LONDON — Britain can be an insular place. A parlor game here involves trying to list as many famous Belgians as possible, on the basis that few people know any. An equivalent exercise with French rappers would be even tougher. France is one of the world’s largest rap music markets, but its neighbor on the other side of the English Channel pays little attention.

The lack of interest is reciprocated. French rap is full of borrowed English words: The F-bomb is often detonated in lyrics, especially in “le rap hard-core.” But the prevailing influence is American; British rappers struggle to command attention. Stormzy, probably Britain’s highest-profile M.C., topped the British charts when he released his debut album in 2017. In France, he did not even make the top 200.

Can the differences between these opposing citadels of European rap be bridged? The answer lies not just in Britain and France, but also in Europe’s former colonies in Africa.

West and Central Africa contain numerous English- and French-speaking nations that reflect the presence of Britain, France and Belgium as colonial powers until the 1960s. Imported styles of pop music from sub-Saharan Africa have been adopted and transformed by British and French musicians who have roots there.