By: V4 Agency
The rapper has openly dishonoured the country, insulting and threatening many of its public figures and politicians in his songs, yet the culture minister says there’s nothing wrong with selecting him to sing the anthem for the national team at this summer’s Euro 2021. She says she believes people must look at the artist’s career in its entirety, adding that exaggerations are a trait of rap music.
A recent announcement – letting people know that the French national football team’s anthem for this sumer’s Euro 2021 will be performed by Youssoupha, a Congolese-born rapper – has provoked public outrage in France. The track bears the title Write My Name In Blue, as the French national team is nicknamed “the blues”.
The problem is not that the song will be performed by an artist who was born outside of France, but that the rapper has openly expressed his hatred towards the country and is known to have insulted many of its public figures and politicians in the past. On his 2006 album dubbed Eternal Renewal (Éternel Recommencement), he simply called Marine Le Pen, the most popular right-wing politician “a bitch.”
Party politician Jordan Bardella has expressed his deep indignation that the national team’s anthem would be performed by a rapper who had called for the assassination of Eric Zemmour, insulted Marine Le Pen and called France a country of rogues.
In another song, released in 2009, the rapper openly incited hatred against the renowned French essayist Eric Zemmour by calling on his fans to silence the columnist. Zemmour lodged a complaint against the rapper for threat of crime and public insult, Le Monde reported at the time.
However, Youssoupha did not stop here. In his track named “Chanson Francaise” (French Song) released in 2015, he spoke disparagingly about the French Republic and the female figure Marianne, the country’s symbol, and went on to insult police using abusive language.
In light of all this, it comes as little surprise that choosing the rapper to sing the anthem for the French national football team at the this summer’s European Championship has triggered a general outcry. Ironically, Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot appears unperturbed by Youssoupha’s hatred for the country where he lives. In a programme broadcast on Europe 1, she defended the rapper, admitting that she is a great fan of the singer and has been to several of his concerts.
The genre of rap uses elements of exaggeration, the culture minister said, although she decided not to comment on the rapper’s anti-French attitudes. She only said that she found no objectionable content in the song written for the national squad playing in the European Championship.