To celebrate the release of their album ‘Yasuke’, IAM invite themselves to Dans le Club! If Akhenaton, Shurik’n, Kheops, Imhotep and Kephren have taken the trouble to come up to Paris, it’s not for a barge ride on the Seine. No: the Marseillais are here to give the Ile-de-France region a lesson in rap.

Hailing from Marseilles, IAM have been delivering a brand of rap that is both tongue-in-cheek and full of demands since the late 80s. For the Phocéens, words and messages always prevail, even if they are accompanied by festive music. This very Mediterranean style has conquered the whole of France, thanks in particular to the hit “Je danse le Mia” and the legendary album L’Ecole du Micro d’Argent. And it’s been going strong for twenty years now! At the time of writing, IAM have just released a brand new album called Yasuke.

This tenth opus – named after Kurusan Yasuke, a 16th-century African slave turned samurai – is bursting with verve and humanist commitment. It confirms the legendary status of the five Marseillais in the French rap game. In the Club, IAM alternated between their biggest hits and brand new tracks from Yasuke. Akhenaton summed up the evening by saying: “It’s cold outside, but very, very hot inside”.