The Greatest French Rappers of All Time

Update: Dive into the best new hip hop with our list of 2020's top rap songs.

French hip hop first came into existence in that late ‘70s, around the same time as the genre was gaining steam in the United States.

The scene was dominated and heavily influenced by American acts from the beginning, but quickly gained traction of its own. France is the world's second-largest hip-hop market, and the genre was given a big boost in the early 2000s by the French ministry of culture, which insisted that French-language stations play a minimum of 40 percent French-language music during transmission.

In our research, we were surprised to see the sheer amount of French rap acts. We picked our favorites, but undoubtedly missed some others that were pretty important to genre and, well, we need your help. Who do you feel was important, vital, and the very best that French hip hop has to offer? Add to the list below or vote on those already included!