Saint Denis

I wanna do a slam for a great lady I’ve known since I was a kid
I wanna do a slam for the one who sees my old cane from Monday to Saturday
I wanna do a slam for an old woman I grew up with
I wanna do a slam for this northern suburb of Paris they call Saint-Denis
Take the D line of the RER and wander through the tough streets of a city full of character
Take the 13 line of the metro and grab a bite at McDonald's or in the bistros of a city full of hot chicks and shady characters
If you love to travel, take the tram and hit the market. In an hour, you’ll cross Algiers and Tangier.
You’ll see some Yugos and Roms, and then I’ll take you to Lisbon
And just a stone's throw from New Delhi and Karachi (see, I brushed up on my geography), I’ll take you to eat Mafé in Bamako and Yamoussoukro
And if you prefer, we can just go behind to grab a crepe where it smells like Quimper and has a little vibe of Finistère
And then passing through Tizi-Ouzou, we’ll end up in the Caribbean, where there are big black girls saying "Pchit, you too, what’s up girl!"
At the market in Saint-Denis, you gotta be on your game. If you don’t like being pushed around, you’ll have to stay chill
But for sure you’ll pick up accents ringing in your ears and smells filling your senses
After the market, we’ll hit the street of the Republic, the sanctuary of cheap shops
The favorite street of well-dressed girls with little heels and peroxide blonde hair
In front of the zouk shops, I’ll teach you how to dance. If we go to the Post Office, I’ll teach you patience...
The street of the Republic leads to the Basilica where all the kings of France are buried, you should know that! After Geography, a little history lesson
Behind this monumental building, I’ll take you to the end of the alley, to a cozier spot, welcome to the Cultural Café
We go there to chat, to drink, or to play checkers. Some Friday nights, there are even Slam nights
If you wanna eat for next to nothing, I know all the little sketchy spots
We’ll find all the misfits, the whole jet-set of the aristocrats
At night, there’s not much to do, not much open
Except for the cinema at the Stadium, where the guys come in groups: welcome to Caillera-Land
Those who are there dream of saying one day "I’m the man!" and know Kool Shen better as Bruno Lopez
It’s not a picture-perfect city but it’s a lively one. There’s always something happening, for me it’s a blast
I know its ins and outs, I know its twists and turns, there’s always traffic, there are plenty of unruly kids,
I wanna write a beautiful page, a city with a hundred thousand faces, St-Denis-center my village
I have 93200 reasons to introduce you to this area. And you have just as many ways to discover all its attractions.
To this damn city, I’m more than attached, even if I wanna smack the phone snatchers at Place du Caquet
St-Denis, a city like no other, St-Denis, my capital, St-Denis, a city that’s anything but ordinary... where at Carrefour you can even buy halal sauerkraut!
Here we’re proud to be from Saint-Denis, I hope I’ve convinced you. And if you call me a Parisian, I’ll shove my cane up your...
I wanna do a slam for a great lady I’ve known since I was a kid
I wanna do a slam for the one who sees my old cane from Monday to Saturday
I wanna do a slam for an old woman I grew up with
I wanna do a slam for this northern suburb of Paris they call Saint-Denis.