Intik

The October 1988 demonstrations in Algiers brought together Youssef "Darkman", Nabil, Reda and Samir, four youngsters aged between ten and fourteen. Together, they pooled their passions for Algerian hip-hop, reggae, raï and chaâbi, and formed Intik, meaning "it's bathing" in Algerian slang. They got their start performing clandestinely in Algerian venues, while the group was banned from the airwaves. In December 1998, IAM producer Imhotep invited Intik to Marseilles for the Logique Hip Hop festival. They took part in the Stop la violence events, and in 1999 released their first album, Intik, with the hit single "Va le dire à ta mère". In it, they criticize the market economy, terrorism and fundamentalism, and rap about their past in Algeria. Produced by Imhotep and mixed by Tim Saul (of the group Earthling), the album, which mixes Arabic and French, pays tribute to Algerian music with hip-hop and reggae influences. Based in the Paris suburbs, they run writing workshops for young people from the inner-city. In 2001, Intik released a second album, La Victoire, in which their fusion of rap, soul and ragga, with tracks such as "Planet B", "Liberté " and "Il était une fois l'Algérie...", hoped to convey a call for peace. Ranked 135th in the French charts, the four rappers put Algeria on the hip-hop map. Exhausted, however, the group failed to produce a third album, and decided to go their separate ways in 2006.

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