The international profile of France’s most famous rapper may have dipped of late, but MC Solaar’s first UK shows for five years were greeted ecstatically by fans. A three-night stint at the Jazz Café was sold out, despite no apparent new album to promote.

Indeed, why Solaar — born Claude M’Barali in Senegal, but brought up in Paris — was gigging at all was never made clear. Perhaps he required some post-Christmas cash. More likely, he was trying to inspire himself. Since struggling to complete his award-winning album Chapitre 7 in 2007 — a year off to spend time with his young son turned into more than three years away — there has been no mention of new music.

Still, he looked delighted to be back on stage. Backed by a DJ and flanked by two tall rappers and a versatile female vocalist, Solaar began by wishing fans a happy new year, encouraged them to jump up and down and even made one botched attempt to describe a song in English, then laughed at his own poor grasp of the language.

Now 40, Solaar has retained his pin-up looks and snappy dress sense; he matched Burberry-print trousers with a skintight shirt and black beanie hat. More importantly, his lovely, languid rapping style still sounds surprisingly fresh. A set that leaned heavily on tracks from Chapitre 7 but dipped back over two decades was inventive, energetic and fabulous fun.

On the opener, Carpe Diem, the four singers grooved together, exchanging lines as though sliding the salt down the table. An updated Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo was a frisky reminder of the glory days of Acid Jazz; T’inquiète from 2004 was retooled as a US-style R&B duet; and Caroline had the atmospheric moodiness of vintage Massive Attack.

Clic-clac bounced along on a reggae beat as one of the backing rappers removed his leather cap to shake his dreadlocks along to the song, to the delight of the crowd. No one could resist dancing to a fast-paced Les temps changent, or at least no one except Solaar, who stood centre stage, smiling, watching the room erupt around him. Even when he dispensed with his fellow MCs Solaar didn’t let the tempo of the show slow. Lengthy, complex, clever rhymes spilled effortlessly from his mouth, contrasting sweetly with his female sidekick, who switched between soul, jazz and a shrill, girlie howl.

Even non-French fans joined in the chorus of Bouge de là, Solaar’s landmark debut single, and howled along to Le bien, le mal, his early 1990s collaboration with Guru’s Jazzmatazz. This one, as well as a rapid-fire montage of parts from past pop duets with the likes of OutKast and Missy Elliott, were a reminder that Solaar was once the go-to guy for American hip-hop stars looking to inject some cool Gallic class into their hits.

On this performance, one of the new breed of Brit rappers would be wise to sign up Solaar for a guest spot.