L’Histoire nous raconte pas l’Histoire ». Le rappeur Rocé en dialogue avec Frantz Fanon

Abstract

Rocé is part of a tradition of French rappers who – starting in the 1990s with “Damnés” (1992) by Ministère AMER – used Frantz Fanon’s voice to underline their anti- and post-colonial commitment. In 2018, French rapper Rocé released a compilation of songs entitled “Par les damné.e.s de la terre. Des voix de luttes 1969-1988”, showing himself to be an admiring reader of Fanon, from whom he borrowed the title (slightly, but significantly modified) for his CD. In earlier raps – such as “Des problèmes de mémoire“ (Identité en crescendo, 2006) and “J’rap pas pour être sympa” (Gunz n’Rocé 2013) – he had already referred to Fanon. Through these raps, Rocé questions dominant narratives of the past and writes about those parts of French history that have been suppressed and silenced. His aim is also to restore the value and resonance of the resistant voices of past decades, to highlight the agentivity of those who were supposed to be deprived of it. He seeks to liberate history from ‘old myths’ and complement it with stories that are probably less heroic but ‘true’ and important for an inclusive and transnational perspective on French history.