The album, scheduled for September 23, was billed as one of the early fall hits. Big names in French rap like PLK, Heuss l’Enfoiré or Rim’K have posed their voices with Ryan, Perkiz, Nono and Blur (the latter is still awaiting trial), four inmates of Fresnes prison (Val- de-Marne), on a disc produced by Believe, the label of stars Jul and PNL.
A unique project, between music and reintegration, imagined by Mouloud Mansouri and his association, Fu-Jo. The twenty-one titles are united under the title Shtar Academy, pun between the famous reality TV show and the “shtar”, or, in slang, the prison. To illustrate the punchlines on the prison world, several clips have already been shot in the penitentiary establishment in the Paris region.
Released in May 2022, the track Oh la la la, with rapper Sofiane Zermani (aka Fianso), has just over 2 million views on YouTube. At the time, a union of supervisors saw it as a “undermining the credibility and image of the prison”, accusation relayed by far-right media, including Current values. Several tweets denounced throughout the summer this “alleged broadcast” musical shot in cells of 9 square meters.
“It was a time trial. We had to discuss, write and record in two hours, not a minute more. » S.Pri Noir, Parisian rapper
Suffice to say that the back-to-school psychodrama caused by the images of the karting race in the same Fresnes penitentiary center did not help Mouloud Mansouri’s business. “The slightest grain of sand can stop everything”, he reacts, barely surprised, sunglasses on his nose. The release of the album has so far been officially postponed to October 7. Same thing for the broadcast of the documentary series that follows the project, rhyme cell, produced by Sarah Marx, for the France Télévisions platform.
And the concert planned in the prison of Fresnes, with many artists present on the disc? It might never take place. “As for the promotion and the live in a Parisian room, I’m not even sure that the detainees obtain an exit permit”, regrets the director of Fu-Jo, who organized more than five hundred actions in prison.
“We want to avoid putting a part back in the machine”, explains Laurent Ridel, director of the penitentiary administration, whose team met the various actors of the Shtar Academy in anticipation of the release of the album. Since the controversy, several associations, unions and prisoners have denounced the cessation of recreational activities in prison, despite their obligation under the 2009 prison law.
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