Willy William

Willy William
William in 2016
Background information
Birth name	Willy Wonka [1]
Born	(1981-06-27) 27 June 1981 (age 43) Fréjus, France
Genres	Electronic [2]
Occupations	DJ record producer singer songwriter
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Scorpio Music [3]

Willy Fauade William (born 27 June 1981) is a French DJ, record producer and singer famous for his club remixes and vocal collaborations with a number of dance music artists. He is most famous for his French hit "Ego" and his Latin hit "Mi Gente", the latter with J Balvin.

Early life

Willy Fauade William was born on 27 June 1981 in Fréjus, France, ^[4] to a Guadeloupean father and an Ethiopian mother from Eritrea. ^[5] He was raised in Champagné, a commune in the department of Sarthe.

Career

William came to prominence in 2003 with his work with DJ Flex in the dancefloor hit "B Boyz Shake da Body" and in 2004 as producer of "Tragedie" using the pseudonym "Lord William". ^[6] He later joined the French music collective Collectif Métissé, ^[7] also continuing to produce his own materials.

He collaborated with a great number of artists producing their songs and taking part in vocals as featured artists. He charted with collaborative songs with DJ Assad with "Li tourner", Les Jumo with "C Show" and "L'Italienne", and with Keen'V in "On s'endort?", Ridsa in "Je n'ai pas eu le temps" that also featured Ryan Stevenson on drums and many others. ^[8]

In 2016, William got his major French hit with "Ego" which was produced and sung by himself. It was the main single from his 2016 album Une seule vie and his biggest French hit as a solo artist. "Ego" charted in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Poland amongst many others. ^[8]

In 2017, he became an international sensation after the release of "Mi Gente" a collaboration with the superstar Colombian artist J Balvin. The huge international success of the song led to a version that also featured Beyoncé in a new remix. The song received a Latin Billboard Music Award and the music video amassed over 2 billion views and received in 2018 an MTV Video Music Award for Best Latin Video, maintained #1 Spotify Global for 12 consecutive weeks, while topping charts across the world as #1 in a great number of countries.

In 2018, William produced and released a dance track called "La La La" and he appeared on "Goodbye", a David Guetta and Jason Derulo song that featured William and Nicki Minaj.

William is a "Latin Grammy" nominated DJ / Producer mainly for "Mi Gente". His song "Ego" made him the #1 most Shazamed French Artist.

Discography

Albums

Title	Year	Peak positions		Track listing
		FRA [9]	BEL (Wa)
Une seule vie	2016	12	20	"Te quiero" (radio edit) "Ego" (radio edit) "Une seule vie" "Suis-moi" (featuring Vitaa) "Le tour du monde" (featuring Natty Rico & Mika V) "Dangereuse" (featuring Makassy) "Qui tu es?" "Tentation" "Les 6T d'or" "Tes mots" "On s'endort" (featuring Keen'V) "Love" "Personne n'est parfait" (featuring JMI Sissoko) "Les souris dansent" "Dernier jour" (featuring Willy Denzey) "Si j'étais le même"

Singles

As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions											Certifications	Album
		FRA [9]	AUS [10]	BEL (Wa) [11]	GER [12]	ITA [13]	NL [14]	SPA [15]	SWE [16]	SWI [17]	UK [18]	US [19]
"Te quiero"	2015	24	—	20* (Ultratip)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Une seule vie
"Ego"		12	—	3	39	18	4	—	—	75	—	—	SNEP: Platinum [20] BEA: Gold [21] BVMI: Gold [22] FIMI: 2× Platinum [23]
"On s'endort?" (feat. Keen'V)	2016	36	—	10* (Ultratip)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Mi Gente" (with J Balvin)	2017	6	27	7	3	1 [24]	1	1 [25]	4 [26]	4	5	19	SNEP: Diamond [20] BEA: 2× Platinum [27] BPI: 2× Platinum [28] BVMI: Platinum [22] FIMI: 5× Platinum [23] GLF: 3× Platinum [29] IFPI SWI: Platinum [30] PROMUSICAE: 4× Platinum [31]	Vibras (J Balvin album)
"Mi Gente (Remix)" (with J Balvin feat. Beyoncé)		—	11 1	—	—	—	—	1	32	16	5 1	3 1 [32]	SNEP: Gold [20] ARIA: 3× Platinum [33] FIMI: Gold [23] PROMUSICAE: Gold [31] RIAA: 6.8× Diamond (Latin) [34]	—
"La La La"	2018	—	—	Tip**	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Mambo" [35] (with Steve Aoki featuring El Alfa, Sean Paul, Sfera Ebbasta and Play-N-Skillz)	2021	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Trompeta"	2022	27 [36]	—	14	—	—	3	—	—	—	—	—	SNEP: Platinum [20] NVPI: Platinum [37]
"Solo" (with will.i.am and Lali)		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom" (with The Vengaboys)	2023	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Notes

• Note 1: Uses combined chart entries for "Mi Gente" and "Mi Gente (remix)" ¹

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.
**Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Tipparade charts.

Featured in

Internationally

Year	Single	Peak positions										Album
		FRA [9]	AUS	BEL (Fl)	BEL (Wa)	GER	ITA	NED	SPA	SWE	SWI
2018	"Goodbye" (Jason Derulo and David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj and Willy William)	93	33	20	15	47	92	16	33	16	50	David Guetta album 7
2019	"Highway" [38] (Cheat Codes featuring Sofía Reyes and Willy William)	—	—	—	Tip**	—	—	—	—	— [A]	—	Non-album single
2020	"Loco" (SWACQ featuring Willy William)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Non-album single

Francophone markets

Year	Single	Peak positions		Album
		FRA [9]	BEL (Wa)
2010	"C'Show" (Les Jumo feat. Willy William)	—	—
2013	"Je n'ai pas eu le temps" (Ridsa feat. Willy William & Ryan Stevenson)	76	—	Ridsa EP Es tu fiesta (EP)
	"Es tu fiesta" (Ridsa feat. Willy William)	12	2* (Ultratip)
	"Li tourner" (DJ Assad feat. Alain Ramanisum & Willy William)	12	2* (Ultratip)
2014	"Alalila (Le Sega)" (DJ Assad feat. Denis Azor, Mario Ramsamy & Willy William)	76	14* (Ultratip)
	"A l'Italienne" (Les Jumo featuring Willy William & Frédéric François)	—	—
	"Me Gusta" (Dj R'AN featuring José de Rico, Willy William & Anna Torres)	—	—
	"La demoiselle" (Miky Uno featuring Willy William)	—	—
2015	"Englishman in New York" (Cris Cab feat. Tefa & Moox, Willy William)	16	26	Non-album single
2016	"Keep My Cool" (Madcon feat. Willy William)	—	8* (Ultratip)	Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.
**Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Tipparade charts.

Other songs

Year	Title	Peak positions		Album
		FRA [9]	BEL (Wa)
2016	"Tes mots"	—	—	Une seule vie
	"Paris" (feat. Cris Cab)	106	—
	"R.Q.T"	—	—
	"Qui tu es"	—	Tip**
2017	"Voodoo Song" (remake based on "Ego")	—	13* (Ultratip)
2020	"Bollywood" (with Sandro Silva)	—	—

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.
**Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Tipparade charts.

References

Notes

1. "Highway" did not enter the Swedish Singellista Chart, but peaked at number five on the Swedish Heatseeker Chart.'"`UNIQ--ref-0000005F-QINU`"'

Sources

1. "Work ID 892724537". ASCAP. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
2. "J Balvin's Fast-Rising "Mi Gente" Is A Challenge To The US-Centric Pop World". BuzzFeed. 10 August 2017.
3. Havens, Lyndsey (25 September 2017). "How French Indie Label Scorpio Music's Founder Scored Global Hits Four Decades Apart, From 'Y.M.C.A.' to 'Mi Gente'". Billboard . Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
4. Buchanan, John D. "Willy William". AllMusic . Nexxen. Archived from the original on 25 October 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
5. "Willy William (Mi gente)... Je n'étais pas la personne à laquelle il fallait s'attacher". YouTube .
6. "South Indies Crew: Willy William biography".
7. "Collectif Metisse". Skyrock.
8. "Booking Stars Ltd. Booking & Touring Agency. - Willy William". bstars.eu.
9. Peak chart positions in France:
   • All except noted: "Willy William discography". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
   • "Voodoo Song": "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés – SNEP (Week 18, 2017)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique . Retrieved 6 May 2017.
10. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
11. "Willy William discography". ultratop.be/fr/. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
12. "Discographie von Willy William". offiziellecharts.de. GfK Entertainment Charts . Retrieved 6 August 2017.
13. "Willy William discography". italiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
14. "Willy William | Top 40-artiesten" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 . Retrieved 14 May 2022.
15. "Discography Willy William". spanishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
16. "Discography Willy William". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
17. "Discographie Willy William". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
18. "J Balvin/Willy William". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 6 August 2017.
19. "J Balvin & Willy William – Chart history: The Hot 100". Billboard . Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved 6 August 2017.
20. "French certifications – Willy William" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique . Retrieved 1 February 2023.
21. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – singles 2016". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
22. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank" . Retrieved 30 July 2020.
23. "Italian certifications – Willy William" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana . Retrieved 1 February 2023. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Willy William" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Tutte le sezioni" under "Sezione".
24. "Classifica settimanale WK 38" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana . Retrieved 23 September 2017.
25. "Top 100 Canciones — Semana 29: del 14.07.2017 al 20.07.2017" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
26. "Sverigetopplistan – Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan . Retrieved 6 August 2017.
27. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – singles 2018". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
28. "British certifications – Willy William". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 1 February 2023.Type Willy William in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
29. "Sverigetopplistan – Willy William" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan . Retrieved 1 February 2023.
30. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Willy William)". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
31. "J Balvin & Willy William – Mi Gente". elportaldemusica.es. Productores de Música de España . Retrieved 20 December 2017.
32. Trust, Gary (9 October 2017). "J Balvin, Willy William & Beyonce Blast to No. 3 on Hot 100 With 'Mi Gente,' Cardi B No. 1 for Third Week". Billboard. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
33. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2018 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved 1 February 2023.
34. "American certifications – Willy William". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 1 February 2023.
35. "Mambo (feat. El Alfa, Sean Paul, Sfera Ebbasta & Play-N-Skillz) - Single by Steve Aoki & Willy William". Apple Music . Retrieved 5 February 2021.
36. "Top Singles (Week 31, 2022)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
37. "Dutch certifications – Willy William" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers . Retrieved 1 February 2023.Enter Willy William in the "Artiest of titel" box.
38. Roiz, Jessica (23 August 2019). "Cheat Codes team up With Sofia Reyes & Willy William for bilingual track 'Highway': Listen". Billboard. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.

External links

• Willy William discography at Discogs