Popular Culture Review Volume 30, Number 1, Winter 2019 | Page 91

Popular Culture Review 30.1
towards women and to treat them well , as illustrated in this line : “ Mon mec a des valeurs et du respect pour ses soeurs ” (“ my guy has values and respects his sisters ”). 9 Further lyrics from “ Jeune démoiselle ” echo similar points when Diam ’ s raps : “ In my dreams , my guy speaks to me very low , when he writes letters to me he writes like Booba ” ( Booba is a famous artist in French hip-hop ). The song and video presentation were both extremely popular on French music charts , where they remained for several weeks .
Other tracks from “ Dans ma bulle ” contain similar lyrics that demand a reconfiguration of gender imbalances . For example , lines from the popular song “ La Boulette ” proclaim “ y a comme un goût de boum boum dans le coeur de mes soeurs ” (“ there are exploding feelings in the hearts of my sisters ”) that serve to pay homage to the growing unity amongst women of color in France . 10 Furthermore , the song goes on to address some of the dangers facing females in the disadvantaged suburbs of Paris , as this example shows :
Kinda tastes like rape when I walk around my city .
Kinda tastes like fear for us chicks in the 2000s
Kinda tastes like pot in the oxygen we breathe ,
Don ’ t ask me what breaks your balls .
I ain ’ t like 911 , I ’ m just a young girl who hustles well . 11
After first naming some of the distractions that affect women of color in poor neighborhoods on a daily basis ( e . g ., rape , fear of walking freely without being harassed , drugs ), Diam ’ s
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