PNL

French duo PNL is formed by siblings Ademo and N.O.S. 
The brothers have been active in the French scene since 2008 and 2011 respectively, slowly making waves ever since the beginning of that decade. 

Les Tarterêts in the Île-de-France region, served as the background for the siblings' artistic development, given their formative years being spent there. This neighbourhood, sometimes called "The Zoo" (in jest, given the zone's very high crime rate), has been known as a case study for the banlieue "problem" in France. 

Regardless of the social discussion on poverty and the results thereof, we can firmly establish that one's class background can have an influence in art that can turn into enjoyable properties of said art. 
PNL are an example of this kind of influence, seeing as how much of their aesthetic tropes and themes directly reference their childhood residences, even invoking its Zoo nickname by using terms connected to jungle scenery, such as several callouts to "The Lion King" and "The Jungle Book".


Seeming superficially contradictory, the duo's sound is recognisable for its chillwave and vaporwave elements, which would strike one as being in stark contrast to the violent thematic landscapes that would present themselves in talk about hood life. 

In spite of that, the ethereal sounds punctuated even by lyrical references to nerd culture (such as Dragon Ball Z and The Legend of Zelda), mostly serve as a backdrop to the street life topics conveyed through mostly auto-tuned rapping. 

In other words, the juxtaposition between the ethereal and the violent is clearly intentional, and in big part thanks to auto-tune, does not come off as jarring at all. 

PNL's 2015 debut project "Que La Famille" already, mostly, showcased these elements, while not yielding incredible success. 

It would only be with the music video for "Le Monde ou rien", shot in the famous Naples neighbourhood of Scampia, that the Frenchmen would get their first big hit, in anticipation to their sophomore effort (yet first official album) "Le Monde Chico", which would in turn land them on the upper echelons of the French charts. 

Their second official release, "Dans la Legende" would prove as capitalisation on their previously gained hype, with it being certified diamond in 2017, only a year after it officially dropped. 

Having taken a fleshed out approach to the accompanying media to their music, by crafting extremely well-made music videos which border on short-film status, PNL have attained a status of respect as artists and hitmakers. 

And as artists with their principles which serve as a foundation for their catalogue, the duo have chosen to work mostly in-house, and do not often collaborate with third parties, as a result. 

This is not to say that third parties haven intersected with the PNL universe, as the French magazine "The Society" made a documentary about them and their environments before their commercial success.

Having come back on the scene in 2018 with the single "À l'ammoniaque" and their third album "Deux Frères" in 2019, PNL are further cementing the name in the annals of French Hip-Hop culture. 

We see their continued success as further reason to take a look at their future output.