Sniper (group)

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Sniper is a French hip hop group from the Val-d'Oise department. The group consists of El Tunisiano (Bachir Baccour), Aketo (Ryad Selmi), and Blacko, formerly Black Renega (Karl Appela).

1 Biography
2 Controversies
3 Albums

[edit] Biography

The members of Sniper first met at the 1997 Francofolies festival at La Rochelle. There, DJ Boudj and the three rappers Aketo, El Tunisiano, and Blacko met and decided to form the group, originally called Personnalité suspecte (Suspicious Character). This name was abbreviated to persni and finally ended up as Sniper.

The three members form a complementary group, as Aketo and El Tunisiano have developed more of a rap style and Blacko prefers an approach closer to reggae; meanwhile DJ Boudj takes care of the scratching.

They began by making appearances on various mixes and compilations, such as The Power of Unity, Première classe (First Class) and B.O.S.S..

[edit] Controversies

The group has had multiple legal battles, notably for their lyrics in songs such as La France and for a song on the conflict in the Middle East called Jeteur de pierres (Stone-thrower). The group was acquitted by the court of Rouen of charges based on La France but were later accused of antisemitism based on their treatment of the Iraeli-Palestinian conflict on their second album, which provoked the ire notably of several Jewish organizations. The Minister of the Interior at the time, Nicolas Sarkozy, called them "ruffians who dishonor France."

[edit] Albums

[edit] First album: “From Laughter to Tears” (Du rire aux larmes)

However, their career really began in January 2001, with the release of their first album, ” From the laughter to the tears, under the label Desh Music. The title of this opus summarizes rather well the philosophy of the formation: a mixture of humor (cf a verbal tournament between Aketo and Tunisiano) and from more serious texts (Taken for target), run in varied but always energetic tempos. Their topics of predilection are found in everyday life: racism, exits, girls... They do not forsake the claiming rap but avoid pouring systematically in the stereotype which contributes to make rap music from the ghetto. The track list is as follows.

1. Intro 2. Sniper Processus 3. Pris Pour Cible 4. Faut De Tout Pour Faire Un Monde 5. Intro Le Crew Est De Sortie 6. Le Crew Est De Sorte 7. Intro Tribal Poursuite 8. Tribal Poursuite 9. France 10. Intro Du Rire Aux Larmes 11. Du Rire Aux Larmes 12. Aketo Vs. Tunisiano 13. Sentence 14. Quand On Te Dit 15. Aketo Solo 16. Fait Divers 17. Rumba 18. On S' En Sort Bien

This albums went double gold with more than 250.000 album sold.

[edit] Second album:”Carved in Stone” (Gravé dans la roche)

In spring 2003, the group repeats with a more refined album, "Carved in stone". This opus covers many subjects like the israélo-Palestinian conflict with “Rock thrower”, global warming on "Chaotic vision" or the idleness of certain young people in “Too fast”. Lighter titles are not in particular forgotten : "Process 2003" and ' "House recepeit". Useless to quote the most known singles like "Sans (re)pères “without father/point” and "Engraved in stone".

"Panam All Starz" is a piece, gathering various artists of the Paris area representing each one a department:

Haroun (75)
Mano Kid Mesa (77)
Skadrille (78)
Sinik & Diam' S (91)
Salif & Zoxea (92)
Tandem (93)
113 (94)
Sniper (95)

The track list is as follows:

1. Intro 2. Processus 2003 3. Visions Chaotiques 4. Grave Dans La Roche 5. Pourquoi 6. Recette Maison 7. Y A Pas De Merite 8. Sans (Re)peres 9. Ce Que J'ai Sur Le Coeur 10. 35 Heures 11. Hall Story 12. Entre Deux (Ft Leila Rami) 13. Trop Vite 14. Jeteur De Pierres 15. Interlude Mirco Ouvert 16. Panam All Starz

As the group's popularity grew, so did their fans base. This popularity showed in the second album since they sold more than 400.000 copies which represent the double of their previous album. This success was notably due to the fact that they were less crude and refined their lyrics in order to produce a quality album.

[edit] Third album: "Trait for trait"

May 22, 2006, “Sniper” returns on the scene of French rap. Afterwards in the space of a few weeks hardly after its exit, their album places n°1 of the sales. However, the group changed. Indeed DJ Boudj, which took seat with platinum’s since the 1st album "From laughter to tears" left ”Sniper”. The reasons were not detailed but it would be considered to be an argument, ”as in any family" explains one of the members always active, of the group. At this time there, the group marked a clear evolution reaching a certain maturity whose first steps were already perceptible in their second album "Engraved in stone".

1. S.N.I 2. Dans Mon Monde 3. Trait Pour Trait 4. Eldorado Feat Faada Freddy Daara J 5. Zamalia 6. Generation Tanguy 7. Donne Tout 8. La France, (Itineraire D'une Polemique) Avec La Participation De Cigi Et Olivier 9. Hommes De Loi 10. Il Etait Une Foi 11. Radio 12. Retour Aux Sources 13. Elle 14. Brule Avec La Participation De Joey Starr 15. Fallait Que Je Te Dise

With this album, Sniper reach more than 1 million copies for all 3 albums and thus confirmed themselves as one the best rap artists in france.

[edit] Bilan

In three albums, the Sniper convinced certain rap fans, in France, by being interested on many subjects, quite different from one the others, such as religion, international conflicts like Iraq-US, Palestine-Israel, or love, respect, resentment, the various injustices & inequalities, the immigration, the difficult life in suburbs, the real/fake dream of occident, it racism, etc.

The group is subject to heteroclite influences: old style rap, in particular under the influence of Aketo, as well from the texts in Arab, sung by El Tunisiano, but also by the key of reggae which brings Blacko.

The group would consider a last round, after this last album, since the three artists will separate and move towards a solo career.

However the 3 artists announced then confirmed that a 4th album would leave once they finished their respective solos. However, Blacko announced the 20 of February 2008 that he had separated himself from the group Sniper since July 2007. ' ' Intersection' ', the title no-claims bonus of the album of Tunisiano in the vats on February 25, 2008, will be, therefore, the last piece of the complete group. So a fourth album is not on the agenda any more.