La Caution is a French
hip hop duo consisting of Hi-Tekk and Nikkfurie, both of
Moroccan descent. They are notable for creating the song "Thé à la Menthe" which is known for appearing (in instrumental form) in the 2004 American film ''
Ocean's Twelve
''Ocean's Twelve'' is a 2004 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by George Nolfi. The second installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy franchise and the sequel to ''Ocean's Eleven'' (2001), the film features a ...
''. The phrase "thé à la menthe" is
French for "
mint tea
Maghrebi mint tea (Maghrebi Arabic: , ''atay''; ar, الشاي بالنعناع, aš-šhāy bin-na'nā'; ), also known as Moroccan mint tea and Algerian mint tea, is a North African green tea prepared with spearmint leaves and sugar.
It is ...
".
History
La Caution's first single "Les rues électriques" ("electric streets") was released in 1999. They began to gain recognition participating in
Assassin
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...
concerts. As a result, they secured the opening slot on the band's tour in 2000 and 2001; this enabled them to reach an increasingly larger audience. Encouraged by the success of "Les rues électriques", La Caution, shouldered by DJ Fab, released their first album ''Asphalte Hurlante'' ("Screaming Asphalt") in 2001. A year later, a version including seven new unreleased titles was released. Participating in many projects with other hip-hop groups, they released the ''Cadavre Exquis'' ("Exquisite Corpse") album in 2002, with the collective L'Armée des Douze (French for "Army of Twelve", a collective made up of La Caution and
TTC, started in 1999). They also released the ''Crash Test'' EP with the electronic group Château Flight.
La Caution's musical style is seen to be a combination of energetic electronic sonorities and original and percussive words. Wanting to break away from the current
French rap
French hip hop is the hip hop music style developed in French-speaking countries. France is the second largest hip-hop market in the world after the United States.
History
Beginning of French hip hop: the 70s and 80s
By 1982 and 1983, a numb ...
, they brought a revival that now tends to spread out further than the Parisian underground, along with groups such as TTC. After over three long years, the ''Peines de Maures / Arc-en-ciel pour Daltoniens'' double album was released on October 17, 2005. ''Peines de Maures'', a play on words with "Peine de mort" (
death penalty) and the Maure tribe, another way of describing people from North Africa, remains within a rather traditional rap style, whereas the second ''Arc-en-ciel pour Daltoniens'' ("Rainbow for the colorblind") has more of an
electro sound.
The song "Thé à la Menthe" (subtitled "The Laser Dance Version" in its instrumental form) appeared in the 2004 American film ''
Ocean's Twelve
''Ocean's Twelve'' is a 2004 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by George Nolfi. The second installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy franchise and the sequel to ''Ocean's Eleven'' (2001), the film features a ...
'' in a scene where the thief Nightfox dances in order to evade a series of randomly sweeping laser beams. The song appeared courtesy of
Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor.
He first achieved recognition for his performance as a troubled French Jewish youth in Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film '' La Haine (Hate)'', for which he received two César Award ...
who, alongside La Caution, is part of Kourtrajmé, an artistic collective. La Caution also appeared as an imaginary group called Sheitan on the score to the
eponymous film (directed by Kim Chapiron of Kourtrajmé), with the title "Bâtards de Barbares" in which they preach a violent style of rap, which is purely caricatural. The songs "Comme un Sampler" (Like a Sampler) and "Pilotes Automatiques" (Automatic Pilots), taken from the album ''Peines de Maures'', also appear in the film. "Pilotes Automatiques," their French rap remix of the Tamil song "
Ottagathai Kattiko" from the
Tamil film
Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...
''
Gentleman'' composed by
A. R. Rahman was a huge underground success in France. Hi-Tekk and Nikkfurie are also part of the "Les Cautionneurs" collective, with Saphir the Jeweller, Izno (Hi-Tekk and Nikkfurie's little brother), and 16S64.
The latter also appears on both of La Caution's albums, on titles such as ''J'plante le décor'' or ''Révolver''. Les Cautionneurs released the album ''Quinte Flush Royal'' on September 25, 2006. On November 13, 2006, came out the album entitled ''La Caution Rend Visite aux Gens et des Gens Revisitent La Caution'' ("La Caution visits people and people revisit La Caution"), an album on a
CD/
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
set made up of remixes of the band's highlights, most notably produced EDA (Enhancer), Radioinactive, Drixxxé, and more. as well as extracts of live appearances and a documentary recalling their career.
La Caution has its own radio show called ''Les Cautionneurs'' on the French radio station Le Mouv, featuring two hours of hip hop music every Saturday night.
Discography
*''Asphalte Hurlante'' (Kerozen Music, 2001)
*''Crash Test'' (Kerozen Music, Wagram Music, 2002)
*''Peines de Maures'' / ''Arc-en-ciel pour Daltoniens'' ( Kerozen Music, Wagram Music, 2005)
*''Peines de Maures'' / ''Arc-en-ciel pour Daltoniens - The Instrumental Version''
igital-only release(Kerozen Music, 2006)
*''Des Gens Revisitent La Caution / La Caution Rend Visite aux Gens'' (Kerozen Music, Wagram Music, 2006) (CD/DVD)
References
External links
*
*
La Cautionat
MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caution, La
French hip hop groups
French musical duos
French musical groups
French people of Moroccan descent