French hip hop or French rap, is the hip hop music style developed in French-speaking countries. France is the second largest hip-hop market in the world after the United States.
IAM is a French hip hop band from Marseille. Formed in 1989, it comprises Akhenaton, Shurik'n, Khéops, Imhotep and Kephren. IAM has several meanings, including Invasion Arrivée de Mars. Another meaning is Imperial Asian Man, while AKH often refers to L'homme Impérial Asiatique.
Comme un aimant is a 2000 French film by Kamel Saleh and Akhenaton. It depicts eight young people living in the district of Panier, in Marseille.
Philippe Fragione, better known by his stage name Akhenaton, is a French rapper and hip hop producer. He has also worked under the aliases Chill, AKH, Sentenza and Spectre. He is best known as member of hip hop group IAM and has since made a number of records, both with IAM and as a solo artist.
Fonky Family or La Fonky Family, is a French hip hop band from Marseille, consisting of four rappers, Le Rat Luciano, Menzo, Don Choa and Sat, producer Pone, DJ Djel, dancer Blaze, singer Karima, Flex (fetus) Nandell, and manager Fafa.
Geoffroy Mussard (French pronunciation:[ʒɔfʁwamysaʁ]; born 11 March 1966), known by his stage name Shurik'n, is a French rapper from Marseille. He is one of the members of the hip hop group IAM, as well as a major solo artist. With his brother Faf Larage, he also is a member of the group La Garde.
Malek Brahimi, better known by his stage name Freeman, is a French hip hop artist and breakdancer. He was a member of the successful hip hop group IAM together with Akhenaton, Shurik'n, Khéops, Imhotep, and Kephren. He has also worked as a solo artist and an actor. Freeman lives in Marseille, but says that he is above all an Internationalist.
Royal Fam is an American hardcore hip hop group affiliated with Wu-Tang Clan. Timbo King is the leader and founding member of the group and Y-Kim The Ill Figure was initially their main producer. Other group members are Mighty Jarrett, Dark Denim, Dreddy Kruger and Sharecka (Stoneface).
Psy 4 de la Rime are a French hip hop band formed 1995 in Marseille comprising several rappers with immigrant backgrounds from former French colonies. Their original name was KDB, Kid Dog Black. The band was signed to 361 Records, a Marseille-based independent label founded by fellow rapper Akhenaton. The group had three albums, the debut Block Party (2002), Enfants de la lune (2005) and Les cités d'or (2008). After split, members particularly Soprano and Alonzo went on to have very successful solo careers with their own albums and single hits. The formation got together in 2013 to release a fourth album called 4eme Dimension that made to number 3 on the French Albums Chart.
Anouar Hajoui, better known as DJ Cut Killer or simply Cut Killer, is a Moroccan-born French DJ and record producer with a versatile repertoire of hip hop music.
Saïd M'Roumbaba, better known by his stage name Soprano, is a French rapper, singer and songwriter from Marseille. He was a part of the rap band Psy 4 de la Rime. After leaving the group, he recorded his solo debut Puisqu'il Faut Vivre which made the Billboard European Top 100. He returned in 2010 with a new solo album called La Colombe, which included collaborations with numerous artists such as Indila and Amadou & Mariam. He has continued to work with Psy4 de la Rime: their third album, Les Cités d'Or, was released in 2008, and their fourth album 4eme Dimension came out in April 2013.
Kohndo is a French rapper and producer born on June 17, 1975, in Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris. Kohndo is known as one of the best lyricist in french rap. He gained recognition as a rapper during the 1990s as a part of the influential rap group, La Cliqua.
... De la planète Mars is the first album by the French hip hop band IAM, produced by Sodi. The album was well received, but tentatively, due to the few tracks where the rapping was done in English.
"Je danse le Mia" is a 1994 popular song recorded by the French hip hop band IAM. It was released as the first single from their second album, Ombre est Lumière, in February 1994. The song became a major hit in France, reaching #1, and is often considered the signature song of the band.
Samir Djoghlal, better known as L'Algérino, is an Algerian-French rapper and singer whose family came from the Chaoui-Berber tribes in Khenchela, Algeria
Raphaël Mussard, better known by his stage name Faf Larage, is a French rapper of Malagasy and Reunionese origins.
Joseph Thomas Fine, known professionally as Yossi Fine, is an Israeli bassist and producer. Fine fronted the world music/reggae/funk band Ex-Centric Sound System.
Striger Laurent, better known by his mononym Striger is a Canadian hip hop and reggae world fusion singer of Haitian origin. He was also part of the Canadian bilingual French/English hip hop duo Vice Verset. He is also known with his long-term collaboration with Canadian singer Karl Wolf.
Nabil Sahli, better known by his stage name Nessbeal, is a French rapper. Nessbeal started earlier as NessBeal under which he released his debut studio album La mélodie des briques. At times he has also used NE2S or just Ness. He is currently signed to 7th Magnitude, founded by French record producer Skread.
Revoir un Printemps is a studio album by French hip hop group IAM. It was released on 15 September 2003 through Hostile Records with distribution via EMI. Recording sessions took place at Studios Zgen in Avignon, at Studio La Cosca in Marseille, at Sony Music Studios and at Electric Lady Studios in New York, at Bulgarian National Radio Studio 1, and at Studio Claudia Sound in Aubervilliers. Production was handled by Akhenaton, Al-Khemya, Shurik'n, Imhotep, DJ Khéops and Bruno Coulais. It features guest appearances from Beyoncé, Kayna Samet, Method Man & Redman, Syleena Johnson and Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra.
