"Rap music has long been framed as a genre of excess: too loud, too violent, too vulgar. From its beginnings, it has been associated with anger, confrontation, and a form of hypermasculinity that leaves little room for alternative expressions. In France especially, rap has often been perceived as the voice of male youth from working-class neighborhoods, carrying narratives of struggle, rivalry, and domination."
"This opposition between rap and femininity created a lasting barrier. Female voices were not only rare in the spotlight, they were actively questioned. Even when women mastered technique, flow, and lyricism, their presence was often seen as an anomaly. Success stories were treated as exceptions rather than proof of a deeper, structural reality. According to a 2025 survey by , female artists make up only 13 percent of the French hip-hop scene."
"Yet today, in cities like Toulouse, these assumptions are being challenged from the ground up, notably by collectives such as La Cercleuse, a group of four women rappers -Ozna, Babsi, Introspective, and Kyara-accompanied by DJ Chiara, also known as DJ Bapzila. Born out of underground freestyle circles, La Cercleuse stands at the heart of our reporting, offering a concrete lens through which to understand the re-emergence and visibility of women in French rap."
Rap music has long been framed as a genre of excess—too loud, too violent, too vulgar—and associated with anger, confrontation, and hypermasculinity that excludes alternative expressions. In France, rap has often been perceived as the voice of male youth from working-class neighborhoods, carrying narratives of struggle, rivalry, and domination. Female performers were expected to be soft, discreet, and composed, and their presence in rap was treated as anomalous even when technically accomplished. A 2025 survey reports female artists comprise only 13 percent of the French hip-hop scene. Grassroots collectives like La Cercleuse in Toulouse are building visibility and challenging historical erasure.
Read at Frenchly
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