PARIS - A French rapper is facing calls to be stripped of the country's top musical awards for the sexist and "degrading" lyrics of his old songs.

Orelsan won three Victories of Music prizes Friday, confirming him as France's rapper of the moment.

But a petition is demanding that French Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen strip him of the awards because of his 2006 song, "Saint Valentine", which saw him convicted of inciting violence against women.

Orelsan, 35, was acquitted on appeal of the charge in 2016 despite the hit containing the line "Shut your mouth or I will make a Marie Trintignant of you," a reference to a French actress who was killed by her pop star boyfriend, Bertrand Cantat of Noir Desir, in 2003.

A number of feminist groups have brought charges against Orselan for the lyrics of several of his early songs even though the singer claims to be a feminist himself.

He has been cleared on appeal in all of the cases, with judges saying it was clear that the singer did not endorse the feelings of the "hopeless" characters in his songs.

But a new petition against the singer had gathered more than 25,000 signatures by Wednesday.

Orelsan, 35, aka Aurelien Cotentin from the Normandy town of Caen, had managed to shake off much of his early sexist image in recent years with biting and often humorous songs chronicling some rarely seen sides of French country towns. - AFP