You don’t need to be an expert to join in. Even the French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand tried his hand at slamming. Frdric Mitterrand, French Culture Minister, "The slang is French, the words are French, even if they come from English, Arabic, or other languages, it's all really French. And for that reason slam is actually a really great way for us, in France to express our day to day lives." Slam isn't rap. It's poetry and spoken word and performance art all wrapped up together in one not so tidy package.