Racailles Lyrics in English Kery James

Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Racailles by Kery James from French to English.
Intro
You've had enough, huh
You've had enough of that gang of thugs
We'll get rid of them for you
Thugs
We oughta power-wash you with a Kärcher
The day the people wake up
You're gonna pay big, thugs
We feel that going to vote
Means choosing which of you
We wanna get screwed by, thugs
Republicans or Socialists
Stash your promises in your Hermès bags, thugs
You've never known hardship
You live far from our realities, thugs
The street thinks it, I put it to music
And for those who still ignore it
I make it public
I back no party
I don't buy into your schemes anymore
Your election programs
Are just nursery rhymes, thugs
We take the same ones and start again
The same promises
The same lies
The same guys dip into the till
The same ones go down
The same ones live the hustle
The same ones eat, thugs
The same liars doctor the same books
The same lackeys serve the same big shots
The same sons of the poor get jailed
The same sons of the rich get trained to rule
While we wait for a man of the people to rise
It's rare to find an elected official with a clean record
My hatred of the system's still intact
Which of you can throw a stone at Cahuzac
Claude Guéant, Balkany, Jean-François Copé
Philippe Herman, Harlem Désir, Alain Juppé
All those I named were convicted
They're the guys from the projects
That they treat like the damned, thugs
You were shocked by the group Tandem
You do the same to France
Till she bleeds
Till she sinks like Greece or Italy
You've wounded the country to agony, thugs
Multiple mandates, how far will you go
Is it multiple salaries you want
Thugs
Like all grassroots France
I don't believe in politicians anymore
I keep fighting, I believe in a citizen awakening, thugs
To change things you gotta want it
You have no deeper cause
Except power, thugs
You do politics with no conviction
Sometimes you do it
Just to dodge prison, thugs
The real crooks wear suits and ties
You don't believe in anything anymore
Nobody believes in you anymore, thugs
Just look at the abstention rates
Don't treat people
Like idiots too much, watch out, thugs
Feel the wind turn like your jackets
Between you and the street
There's only the riot cops left, thugs
Out of breath
Your system's at a dead end
Struggling to flail about
Like a legless man, thugs
You're elected for a job
You don't even do it
You do the opposite, besides
And it doesn't bother you, thugs
And if the people think of rebelling
You've got an army of cops
Well trained and zealous, thugs
Social dialogue lies in a coffin
Cops fire flash-balls
You can lose an eye, thugs
You raise anti-police feeling
Using the police like a private army
The politician, woman or man
For me anyway, for now
Maybe tomorrow I'll change my mind
Is useless now, just a service provider
Those f*cking debts, right
That p*ss off everybody
That knock nations flat
That put them on their knees and so on
We can't manage to wipe them out
Just like you politicians
You can't get them wiped out
Those f*cking debts
Because the bank's stronger than you
Thugs
Everyone knows it, it's obvious
You're totally submissive to finance, thugs
You pass the laws the rich dictate
After 49-3, nothing surprises me, thugs
We work more but earn less
We're just waiting for the European spring
We pay in for pensions
We might never see
All the money we bring in
You take it back from us, thugs
Overdrawn at the end of every month
We feel like slaves to the banking system, thugs
Even the rich know the game
Enjoy tax loopholes
Small businesses collapse under payroll charges, thugs
Speed camera, we pay, Toll, we pay
Pollution, we pay, thugs
What are you doing with all that cash
What the hell was Eric Zemmour doing on a public channel
Thugs
Paid to spread his hate
Sow seeds harvested by the FN
For you even Marine Le Pen
Has become acceptable
Anyone who fights Islam
Can sit at your table, thugs
Unable to govern you divide, thugs
Unable to unite you stigmatize, thugs
Blinded by power your hearts are veiled
Way more than that veiled woman's face, thugs
All your supposed secular principles
Don't apply to that Saudi woman
On the Champs-Élysées
For you everything's negotiable
Everything's about dough
You're even ready to hand over
The suburbs to Qatar, thugs
Your game is murky, thugs
Your speech is double, thugs
In the so-called land of human rights, thugs
The state of emergency's become the norm
And you claim to lecture the whole world
Impose democracy with mortar shells
Pitiless you iced Gaddafi
Now look at Libya's state
The street knows it, I put it to music
Your media stay quiet, I make it public
I stand up to you like a guy from Les Minguettes
Is this the kind of text
That could get me an S-file
Straight in my boots
I never drop my pants
Head high I'm upright
I do Hip-Hop
You call that n*gger music
I release independently
You'll never see me again
Set foot at Skyrock
They don't like what I am
What I stand for, what I carry
It goes both ways
They twisted R-A-P
I'm one of the survivors
They praised mediocrity
They turned Hip-Hop into pop
They staged beefs to divide us
As long as it gets ratings, we can burn each other
When a rapper gets shot
They'll organize a concert in the name of peace
I make protest music
You sell advertising slots, thugs
I sacrificed myself for my little bros
You play stuff
That sends them to the graveyard, thugs
Cash and violence in your playlists
You dumb mine down, the elites love it, thugs
You used me, I used you
So my message reached the widest crowd
Now I can do it without you
I've got a crowd that backs me
I've done things, the people remember
The street swarms over you, I make it public
Nothing's changed since Letter to the Republic
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SONG MEANING

Racailles is Kery James’s fiery reply to the French political class that once labeled young people from the suburbs “thugs.” With biting irony, the rapper flips the word back onto those in power, exposing corruption, double standards, and a widening gap between the ruling elite and everyday citizens. Name-checking convicted officials and highlighting scandals, he paints a portrait of leaders who seem more interested in luxury bags and cushy salaries than in the struggles of the “France d’en bas.”

Amid rapid-fire rhymes and pounding beats, Kery James condemns police violence, austerity measures, media complicity, and the ever-tightening grip of finance on democracy. Yet the song is not only an accusation; it is a call to action. Refusing to align with any party, the MC urges a réveil citoyen – a grassroots awakening – reminding listeners that real change begins when the people reclaim their voice. The result is a hard-hitting protest anthem that channels anger into awareness and turns music into a megaphone for social justice.

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