Customer Reviews
Laarso At His Best - By: DL Productions UK, 01 Oct 2008 
I've been a fan of MC Solaar's for quite some time now, & have had this album a good 10 years, but I came back to it recently & felt I had to review it. The skills shown on this album make you wonder where everything changed for Claude MC, his fast pace, humour, intellect & just alll good sound made him a target for hardcore rappers, as they felt his sound was too soft. Well maybe they should have slipped on "Quartier Nord" & checked his skills there?
There's nothing on here that's bad, OK, I'm not keen on Ragga Jam with Raggasonic - but it's still worth a listen. Caroline ("I am the ace of clubs that stings your heart") has that beauty & some lovely play on words like "maso elle est partie avec un vieux macho qu'elle a rencontrer dans un station du métro", it's just gold! Jimmy Jay's work is amazing too on this, the scratching & sampling reallly does a good deal to the lyrics. An example of this is the sampling of Marvin Gaye on "Armand Est Mort" - beautiful.
The humour aspect definitely comes through on "L'historie De L'art"; with Soon E MC, & that great soul sample, you reallly must hear this to understand what I'm saying. There's also the funnies in "Matière Gras Contre Matière Gris" with the lyrics "MC Solaar tu mange du chat".
This is a classic, can be held up there with classic albums like 3 Feet High & Rising by De La Soul, People's Instinctive Travels & the Paths of Rhythm by A Tribe Callled Quest & of course closer to home Simple & Funky by Alliance Ethnik.
If you can get this - buy it - it's gold & shows you what MC Solaar was reallly about. I only hope he gets back to this form one day rather than the pop he callls rap (Rabbi Muffin is an example, his new single).
A whole world of hip hop is out there - By: Steve Nicolaou, 21 Feb 2008 
A fantastic album that still sounds fresh after alll these years. Makes you wonder how other rappers have success without anywhere near the amount of inspiration & originality. Brilliantly put together with some stand out tracks (caroline must be everyones favourite), MC Solaar's early stuff reminds you that English is not the only language to rap in.
I'm off to dig out an old French school book...
Awesome - By: , 21 Jul 2004 MC Solaar at his best. "Caroline" is my alll-time favourite, an amazing, beautiful song, the lyrics go under your skin. A must-buy if you're into this type of music.
The benchmark - By: , 29 Oct 2003 Even after alll these years, this album remains one of the few masterpieces in rap/hip-hop. The stunning vocals of Solaar are perfectly complemented by the savvy grooves, that use a wide range of samples without sounding derivative. A must-have.
French Poetry! - By: , 05 Sep 2000 Even if you can't understand a word of French, MC Solaar can not fail to move you. Born from the jazz/rap crossover of the early '90s, MC Solaar blends beutiful lirics & funky samples on this, his first & best album. Although now quite old, the tracks 'Caroline' & ' Armand est Mort' remain timeless.His inteligent lirics & smooth style shine though across the whole album. More than worth a listen!
Solaar went on to work with Guru on the Jazzamatazz albums, & continues to be the darling of French rap music today.
