In my French class, I learn about thelanguage, the people and the culture. I don’t mind French (exceptthe verbs); the people aren’t bad, and they have some greatcustoms. The music is great, too, except for one singer - MC Solaar. Heis popular in France, but I cannot figure out why. Sure, he may be goodlooking to some, but his music makes him sound like a“wannabe.”

A French rapper, he has 12 singles andfive CDs. I don’t know who told him to rap in French - perhapssomebody who lived under a rock. I will admit, I am not fond of rap inEnglish, but rap in French is unbearable. I’m not sure if the“music” loses something in translation or if I justdon’tunderstand it. Either way, the tunes arepainful.

After refusing to do music for a French movie in theearly ’90s, dropping his DJ Jimmy Jay seemed a great idea to MCSolaar. This is when he started rapping to smooth music and some backbeats from the ’70s. Big mistake! Even in the 1990s, it was notokay to rap with music from the ’70s. If I want to listen to thosebeats, I would listen to music from the 1970s, not some French guytrying to be a “gangsta.”

Also, MC Solaar does notlike violence, which I think is respectable, so instead he raps aboutlove, peace and life. Although I can’t imagine American rappersrapping in his style, they would be thrown off the charts before a storewould sell their CD.

The strangest song by MC Solaar is about thelifestyle of “gangstas.” He just doesn’t strike me asthis type. The reason he is such a bad rapper could be his style, or thebeat and music in his songs that make me want to bang my head into awall. No, on second thought, the reason is that people shouldn’trap in French.