Maître Madj / The exclusive playlist of the man behind the scenes of the group Assassin!
A multifaceted personality and true cultural resistance fighter, the activist known as Maître Madj has left a lasting mark on the French urban music scene.
He notably co-hosted the show “Fusion Dissidente” on Radio Beur (later renamed Beur FM) and co-initiated the seminal compilation of the French rap scene, “Rapattitude,” released in 1990. Seven years later, he co-directed the development and execution of the “11’30 Against Racist Laws” project alongside Jean-François Richet, an emblematic track that brought together seventeen artists for an anti-racist manifesto intended to raise funds for the Immigration and Suburbs Movement (MIB). He also became involved in organizing several benefit concerts combining music and protest, but he will remain above all one of the founders and the leading figure of the Assassin Productions label, the first independent Hip Hop label in France. Madj thus left his mark on the odyssey of the group Assassin, infusing it with a cultural and political dimension unparalleled in the history of French rap.
In 2003, he was one of the protagonists of the collective La Bande Des 4 and participated in the composition of most of the tracks on the instrumental album “Hors De Contrôle,” a true abstract Hip Hop phenomenon. In 2018, he initiated the two-volume vinyl compilation “Motor City” for Universal Music, dedicated to the early days of the Motown label. The following year, as part of the 50th Rencontres Photographiques d’Arles and on the occasion of Motown’s 60th anniversary, he co-curated the exhibition “Dancing In The Street”. In 2023, he was involved in organizing the “Punk” and “Hip-Hop” days at Ground Control (Paris) during the “Underground Control” cycle dedicated to countercultures. More recently, in May 2024, he curated the exhibition “¡REWIND!” in Montpellier, dedicated to the work of photographer Alain Garnier focusing on the French Hip-Hop and Dancehall scenes from 1988 to 1998.
He also regularly works as a DJ, hosting numerous parties where his sets blend eclecticism and raw energy. Master Madj took the time to put together an exclusive playlist for What the France, a true musical journey through the ages, where he brought together several of his favorite “made in France” tracks. The program includes songs performed by Maurice Chevalier, Patachou, Edith Piaf, Henry Cording, Colette Magny, Johnny Hallyday, Serge Gainsbourg, Eddy Mitchell, Jacques Dutronc, Antoine, Françoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan, Dick Rivers, Slimane Azem, Métal Urbain, Les Olivensteins, Oberkampf, Dogs, Bérurier Noir, La Souris Déglinguée, Warum Joe, Parabellum, Camera Silens, Dee Nasty, Assassin, La Cliqua, Fabe, Oxmo Puccino, Sléo, La Rumeur, Raggasonic, Tonton David, King Daddy Yod, Nuttea, Suprême NTM, IAM, Expression Direkt, Koma, ideal J, Ministère A.M.E.R, Ärsenik, Kalash, Rohff, Rocca, Les Sages Poètes de La Rue, Rockin’ Squat & La Caution & Pyroman, Booba, Sefyu or Kery James.
A made in France selection by Maître Madj
¡Descubre la selección de temas franceses de Maître Madj! Listen nowSee also
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