Respectez-nous as We Feminize the Rapped Rhyme
states how she is able to navigate the contours of her environment because she “ hustles well ” as a means to survive . All of the subject matter discussed in “ La boulette ” serves as an educational rallying point that call for other women to mimic this sort of aggressive reactionary approach ( i . e ., hustle and fight back ). Further lines from the song go on to get to the cause of the sexist and racist social ills that plague marginalized communities . Diam ’ s asks her listeners to reject the educational curricula in France that minimizes any contributions that deviate from a Euro-linear narrative when she raps : “ nan nan c ’ est pas l ’ école qui nous a dictée nos codes ” (“ no no , school hasn ’ t taught us how to be ”). The “ us ” in this excerpt makes reference to women of color in particular , as they are often in a triple or quadruple minority position vis-à-vis majority society ( e . g . language , status , race , and gender ). Additional lyrics from “ La boulette ” highlight generational differences in France when Diam ’ s describes the rebelling adolescents of her contemporary era as belonging to “ la génération nan-nan ” (“ generation no-no ,” which is a repetitive and continual refrain throughout the track ). On other words , Génération nannan rejects the usual schematic norms of France as dictated by adults from previous eras , as they prefer to rewrite the rules of French society in a way that benefits youths within it .
What makes Diam ’ s stand out from earlier female artists such as Lady Laistee has been her mass appeal across gender , class , and racial lines . At her peak during the first decade of the 2000s , her popularity was unrivalled ( to date ), and record sales and chart dominance of all of her releases reflected this reality . However , constant touring and endless hassling by the French media forced her to retreat from recording and take a two-year sabbatical until 2009 when she released “ S . O . S .” Similar to her previous releases , the new album by Diam ’ s also featured tracks that addressed controversial and
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