'All The Way Up' spotlights French hip-hop

"All The Way Up" is the first French TV series set within the country's vibrant rap and hip-hop scene, featuring newcomers who have now become stars in their own right.

Spread over two seasons, the series, originally titled "Valide" in French and released on Canal+, follows the fortunes of two up-and-coming rap stars and the hurdles they face.

The first season revolves around Clement, aka Apash (played by real-life French rapper Hatik), and his childhood friends, Brahim (Brahim Bouhlel) and William (Saidou Camara). Apash, who is a gifted rapper, is discovered one day by one of France's biggest rap stars, Mastar (played by Moussa Mansaly, another real-life French rapper).

Their initial alliance rapidly disintegrates into dangerous rivalry, with the protagonists quickly learning that fame doesn't come easily.

Without giving too much away, the second season features female rapper Sara, aka Lalpha (Laetitia Kerfa), who must contend not only with the male-dominated rap industry but with old foes coming out of the woodwork following her newfound fame.

'Glitz, glam and Gomorrah'

The series is the brainchild of Franck Gastambide, one of France's most successful film directors. In his TV directorial debut, he was inspired by another TV series of the 2000s, namely "Entourage."

That successful HBO series chronicled the acting career of young A-list film star Vincent Chase (played by Adrian Grenier) and his childhood friends from Queens, New York, as they navigate their budding acting careers in Los Angeles.

"I used to watch 'Entourage,' and it made me dream. I wanted to be their friend, be in Hollywood with them and bump into Jessica Alba at Starbucks," Gastambide told Variety magazine in October.

"And I told myself: I want to do this for the rap scene, with real people, real places and what's great is that the French rap scene has something more than Hollywood in that there's sometimes a criminal aspect, so that was the perfect playground to mix the glitz and glam with the universe of 'Gomorrah' with epic reckoning moments."

Gastambide's gamble has since paid off in epic style.

When its first season debuted in France in early 2020, "All The Way Up" became a word-of-mouth hit: It broke records on Canal+ digital platforms with 44 million streams and won the audience award at the Cannes International Series Festival. The second season, which launched in October, was no less successful, clocking a reported 10 million views in its first week.

The series has also made stars of its lead actor, Hatik, and French-Congolese rapper Bosh, who plays Karnage in the series. Hatik has since become a hip-hop sensation with his biggest track, "Angela," garnering more than 122 million YouTube views. According to Canal+, the series' original soundtrack has also been streamed more than 100 million times on Deezer and Spotify.

'New French Wave'

"All The Way Up" is among several popular French TV shows that have been gaining popularity among non-French-speaking fans globally and are loosely referred to as the "New French Wave."

While Netflix's "Emily in Paris" propagates a romantic, stereotypical view of France, other successful Canal+ series include the more realistic "The Bureau" (2015) and "Baron Noir" (2016).

"The Bureau" is a multiple-award-winning spy thriller set in France's foreign secret service. It is among the most downloaded series in the United States and Canada and one of the best-performing Canal+ series ever.

"Baron Noir," which is often described as the French "House of Cards," has become particularly popular in the run-up to the 2022 French election. The BBC has said it "offers an insight into the horse-trading and back-stabbing that characterises party politics, and the emotional toll it takes on presidents. It also captures the widespread feeling of disillusionment with the state of French democracy — trapped in a perennial quintennial battle to keep out the far right — while revealing how the economic alienation ... is manufactured into populist politics."

Over on Netflix, 2021's "Lupin" — a modern take on France's beloved gentleman thief, Arsene Lupin, played by Omar Sy — garnered 70 million views globally in its first month, overshadowing both "Bridgerton" and "The Queen's Gambit."

Netflix also scored big with French comedies like 2017's "Call My Agent," or "Dix pour cent" in French, featuring Camille Cottin as a film talent agent in an ensemble cast who hilariously puts out fires for her clients, played by themselves. Another hit was this year's "C'est drole," or "Standing Up" in English, which follows the antics of four young Parisians pursuing their dreams of becoming stand-up comedians while juggling other private and professional demands.

So what sets the shows of the New French Wave apart?

Some critics and observers have commented that it's probably the reflection of France as it is — a realistic representation of its people and the issues affecting them — that have made these series resonate among audiences abroad.

Meanwhile, things are looking up for "All The Way Up": Amid talk of international remakes, the series has already begun streaming in the UK and on HBO Max in the US, giving international viewers a chance to enjoy more French culture. 

Edited by: Louisa Schaefer and Cristina Burack