The French don't often get their act together, but when they do they're generally the best in the world at whatever they want. Unfortunately, they usually want to do philosophy, pure math and love-triangle films.

Abd Al Malik has an album called 'Dante'. He used Jacques Brel's pianist as accompaniment. For a long time that was the only 'hip-hop' I knew, so I really thought of the genre as an overwhelmingly sophisticated re-imagining of white music (so to speak).

Then I discovered the 'nigga-nigga-bitch-y'all' hip-hop which... you know... has its charms too.

Unfortunately, French music is heavily bound-up with lyrics. Basically, the best lyricist in English, be it Dylan or Prine, is basically average in French. French music, though is a little monomaniacal.

But falling into the web of the French lyrics to a song is so comfortable...