language of our southern southern neighbours a bit more often. 'Speak French to me, darling!' Macron will be delighted.
On Wednesday 12 June, the Holland Festival got a one-off visit from French elitist rapper Abd Al Malik. This man not only raps in French, he does so in a French we know, or should know, from poets like Rimbaud, Camus, and certainly Jacques Brel. Just to name a more famous side street. So what Al Malik says sounds great, and also means a lot.
Strasbourg
The show Le Jeune Noir a l' Epee (Black youth with sword) was commissioned by Al Malik for the Paris Musée d'Orsay, which is dedicated to the 19th century. To accompany an exhibition dedicated to the depiction of black figures in French art, Al Malik put together a programme of old and new songs. They are raps that are sometimes beautiful, sometimes chilling, sometimes ridiculously sentimental and always powerful. Very French, then, and that is also what Al Malik talks about in all his work: he is a Frenchman born in Strasbourg and raised in Paris and, although his skin is black, his culture is so much more than just that skin colour.
Al Malik is accompanied by four human sculptures. Black men with bodies that touch on the divine. Something they don't hide, by the way, but no one blames them. They are dancers clearly inspired by the movement idiom of the Parisian banlieues: often narrative, with elements of capoeira and breakdance. Not the highest academic level, but a joy to watch.
In this way, that aesthetic pleasure also enters into a nice liaison with the painting that provides the show's title. That depicts the conscious black youth, sword over shoulder, with the big head of a child and the body of a chippendale: painting reveals more about our deeper motivations than photography ever can.
Mum
Opening and finale of Al Malik's show are beautiful, by the way. There is a dip in the middle when Al Malik does the obligatory song about his mother for every rapper, and a climax when he honours Brel with a piano piece by his regular pianist.
The dancers got the first open curtain on the song Gibraltar, which also tells an extraordinarily exciting story in terms of content. It is not on the album of this performance, but can be heard on the 2006 album of the same name, where the Brel-ode Les Autres also glories.
There is also a lot of Brel in the finale. In the end, the song Eux makes Al Malik's message of peace crystal clear: we are all 'them', and so we have to solve our own shit together. This makes Le Jeune Noir a l'Epee yet another performance in this Holland Festival that preaches not distinction but connection between people and cultures. In the thunderous final applause, therefore, the predominantly white and elderly audience echoed a kind of relief.
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