MC Solaar’s “Bouge De Là” is a track I’ve been playing out since I tracked down the original Talkin’ Loud single back in the early 90’s. Some of the songs I used to play from the acid jazz heyday admittedly haven’t aged well, but this one has. MC Solaar was the first French rapper that I’d ever heard of at that point. This particular song is based around a loop of Cymande’s 1973 song “The Message” and it chugs along nicely. You don’t have to speak French to like it (although the lyrics are clever) because Solaar’s flow is so smooth. The song reached number five on the French charts and the single has a killer dub (sadly not included in the video here).

Solaar recorded with Guru of Gang Starr and contributed to another one of my old favorites, “Listen” from Urban Species. Ecoute!