Suprême NTM
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Suprême NTM (or simply NTM) is a French hip hop group formed in 1989 in the Seine-Saint-Denis département. The group comprises rappers Joey Starr (born Didier Morville) and Kool Shen (born Bruno Lopès). Their seven albums were released by Sony Music Entertainment. Their last album, "Suprême NTM" (containing the huge hit "Ma Benz"), enjoyed commercial success (800,000 records sold up to today), and is widely considered as one of the best French hip-hop albums ever.
The group takes its name from the French slang "NTM", an abbreviation for "Nique Ta Mère" ("Nique" being an aphesis of the verb "forniquer", "to fornicate") meaning "Fuck Your Mother". NTM is known for their hostility towards the police, violent lyrics, and legal battles with the French authorities. Their musical style is predominantly hardcore rap, although later albums include funk, soul and reggae influences.
The group is outspokenly critical of racism and class inequality in French society, and while their earlier music is violent, some of their later work, such as "Pose ton Gun" ("Put down your Gun"), is explicitly anti-violent.
In 1998, the group released its last album of original material under the NTM moniker, as both Joey Starr and Kool Shen started their own labels, promoting new bands and branching out in other fields such as the clothing industry (2High is Kool Shen's brand, Com-8 is Joey Starr's).
While officially the band still exists, and its well-known name was used in 2001 to promote a 'duel' album pitting the two label's artists against each other, Kool Shen was quoted in 2004 saying "on a fini avec NTM en 98" ("We were done with NTM in 1998").
The group is known for its gritty, dark and sometimes violent lyrics, as well as for the contrast between the two rappers' styles. While Joey Starr (also known as Jaguar Gorgonne and Double-R) has a relatively slow flow, aggressive lyrics and a deep, booming voice (which he sometimes uses to yell such as in "Pose ton Gun"), Kool Shen has a funkier flow as well as witty and rather melancholic lyrics.
Conflicts with Authority
The 1993 release 1993… J'appuie sur la Gâchette ("1993… I'm Pulling the Trigger") contained a track with the same name, about suicide, which was censored on most French TV channels (despite not creating any scandal, unlike "La Police") and a track La Police that featured violent criticism of the police. The police responded to this by taking NTM to court. The court decided in favor of NTM. However, many French radio stations decided to boycott the group's music.
A second encounter with the police occurred in 1995 when the group made further comments critical of the French police during a live concert that allegedly included advocating violence against the police. The group was again taken to court, and this time they were sentenced, initially to six months imprisonment, a sentence that was shortened to two months imprisonment and a 50'000 Francs fine on appeal.
Joey Starr was later imprisoned for charges unrelated to his musical career for assaulting a flight attendant in November 1998, and for assaulting his ex-girlfriend in 1999, shortly after his release.
Starr tried creating a new "watered down" public image in 2002, releasing a solo single which was not received well by critics, as it didn't have the trademark "energy" of the past NTM releases. The same year, his public image suffered further when he was filmed brutalizing a pet monkey in a documentary.
Discography
- 1991 : Authentik
- 1993 : 1993… J'Appuie Sur La Gâchette
- 1995 : Paris Sous Les Bombes
- 1998 : Suprême NTM
- 2000 : Live (1991-1998)
- 2001 : NTM Le Clash - BOSS Vs IV My People
References
External links
See also