Ligne Quatre is en emerging Paris-based hip-hop collective that derives its name from one of the French capital’s busiest lines — Ligne Quatre, which connects the Porte de Clignancourt section and the Mairie de Montrouge section, passing through the heart of the city. The emerging French hip-hop collective — Dr. Lulu, Pif Au Mic, Koco and Exil — live in a 18th century home together off the Chateau Rouge stop of the aforementioned Ligne Quatre.
Inspired by Nepal, Sopico, NTM, Saian Supa Crew, Pablo Servigne and the films of Wong Kar-wai and Jim Jarmusch, the individual members of Ligne Quatre can trace the origins of their careers and of their collective back to a over a decade ago: Koco and Dr. Lulu started rapping ten years ago in Rouen. And around the same time, Pif Au Mic and Exil started rapping in Brittany. The act’s debut effort, the recently released Arret Demande EP thematically finds the act’s material touching upon global warming, lost loves, failure and more.
“Trop de temps,” Arret Demande’s latest single is centered around a slow-burning and brooding production featuring twinkling keys and stuttering, tweeter and woofer rocking beats. The production is roomy enough for each emcee to spit some incredibly self-assured verses in a rapid-fire French. Sonically while the track may remind some listeners of J. Dilla and of Jurassic 5, let it be a reminder that hip-hop is the lingua franca of the hip and youthful. And because of that it may help lead us all out of the tremendous mess we’ve made of everything.