Rapper detained by French police over hip hop clash: legal source

Elodie, a French fan of rapper Elie Yaffa, also known as Booba, wearing a shirt reading "Free Booba" waits during the trial of the rapper at the Creteil courthouse, outside Paris, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Paris, France -- French rapper Booba has been detained in Paris for questioning over a complaint for harassment from top-selling francophone hip hop rival Gims, a legal source told AFP on Thursday.

Booba has repeatedly ridiculed Kinshasa-born rival Gims on social media, making fun of his appearance and mocking his partner, known as Demdem, in his track “Dolce Camara”.

Although clashes and verbal battles between rappers are common, Gims took the unusual step of filing a case of harassment and cyberharassment in August last year, claiming distress and financial losses.

Booba, 48, denied the allegations at the time and his lawyers declined to comment when contacted by AFP on Thursday.

The provocative Paris-born rapper has been charged with cyberharassment in a separate case filed by a former Dubai-based influencer agent Magali Berdah whom he accused of fraud.

He was convicted and handed a suspended jail sentence over a 2018 brawl with rival Kaaris at Paris’s Orly airport in front of shocked passengers.

Gims, 39, is regularly among the most-streamed artists in France, with over 18 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

The French rap scene is regularly in the headlines over law and order issues.

Koba LaD was sentenced to six years in prison in June for aggravated manslaughter linked to a fatal car accident and was questioned in March over the deadly escape from prison of a suspected drugs boss who was a childhood friend.

Moha La Squale was sentenced to three years in jail last year for abusing, threatening and sometimes forcibly confining six former partners.

Rapper and former pizza delivery driver MHD was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2018 for murder, while Rohff has been convicted for several firearms.

AFP