The first release since announcing his departure from street collective L'Entourage,
La Banquise is the second effort from French-Senegalese rapper
Lamine Diakite, aka
Guizmo. The follow-up to 2011's street album Normal is a more personal affair, with several songs chronicling his rise from the ghetto, while there are also collaborations with emerging MC
Demi-Portion ("La Raclée") and Jamaican reggae singers
Mavado and
Laza Morgan ("One by One"), the
Thriller-sampling "J'aime la Nuit," and the single "Maman STP." ~ Jon O'Brien