French hip hop is the
hip hop music style which was developing in France, and is considered the second worldwide hip hop scene after the U.S. Many of the French hip hop artists come from the poor urban areas on the outskirts of large cities known as
banlieues. Paris,
Marseille,
Lyon,
Nantes,
Lille,
Strasbourg,
Rennes,
Caen,
Le Havre,
Rouen,
Toulouse,
Grenoble and
Nice have produced various French hip hop artists. The political and social status of the minority groups living in France have a direct influence on French hip hop.
Many French rappers are products of the
HLM rent-controlled housing and draw upon their upbringing in this environment as a source of inspiration for their lyrics.