Manau

Manau emerged in 1998 as a French rap outfit whose Celtic-tinged opening release, "La Tribu de Dana," ranked among that year's dominant successes by holding the top national spot for several straight months. The act, launched that same year, centers on Martial Tricoche and Cédric Soubiron, whose collaboration dated back a decade to a shared radio program where Tricoche handled vocals and Soubiron operated the turntables. The pair, both Parisians with Breton roots, initially shaped Manau as a Celtic rap project alongside multi-instrumentalist Hervé Lardic, known as R.V. With Tricoche serving as frontman and lyricist, Soubiron handling composition, programming, and DJ duties, and Lardic contributing composition plus instrumentation, the trio cut demos that secured a deal with Polydor. Their official introduction arrived via the 1998 single "La Tribu de Dana," a Celtic rap track whose memorable hook draws from the melody of Alan Stivell's 1971 version of the Breton traditional "Tri Martolod." As one of 1998's standout tracks, it commanded the French singles chart for 12 weeks in a row and logged 23 weeks inside the Top Three overall. Capitalizing on that momentum, Manau issued their first album, Panique Celtique (1998), which reached number one on the albums chart and yielded further singles such as the chart-topping "Mais Qui Est la Belette?," the Top Ten entry "Panique Celtique," the Top 30 "L'Avenir Est un Long Passé," and the Top 40 "La Confession." The following year the group received a Victoires de la Musique trophy for Rap Album of the Year, coinciding with Lardic's exit. Now operating as a duo, they explored varied rap approaches across Fest Noz de Paname (2000) and On Peut Tous Rêver (2005); although neither matched the debut's commercial peak, both still achieved solid popularity.