Bâtiment – Bilingual Lyrics French/English

• By: Kofs, Sinik
• Album: Mon école : Vol. 1

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the raw and reflective world of French rap with "Bâtiment" by Kofs and Sinik. This powerful collaboration offers an authentic glimpse into urban life and the experiences that shape it. By exploring its poignant lyrics, you can gain a deeper understanding of contemporary French vocabulary and slang, while appreciating the storytelling prowess of two influential artists who masterfully blend rhythm with hard-hitting truths. It’s a compelling listen that serves as a bridge between different eras of French hip-hop, making it a special track for language learners and music enthusiasts alike.

[English]

With my first cash, I bought a big blunt

Things are gonna get wild, I shot and ended up busted

You're in court, look

They act like bitches in front of the crew

They don't give a damn about us growing up together

Sabbi, for you it's over

They act like thugs, I'm gonna beat them all up

You make money, I got the flow of a machine gun

I'm waiting for a sentence, I'm crazy

I repeat, you stare at me, fuck you

Where we're from, the consequence is a spray of bullets at the green light

The bullets come from me, the driver's a thug with green eyes

You've got those green eyes, my brother, I see you like a bum in rehab

To listen to Sinik, I didn't wait for Ryan B. Fever

I've put your city, Chaoui and Kabyle on the map

I represent my hood like Zerouali Bernard Tapis

There's police surveillance, I become very fast

Before the anti-crime brigade gets involved

I'm on the scene, I'm on TF1, I'm on the team

I'm from Paris

I'm from Marseille

This is for those who make moves and get incarcerated

Street life fades fast, the atmosphere is unhealthy

I was studying cop car plates but not my partial exams

My senses were gone

I entered the dangerous building, I came out without the sentence

To seek justice through a hacker

And I'm going back to the neighborhood because I didn't snitch

I took the bull by the feelings

I learned accounting in a building

I prayed to God for the entire continent

May He keep us away from the bastards and punishment

My destiny scares them, even city hall is after me

The only four-leaf clover in a burning prairie

One mistake and it's hell

Big and shady, screw his mother and his news

I am green, white, and red

I represent misery like a fearless people

Like somewhat cold beasts, without heather or comfort

Don't think this singer's life pleased me

I say "I love you" but it's false, I just wanted to get laid

We arrive, we settle in

One day I'll listen to my instinct, I'll delete my Instagram

Sometimes I think of my mother, her destiny in paradise

You ask me if I'm okay, I say yes, I'm lying

But all of them died this way, most of them wasted away

I represent the 91 like the top corner in Evry

What would this music be without Niquesi, without Kofs?

Rappers can suck it, I put thousands in the trunk

I'm from Paris

I'm from Marseille

This is for those who make moves and get incarcerated

Street life fades fast, the atmosphere is unhealthy

I was studying cop car plates but not my partial exams

My senses were gone

I entered the dangerous building, I came out without the sentence

To seek justice through hate

And I'm going back to the neighborhood because I didn't snitch

I took the bull by the feelings

I learned accounting in a building

I prayed to God for the entire continent

May He keep us away from the bastards and punishment

[French]

À mes premiers lovés, j'ai acheté un gros tarpé

Ça va barder, j'ai tiré j'ai fini embarqué

Tu es au parquet, regardez

Ils font les putes devant le milles

Ils balaient les couilles qu'on est grandi ensemble

Sabbi pour toi c'est fini

Ils font les Youva, je compte bien tous les bourra

Tu fais la moula, j'ai pris le flow d'une douka

Je guette une peine de jugement, je suis dingue

Je répète, tu me guettes t'encules

Chez nous, le revers, c'est une rafale au feu vert

Les balles viennent de moi, le conducteur c'est un chav au yeux verts

Tu as des vis verts, mon frère, je te vois comme un clochar en B. Vère

Pour écouter Cnik, j'ai pas attendu Ryan B. Fever

J'ai mis ta ville, chawi et Cabill

Je représente ma reste comme zerouali Bernard tapis

Il y a le guépi, je deviens très rapide

D'avant que la bac s'applique

Je suis sur clique, je suis sur TF1, je me suis dans équipe

Je viens de Paris

Je viens de Marseille

C'est pour ceux qui font des classe et qu'on incarcère

La rue sa part vite, l'ambiance est malsaine

Je révisais des plaques de schmith mais pas mes partielles

Les les quatre sens sont passés

Je suis rentré en B dange, je suis ressorti sans la sé

Faire justice par un hacker

Et je repars au quartier parce que j'ai pas balancé

J'ai pris le taureau par les sentiments

J'ai appris la conta dans un bâtiment

J'ai prié Dieu pour tout le continent

qu'il nous éloigne des bâtards et du châtiment

Mon destin leur fait peur, même la mairie m'en veut

Le seul trêve à quatre feuilles dans une prairie en feu

Une seule faute et c'est le nufère

Grand et louche nique sa mère a ses news

Je suis vert, blanc et rouge

Je représente la misère comme un peuple sans peur

Comme des bêtes un peu froides, sans bruyère et sans beure

Ne crois pas que cette vie de chanteur me plaisait

Je dis je t'aime mais c'est faux, je voulais juste baiser

On arrive, on s'installe

Un jour j'écouterai mon instinct, je couperai mon insta

Des fois je pense à ma mère son destin au paradis

Tu me demandes si je vais bien, je dis oui, je batine

Mais ainsi sont tous morts, la plupart maigris

Je représente le neuf un comme la lucarne a évry

Que serait cette musique sans Niquesi, sans kof

Que les rappeurs baissent leur mère, j'en mets des milliers dans le coffre

Je viens de Paris

Je viens de Marseille

C'est pour ceux qui font des classe et qu'on incarcère

La rue ça part vite, l'ambiance est malsaine

Je révisais les plaques de chmith mais pas mes partielles

Le quatre sens sont passés

Je suis rentré en B danger, je suis ressorti sans la sé

Faire justice par la haine

Et je repars au quartier parce que j'ai pas balancé

J'ai pris le taureau par les sentiments

J'ai appris la conta dans un bâtiment

J'ai prié Dieu pour tout le continent

qu'il nous éloigne des bâtards et du châtiment

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
bâtiment /bɑ.ti.mɑ̃/ B1	noun - building
rue /ʁy/ A1	noun - street, road
justice /ʒys.tis/ A2	noun - justice
quartier /kaʁ.tje/ A2	noun - neighborhood, district
sentiment /sɑ̃.ti.mɑ̃/ B1	noun - feeling, sentiment
destin /dɛs.tɛ̃/ B1	noun - destiny, fate
misère /mi.zɛʁ/ B1	noun - misery, poverty
peuple /pœpl/ B1	noun - people, nation
ambiance /ɑ̃.bjɑ̃s/ B1	noun - atmosphere, mood, vibe
malsaine /mal.sɛn/ B2	adjective - unhealthy, harmful, morbid
incarcérer /ɛ̃.kaʁ.se.ʁe/ B2	verb - to imprison, to incarcerate
guetter /ɡe.te/ B1	verb - to watch out for, to stalk, to lie in wait for
balancer /ba.lɑ̃.se/ A2	verb - to swing, to sway verb - to snitch, to denounce, to expose (informal)
châtiment /ʃɑ.ti.mɑ̃/ C1	noun - punishment, chastisement
peine /pɛn/ A2	noun - pain, sorrow, difficulty noun - punishment, sentence (legal)
clochar /klo.ʃaʁ/ B2	noun - tramp, homeless person, hobo (slang)
rafale /ʁa.fal/ B2	noun - gust (of wind), burst (of gunfire)
taureau /to.ʁo/ A2	noun - bull
conta /kɔ̃.ta/ B2	noun - accounting (informal, short for comptabilité)
prier /pʁi.je/ A2	verb - to pray

Key Grammar Structures

• Ça va barder, j'ai tiré j'ai fini embarqué

  ➔ Futur Proche, Passé Composé, and colloquial `finir + participe passé`

  ➔ ''Ça va barder'' is the near future, meaning 'It's going to be tough/noisy/cause trouble.' ''J'ai fini embarqué'' is a colloquial expression meaning 'I ended up getting arrested/taken away.' The auxiliary verb `avoir` is used for `finir` followed by a past participle, expressing the result of an action.

• Ils balaient les couilles qu'on est grandi ensemble

  ➔ Colloquial use of `être` instead of `avoir` with `grandir` (intransitive verb)

  ➔ ''Ils balaient les couilles'' is a very vulgar and informal idiom meaning 'they don't care,' 'they ignore.' The grammatical point here is the colloquial use of `être` (''on **est** grandi'') instead of the standard `avoir` (''on **a** grandi'') with the intransitive verb `grandir` when referring to having grown up. This informal usage implies a state resulting from the action.

• D'avant que la bac s'applique

  ➔ Colloquial ''D'avant que'' requiring the Subjunctive mood

  ➔ ''D'avant que'' is a colloquial variant of ''avant que'' (before), which is a conjunction of time that always requires the subjunctive mood in the following clause. So, ''s'applique'' (from `s'appliquer`) is in the present subjunctive, meaning 'before the police force acts/arrives.'

• C'est pour ceux qui font des classe et qu'on incarcère

  ➔ Relative pronoun `qui` and impersonal pronoun `on` in a relative clause implying passive meaning

  ➔ The structure ''C'est pour ceux qui... et qu'on...'' combines two relative clauses. ''qui font des classe'' refers to the subject of 'doing something.' The second part, ''qu'on incarcère,'' uses the indefinite pronoun ''on'' to refer to 'them' (the authorities/people) who incarcerate, creating an impersonal or passive-like meaning: 'and who are incarcerated (by them).'

• La rue sa part vite, l'ambiance est malsaine

  ➔ Colloquial use of `sa` (phonetic spelling) instead of `ça` (impersonal pronoun)

  ➔ The spelling ''sa'' here is a colloquial or phonetic spelling of ''ça,'' which is an informal contraction of ''cela.'' ''Ça'' functions as an impersonal pronoun, similar to 'it' or 'that,' meaning 'things' or 'the situation.' So, ''La rue ça part vite'' means 'In the streets, things go fast/things can escalate quickly.'

• J'ai prié Dieu pour tout le continent / qu'il nous éloigne des bâtards et du châtiment

  ➔ Subjunctive mood after a verb expressing desire/prayer, introduced by `que`

  ➔ The verb ''prier'' (to pray) when followed by ''pour que'' (so that, in order that) requires the subjunctive mood in the dependent clause. Here, ''qu'il nous éloigne'' (from `éloigner`) is in the present subjunctive, expressing a wish or a plea for God to distance them from bad people and punishment.

• Ne crois pas que cette vie de chanteur me plaisait

  ➔ Negative imperative (`Ne crois pas que`) with the indicative mood for a factual statement

  ➔ After expressions like ''ne pas croire que'' (not to believe that), the choice between indicative and subjunctive depends on the certainty. Here, ''plaisait'' (imperfect indicative) is used because the speaker is stating a fact or a strong conviction about their past feelings. They are not expressing doubt; rather, they are asserting that the life *did not* please them.

• Que serait cette musique sans Niquesi, sans kof

  ➔ Conditional Present for a hypothetical situation

  ➔ ''Que serait'' is the conditional present tense of `être` (to be). It's used here to ask a rhetorical question about a hypothetical situation: 'What would this music be without...'

• Que les rappeurs baissent leur mère, j'en mets des milliers dans le coffre

  ➔ Colloquial `Que + Subjunctive` to express a strong wish/command/imprecation

  ➔ The structure ''Que + subject + verb in subjunctive'' is a common way to express a wish, a command, or an imprecation in French (similar to 'Let them...' or 'May they...'). Here, ''baissent'' (from `baisser`) is in the present subjunctive, conveying a strong, aggressive wish for the rappers to 'lower themselves' or 'shut up' (as a vulgar idiom).