Diam’s has proved to be the only real success story on the French rap scene in the first half of 2003. And it's safe to bet that her new album, Brut de Femme – which is already on the point of achieving gold disc status barely a month after its release – will prove to be the rap phenomenon of the year. For the first time in French rap history a female rapper is reaping critical acclaim and public support. True, there was Lady Laistee's hit, Et si, which managed to rocket up the French singles chart. But Diam's looks set to carve out a place for herself in the long term, attacking the album chart with a vengeance.

The majority of female rappers who have emerged on the French scene – such as Bam’s, Donya, Roll’K and Beedjy – have pretty much died a death after unsuccessful debut albums. Even Lady Laistee, who managed to get round to releasing a follow-up album, failed to make the grade. Indeed, the only track from her album which got any kind of attention at all was one featuring a duet with … Diam’s! Diam's, a young rapper of Cypriot origin, has not appeared on the French rap scene overnight. She grew up in a tough Paris suburb and began making a name for herself in the hip-hop world in her teens with Premier Mandat (an album released on the short-lived independent label Reel Up in 1999).

In the four year interval that separated her first and second album, Diam’s has put in time on the rap scene, establishing herself as an indefatigable sparring partner for male and female artists alike. "My first album was a complete commercial flop," says Diam's, "but it went down well with the critics and it turned out to be a great calling card in the music business. It was thanks to the buzz around the album that everyone started calling me up to work on a stack of different projects – and I'm someone who rarely says no! I do what I do because it's my passion in life; I don't do it for money or fame. So when someone invites me along to guest on an album or something I turn up at the studio and rap just to prove I'm up to the job. Word must have got around in the profession that I rarely turn anything down! Now I'm one of the artists on the French rap scene who've done the most stuff. You have to realise four years is a long time in the rap world and doing thirty guest appearances in that time is not actually that much. There's a new rap project every day, you know. My career's on the up and up these days. When you think that I started out on underground compilations and ended up working on the film soundtrack of 'Taxi,' well! But the reason I get to do all that today is because I've put the graft in before. My hard work's finally paying off now. I don't regret anything I've done in my career, though, and I have to say I'm happy with all the collaborational work I've done to date."

Having gained experience and credibility over the years, Diam’s has gone on to record an album that reveals the full extent of her songwriting talent. This talent has already been put to good use in the past, Diam's penning songs for other female French rappers such as Jalane and K-Reen. But it really comes into its own on Brut de femme. Steering away from clichéd "street" subjects, Diam's ventures onto more challenging songwriting territory, touching on sensitive issues such as violence within marriage and absent fathers. Yet, despite her difficult subject matter, she avoids the trap of falling into pathos or self-pity. Indeed, her ease with syntax and vocabulary and her impressive sense of metaphor raise her songs to the level of the best in the business (think Oxmo Puccino, Akhenaton or Dadoo!)

Aware of the all-importance of image in the rap world, where artists more often win fans through videos rather than live performance, Diam's has also cultivated a striking new look. "It was like I suddenly woke up to the fact that I wanted to look feminine," says Diam's, "I was only 17 when I made my first album and I wasn't bothered about looking feminine at all. But as I've grown up I've developed a desire to come across as sexy and seductive and I take much more care of my appearance these days. When it came to shooting the new album cover I turned round and said "OK, I want to look pretty now!" It's funny, in the States fashion houses like Chanel are falling over themselves to give female rappers clothes. But not in France. Dior haven't called up to offer me a new wardrobe or anything! But I can tell you, if someone were to offer me even the tenth of Eve's wardrobe, no problem, I'd take it!"

Diam's combines her talent and strength of character with a shrewd approach to running her career, too. She has been careful not to milk celebrity associations for their media value, for instance, preferring to keep her friendship with French actor, Jamel Debbouze, relatively private. "I was a big fan of Jamel's," admits Diam's, "and I was delighted when he turned round one day and asked to meet me. It turned out Jamel wanted to produce my albums, but I was just on the point of signing with EMI. Anyway, Jamel and I have gone on to become great friends. He gives me a lot of advice about things and talks about me on TV shows too. Who knows? One day maybe he'll even produce a video for me or a show. We sit down and have real heart-to-hearts as artists, you know. And I have to say Jamel has been very important to me while I was making the new album. I'm sure he'll be important for my career in the future too, because he's someone I'm not worried about calling up to ask advice. But, don't worry, it hasn't got to the point of him rapping on my albums or anything!"

Diam's Brut de femme (Hostile) 2003

Jean-Eric Perrin