Printemps de Bourges, shatta, rap et nouveaux talents

What is “shatta” music?

At the Printemps de Bourges festival, Martinican artist Maureen explains the sound taking over French clubs: «le chata était créé en Martinique» (“shatta was created in Martinique”). Le shatta is a fast, percussive dance-music genre from the French Caribbean, grown out of Jamaican dancehall.

Sung largely in créole, shatta has surged from Martinique and Guadeloupe into mainland French charts. Maureen, whose album is titled Queen, ties it to feminism: “elle s’assume” (“she owns who she is”). For learners it’s a window into French beyond France, the Caribbean créole world that shapes today’s francophone pop.