Doc Gynéco

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007)

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (October 2006)

Doc Gynéco (real name, Bruno Beausir) is a popular French hip hop artist of Guadeloupean origin. His music is typically characterized as a ragga/rap style, that has found its fan base in France. Born in Clichy-sous-Bois in Seine-Saint-Denis, on July 7, 1974, Beausir's mother was caribbean and his father white. The latter left them in 1990, and partly as a result of this, Beausir was poor in his later teen years.

1 Life
2 Career
3 Style
4 Politics
5 Discography
6 References

[edit] Life

Like many French rap artists, his works caused controversy; he was criticized for demeaning the status of women^{[citation needed]} (his name Gyneco comes from Gynecologist), promoting drug use^{[citation needed]}, and dealing with other sensitive subjects (such as suicide in his song 'Nirvana'.) He stands apart, however, for rarely promoting violence in his works, something that had become a trademark for rap artists in France.

He was part of a movement that popularized rap in the 1990's, along with groups such as 'IAM' or 'Suprême NTM' and took it to every home. His laid-back attitude, his style, as well as his appreciation, knowledge and involvement with popular controversial subjects like football, sex or drugs all strongly contributed to his fame, particularly among France's adolescent population. Riding his popularity, his appearance in French television shows became regular, particularly at the start of the new century, using his appearance and style as a catalyst.

It has been rumored that he is recently romantically involved with actress and singer Grace Jones.

[edit] Career

Doc Gynéco launched his career at the age of 19, writing a few tracks for the hardcore rap group Ministère AMER. After this rap group parted, Virgin Records signed him with the intent of converting his demos into an album in Paris.^{[citation needed]}

This project partially fell through; Doc Gyneco then agreed to leave for Los Angeles to work with a famous American producer, Ken Kessie. The result of this work would be "Première Consultation", released in 1996, which received large media praise and huge success both in France and the world. Singles from the album include "Est-ce que ça le fait?", "Viens voir le docteur", "Dans Ma Rue", "Passements de Jambes", and "Né Ici".

Two years later on the December 1st of 1998 his second album appeared in the shops, entitled "Liaisons Dangereuses". Although the main single -- "C'est Beau La Vie" -- created with the help of a politician (Bernard Tapie) was a flop, the album still sold reasonably well and earned its author even more notoriety.

In the spring of 2001, Doc Gynéco tried to come back at the front of the music scene after a few years of silence with his third creation "Quality Street" . The single "Caramel", the first release from this new album met little success; yet guest stars on the album include the Wu-Tang Clan and Gregory Isaac.

In August of 2002, the 4th album called "Solitaire" came out. This last realization found its audience and gave Doc Gynéco the "Victoire de La Musique" award for "Best hip-hop/rap album of the Year". Singles include "Funky Maxime", "Frotti Frotta", and "Flash".

A collection of his hit singles since the beginning of his career has been released during 2004 (called 'Menu Best-of').

During 2006 the album "Homme Nature" was released.

[edit] Style

After the release of his first album, his sexual and provocative lyrics raised a matter for discussion and critics. However, the album was a huge success (700 000 sold). Thus, he became part of the movement that made rap popular in the 1990's. His music, a mix of ragga and rap, addresses many popular controversial subjects like drugs, sex, women, racism, and poverty. For example, one of his biggest hit at the time was “Nirvana,” a very pessimistic song in which he promotes the use of drugs: “Je veux me droguer aux aspirines facon marylin” (‘I want to drug myself with pills like marylin’). In this song he explains how corrupted life is in our current society and how it pushes him to use drugs and commit suicide: “Je veux atteindre le Nirvana” (‘I want to reach the Nirvana”).^[1] Like "Nirvana", a lot of his songs are very nostalgic and refer to poverty and the poor living conditions in the banlieux. The reason for this is that he had actually lived in the "cite" since he was born. In fact, "Ne ici" ('Born here'), another hit song in the 1990's, expresses how ungrateful he is to be born in a banlieu. He says: “Ma mere est ne la bas, mon pere est ne la bas, moi je suis ne ici dans la misere et les cris” ('my mother and father were born there (in the Caribbean) but I was born here (in a Parisian banlieu) around poverty and pain'). ^[2] Hence, one principal role for his work is to underline the issues of contemporary society. Another main theme in his first album is relationship with women. Doc Gynéco is a typical rapper in that he is very misogynist. He actually has a song called “Ma salope a moi” (‘My very own b****’) in which he claims that women are all prostitutes. ^[3] Also, his name 'Doc Gynéco' was given to him by his friends when he was younger to brag his qualities of seducer. The name stands for 'doctor gynecologist', which has sexual connotations. Those connotations are to be found in his song: “Viens voir le docteur” ('Come see the doctor') in which he states that he enjoys having sexual intercourse with teenage girls ^[4] Interestingly, Doc Gynéco's style is very peaceful. Even though he appears as a misogynistic seducer, he never promotes violence in his videos and his rap is very laid-back and soft. He disapproves of the acts of violence that occur in the banlieux. He says that the young people in the banlieux should not express themselves with violence because it will not improve their situation. Unlike many French rappers, he is close to politicians like Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy showing them his support during their presidential campaigns.^[5] ^[6] Doc Gynéco is actually helping the French president Nicolas Sarkozy to halt the idea that the people of the banlieux should always count on subsidies. "He told the convention that the immigrant rioters were clowns who should break their dependence on welfare payments." Other rappers denounce Gynéco as a traitor. Indeed, he might be the president's new friend but about 10 years ago he went himself through a period of rebellion against the French government. One of his songs says: “Je kiffe quand les keufs cannent (I get a kick when cops croak).” “France is a country of cops. There are a hundred on every street corner. To keep order, they get away with murder.”^[7]

[edit] Politics

In 2001 he claimed to be close to the Socialist Party, but in 2006, he joined the UMP and announced his support for Nicolas Sarkozy in a party meeting in Marseille.^[8]

His support of Sarkozy has been controversial: Stomy Bugsy no longer considers Beausir a friend partly because of the support he offered to Sarkozy, and Beausir was booed off the stage in Geneva in August 2007[1].