Suprême Ntm's Poem

Artists with foreign roots also draw on anecdotes to address the frustration felt as a result of being alienated and marginalised from society. Being situated on the southern coast, Marseille has a large African immigrant population, as well as immigrants from Italy and Turkey. The sentiment of being classed as "sous-blanc" is often expressed by these rappers, particularly those of African descent. Artists tend to draw on their own personal experiences in this situation to show how they are perceived within society. One such example used by IAM remembers a time when he moved aside on the street to let a woman pass. However, she reacted by nervously shifting her purse out of his sight.
‶ Je marchais tranquillement, les mains dans les poches

Critiquing the government, insulting the authorities and inciting the police played against them. One such instance that annoyed the police involved Joey Starr. Suprême NTM’s lead rapper yelled ‶Nique la police!″ from the stage at one of their concerts and also called the police his enemy, ‶Nos ennemis, c'est les hommes en bleu″. The police were violently criticised in many of Suprême NTM’s songs. The treatment the police received from the public as a result of these songs, didn’t work in the rappers favour and the immigrants became more and more

Violent acts like the car burnings led to a fear amongst the public of the youths from immigrant and lower class backgrounds. Soon instead of the music and songs, Hip-hop began to be associated with stereotypical images of violence and criminality. Francois Grosdidier, a Member of Parliament, even blamed French hip hop artists for initiating the riots. People began to fear the new dangerous class that were emerging from the banlieue and so they became more and more marginalised by the