Auguste Vacquerie

Auguste Vacquerie (1819–1895) was a French journalist and man of letters.

Biography

Vacquerie was born at Villequier (Seine-Maritime) on 19 November 1819. He was from his earliest days an admirer of Victor Hugo, with whom he was connected by the marriage of his brother Charles with Léopoldine Hugo. His earlier romantic productions include a volume of poems, L'Enfer de l'esprit (1840); a translation of the Antigone (1844) in collaboration with Paul Meurice; and Tragaldabas (1848), a melodrama. He was one of the principal contributors to the journal L'Événement and followed Hugo into his exile in Jersey in 1852, where he took photographs of the Hugo family and relatives. In 1869 he returned to Paris, and with Meurice and others founded the anti-imperial Rappel. His articles in this paper were more than once the occasion of legal proceedings. After 1870 he became editor of Rappel.

His other works include Souvent homme varie (1859), a comedy in verse; Jean Baudry (1863), the most successful of his plays; Aujourd'hui et demain (1875); Futura (pub. 1900), and poems on philosophical and humanitarian subjects. He published a collected edition of his plays in 1879 and a collection of essays in 1885.

Victor Hugo

Victor Marie Hugo (/ˈhjuːɡoʊ/;French: [viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo]; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry and then from his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). He also produced more than 4,000 drawings, which have since been admired for their beauty, and earned widespread respect as a campaigner for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.

Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism; his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panthéon. His legacy has been honoured in many ways, including his portrait being placed on French franc banknotes.

Paris

Paris (UK: /ˈpærɪs/ PARR-iss; US: ⁱ/ˈpɛərɪs/ PAIR-iss; French: [paʁi]) is the capital and most populous city of France. Situated on the Seine River, in the north of the country, it is in the centre of the Île-de-France region, also known as the région parisienne, "Paris Region". The City of Paris has an area of 105 km² (41 mi²) and a population of 2,241,346 (2014 estimate) within its administrative borders essentially unchanged since 1860.

Since the 19th century, the built-up area of Paris has grown far beyond its administrative borders; together with its suburbs, the whole agglomeration has a population of 10,550,350 (Jan. 2012 census).Paris' metropolitan area spans most of the Paris region and has a population of 12,341,418 (Jan. 2012 census), or one-fifth of the population of France. The administrative region covers 12,012 km² (4,638 mi²), with approximately 12 million inhabitants as of 2014, and has its own regional council and president.

Paris was founded in the 3rd century BC by a Celtic people called the Parisii, who gave the city its name. By the 12th century, Paris was the largest city in the western world, a prosperous trading centre, and the home of the University of Paris, one of the first in Europe. In the 18th century, it was the centre stage for the French Revolution, and became an important centre of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, a position it still retains today.

Niggas in Paris

"Niggas in Paris" (edited for radio as "In Paris" or simply "Paris", edited for album as "Ni**as in Paris") is a song by American rappers Kanye West and Jay-Z from their collaboration album Watch the Throne (2011).

The song contains samples from "Baptizing Scene" by Reverend W.A. Donaldson and also samples dialogue from DreamWorks Pictures' 2007 film Blades of Glory. It debuted at number 75 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the week of the album's release. The song has since peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Kanye West's 14th top-10 single and Jay-Z's 18th making Jay-Z the rapper with the most top-10 hits. As of November 2012, it has sold 3 million digital units in the United States.

"Niggas in Paris" won Best Rap Performance at the 55th Grammy Awards.

Background

In an interview, Kanye West revealed that the song was inspired by his travels in Paris:

The song's production was originally offered to rapper Pusha T by Hit-Boy. However, Pusha turned it down, saying "It sounds like a video game. Get that shit out of here!"