Matthieu Balanca aka Gérard Baste is a French rapper and TV host. At the age of
14, he came across hip-hop graffiti and bought cassettes of Run DMC and the
Beastie Boys. He then became a graffiti artist under the signature "Baste".
While still in high school, he founded the group Svinkels with Nikus and Xanax.
The Rabelaisian style of songs such as "Le Svink' c'est chic" and "Cereal
Killer" (composed by Ludovic Bource, who later went on to score the film The
Artist) and their party themes appealed to a rock audience, much to the regret
of these admirers of Public Enemy. After Svi...