Fabulous Trobadors are a band from

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, founded in 1987. They have developed their own distinctive style based on

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

folk music and the rhythms of northeastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Claude Sicre writes the lyrics and raps, while Ange B (real name Jean-Marc Enjalbert) raps and acts as a human beatbox, producing a wide range of sounds (beats, scratches, trumpet, guitar etc.) solely with his mouth. Their first album, ''Èra pas de faire'' (In English, ''We shouldn't have done it''), was released on

Massilia Sound System Massilia Sound System is a reggae band formed in Marseille, France, in 1984. They developed a Provence, Provençal hybrid version of reggae, rub-a-dub and raggamuffin, with lyrics in the French Language, French and Occitan language, Occitan langu ...

's Roker Promocion label. Originally the lyrics to their songs were in the Occitan language, but they have since reached a wider audience with French-language lyrics. They are noted for their political engagement, denouncing politicians such as Toulouse mayor

Dominique Baudis Dominique Baudis (; 14 April 1947 – 10 April 2014) was the French Defender of Rights (ombudsman). Formerly a journalist, politician and mayor of Toulouse, he had been a member of Liberal Democracy and later of the leading centre-right Union ...

, and particularly for their humour, wordplay, and constant puns. A major feature of their concerts is improvisation in the form of

rap battles Battle rap (also known as rap battling)Edwards, Paul, 2009, p. 25. is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults and wordplay. Battle rap is often performed or freestyled spontaneously in live ...

, verbal duels between the two rappers with each trying to outdo the other. These ''joutes verbales'' or ''duels de tchaches'', as the band calls them, are inspired by the " tenson" of Occitan

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

s. The auditorium also forms part of the show, with numerous folk dances taking place. The Fabulous Trobadors engage in their songs with the defence of cultural (notably Occitan) identity,

decentralisation Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

, and the fight against economic

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

. Together with other artists they have promoted the idea of the Linha Imaginòt, an imaginary line linking like-minded people, towns and villages, "a symbol of a movement towards greater cultural democracy".

Discography

*''Èra pas de faire'' (1992) *''Ma Ville est le plus beau park'' (1995) *''On the Linha Imaginòt'' (1998) *''Duels de tchatche et autres trucs du folklore toulousain'' (2003)

References

External links

*
Official site
*
Facebook Page
{{Authority control Musical groups from Occitania (administrative region) Organizations based in Toulouse