Toppa Top 10: Ten French Ragga Classics (Selected by Douster)

Words by Douster—

French tropical/bass/club music maestro Douster first landed on our radar with his remix of Busy Signal’s “Da Style Deh” (our favorite version of that tune) in 2010, and caught our attention again with his recent dancehall EP, Inna Style N Fashion, for Mixpak Records. He’s also recently put together a mix for us featuring some of his favorite dancehall tunes from the ’80s through today, which you can stream and download here. Keeping the link, we tapped him to select and break down his favorite French ragga/dancehall tunes….

For the Top 10, I decided to focus on the early French dancehall scene. Some of the tracks I heard on the radio as a kid. Most I discovered on CDRs when I was older, looking deeper into that early dancehall sound.

One of the most noticeable things in this early French ragamuffin style are the riddims. A lot of them sound really dated with all those preset-y orchestra hits, but I think the flow those deejays had, using the French language in a way it never had been used, is quite incredible.

1. Puppa Leslie – Prédominant (1991)

Puppa Leslie was one of the first to introduce sound system and deejay culture in France. He contributed to the creation of French raggamuffin with his now-famous Radio Nova appearances. This song is taken from the ’91 Rosie EP mixed by Mad Professor. Sadly, he died accidentally in ’99 after a really slow career in the 90s.

2. Tonton David – Peuples du Monde (1990)

This track was featured on the 1990’s Rappatitude compilation, considered to be one of the first French rap compilation sold commercially. Tonton David is the kinda conscious dancehall singer, he started with High Fight International in the late 80’s, and he’s one of the few that had real mainstream commercial success with his song, “Chacun sa Route” on the Un Indien Dans la Ville soundtrack.

3. Daddy Yod – Delbor (1991)

Daddy Yod was one of the top deejays in the early 90s. His ’91 take on the Dem Bow Riddim that also transforms Shabba’s “Dem Bow” into “Delbor” (Bordel = Mess) is one of my favorite tunes . Also, the cover of the album King Daddy Yod was a really weird one. Somebody said “Tour de France”?

4. MC Solaar ft Kery James and Raggasonic – Ragga Jam (1991)

This song appears on [French rap legend] MC Solaar’s first album Qui Seme Le Vent Recolte Le Tempo and features a 13-year-old Kery James (starting at 1:43) for some CLASSIC lines. Lots of orchestra hits in the riddim, too.

5. Rud Lion, Tonton David, Maya & Nuttea—Dubplate High Fight (late 80s)

I came across this video a few months ago, it’s a High Fight Soundsystem dubplate on the “Quel set le sound” riddim by Rud Lion. Each of the High Fight deejays drop classic lines on the really well-produced riddim. Like Tonton David, Nuttea also achieved mainstream success with his 1997 album, Un Signe du Temps.

6. Big Red – Autour de Paris (1994)

This track, from the Ghetto Youth Progress compilation produced by Rud Lion, has a G-funk vibe and the recognizable flow of Raggasonic’s Big Red. Rud Lion did a lot for French raggamuffin and rap, introducing a lot of funk influences ( the Expression Direkt’s “78” is still one of my favorite rap tracks ever). As always with the true kings, he left this world way too soon. Rud Lion, rest in peace.

7. Raggasonic – Legalisez la Ganja (1995)

Raggasonic is France’s most succesful dancehall act ever. There’s tons of really good tunes on their two albums but I chose this one from their first, released in 1995. It’s a great ganja song on the Punnany riddim.

8. Pupa Rico – On s’la donne (1995)

Pupa Rico is a Sicilian-born deejay from Sarcelles. He had a really big hit with the really cheesy “Rub a Dub Style” but I’d rather show his second single, “On se la Donne”— appreciate that french 90s party vibe on the video… weird!

9. Neg Marrons – La Monnaie (1997)


Neg Marron is Jacky, Ben-J and Djamatik, the dancehall part of french hip-hop collective Secteur Ä, who were really active during the late 90’s. I remember the song being in the movie Raï (kind of a cheap La Haine) and the video having heavy rotation on the french TV channel M6. It’s representative of the group’s typical style.

10. Little Dany freestyle on TV (early 90s)

This one isn’t even a song but I remember I had the video on a CD on my first computer ever, and I used to watch it on loop for hours. Little Dany’s skills still amaze me even if it’s just a 30-second acapella. He’s still doing music: check him on this ManuDigital MT40 Tempo Riddim Jam.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Embedding for this video has been blocked. Watch it here. To make up for it, we’ve embedded Little Dany’s video for “Hein,” from 1991, below)