Imagine the scene - a blowy, windswept Brittany where the mist comes rolling in from the sea to swathe the forest of Brocéliande in a shroud of mystery. Strange men with long white beards assemble in the midst of a stone circle and bow their heads over the central dolmen, muttering a series of magical incantations. This is the stuff of Celtic legend - and the stuff of which Manau's multi-million success story is made!

Martial and Cédric, the duo behind the Manau success story, trace their origins back to Brittany but they actually grew up in the Paris suburbs. However, failing to find an identity for themselves on the Paris rap scene, the duo decided to revisit their Celtic roots and began mixing Breton legend and a spot of regional folklore into their rap beats. This highly original idea soon paid off and the rest is chart history!

When Martial and Cédric brought their folk/rap fusion to the Olympia at the start of this week they recreated a lively Celtic atmosphere on stage, kicking their concert off with the sound of the bagpipes. All the other Celtic marketing 'props' were firmly in place - beautiful redhead plucking away at her harp, the afore-mentioned bagpipe-player strutting around in his kilt and Cédric (Manau's DJ) installing his turntables on top of a huge fake dolmen!

While Cédric mixed his rap beats with the sound of the biniou (the traditional Breton bagpipes) and the bombarde (the Breton oboe), singer Martial rapped out his tales about Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table (all perfectly scanned to a hip hop tempo, of course!) Meanwhile, the largely teenage audience, primed by years of Dungeons and Dragons role-play games, threw themselves into the imaginary adventures body and soul. Manau certainly understand the appeal of Druidic escapism! Their songs are peppered with references to Jean Markale's novel "l'Epopée celte" (a fantastical account of ancient Celtic warlords) and even their name is inspired by the old Gaelic term for the Isle of Man!

The lyrics to Manau's best-selling single "La Tribu de Dana" certainly found an instant echo in the audience assembled at L'Olympia - "Akim, the blacksmith's son came to fetch me, saying the Druids had decided to fight in the valley/ The time has come to defend our lands against the army of Simerians massing on the border". Yes, 'let's fight', cry the crowd, waving their arms in the air, ready to attack the invading hordes!

The only real 'enemy' on Manau's horizons, however, is the legendary French folk star Alan Stivell. Manau sampled the catchy melody line of their best-selling single "La Tribu de Dana" from "Tri Martolod" - an old folk hit Stivell put out in the 70's. Stivell, who does not seem to be of the opinion that copying is the best form of flattery, considers Manau's sampling to be a wilful act of 'plagiary' - and is currently involved in bringing a court case against the duo.

But Manau don't appear to be too bothered by the threat of court action. Indeed, the duo have recently been up to their old tricks again, reworking "la Jument de Michao" - an old children's counting rhyme which was adapted by the famous French folk group Tri Yann 25 years ago!

While the success of Manau's rap/folk fusion can be easily explained - many critics put it down to the fact that French rap fans are eager to identify with lyrics which do not revolve around misogyny, bravado and violence - nobody is sure whether the Manau phenomenon will actually last. Will Manau go down in history as a one-album wonder or will the effect of their magic Druidic potion send them rocketing to the top of the charts again very soon? Watch this space, music fans!

Pascale Hamon

English version: Julie Street