French-speaking rapper Abd al Malik brought new aesthetic transcendental musical genres to the hip-hop world with the release of his second solo album Gibraltar in 2006.
A member of the Strasbourg band NAP, the poet and songwriter has won numerous awards and his success is not likely to wane for some time.
Childhood and youth of Abd al Malik
Abd al Malik was born on March 14, 1975 in Paris to Congolese parents. After four years in Brazzaville, the family returned to France in 1981 to settle in Strasbourg, in the Neuhof district.
His youth was marked by frequent delinquency, but Malik was eager for knowledge and was a good student at school. The search for landmarks in life and the need for spirituality led the guy to Islam. The guy turned to religion at the age of 16 and then acquired the name Abd al.
He quickly founded the New African Poets (NAP) rap group in his area with five other boys. Their first composition Trop beau pour être vrai was released in 1994.
After an unsuccessful album that did not sell, the guys did not give up, but returned to music with the album La Racaille sort un disque (1996).
The album launched NAP's career, which became more successful with the release of La Fin du monde (1998).
The group began working with various popular French rap artists such as: Faf La Rage, Shurik'n (I AM), Rocca (La Cliqua), Rockin's Squat (Assassin).
The third album Insideus was released two years later. Music did not distract Abd al Malik from his studies. He completed his undergraduate studies in classical writing and philosophy at the university.
Although for some time the guy was on the verge of extremism associated with religion, he still found a balance. Moroccan sheikh Sidi Hamza al-Qadiri Butchichi became the spiritual teacher of Abd al Malik.
In 1999, he married French-Moroccan singer R'N'B Wallen. In 2001, they had a boy, Mohammed.
2004: album Le Face à face des cœurs
In March 2004, Abd al Malik released his first solo album, Le Face à face des cœurs, which he described as "a date with himself."
Fifteen "daring romantic" works were preceded by a short interview led by journalist Pascal Clark, which allowed the artist to present his approach to this work.
Some former NAP colleagues took part in the recording of the songs. The album's last song, Que Die ubénisse la France ("May God bless France") with Ariel Wiesman, echoed the rapper's simultaneously released book, God Bless France, in which he defended the concept of Islam. The work received an award in Belgium - the Lawrence-Tran Prize.
2006: album Gibraltar
The album, released in June 2006, is very far from the previous one. To write the album Gibraltar, he had to change the concept of "rap".
Therefore, he combined many genres such as: jazz, slam and rap and many others. Malik's songs have acquired a new aesthetic.
Another idea came to Malik when he saw a performance by Belgian pianist Jacques Brel on TV. Remaining passionate about rap, Malik began to listen carefully to Brel's music.
At the first listening to Malik, it was like an electric shock. Listening to the pianist play, the rapper began to compose music for the new album.
The recording involved musicians who were very far from hip-hop: bassist Laurent Werneret, accordionist Marcel Azzola and drummer Régis Ceccarelli.
Thanks to this set of instruments, the poetry of songs has become more attractive to the listener.
After the first single from the album 12 septembre 2001, the second single The Others was released in November 2006 - actually a revised version of Jacques Brel's Cesgens-là.
The record first went gold in December 2006 and then double gold in March 2007. The album was not only a commercial success.
Critics have noted the work with a number of awards - the Prix Constantine and the Prize of the Academy of Charles Cros in 2006, the Victoires De La Musique Prize in the Urban Music category and the Raoul Breton Prize in 2007.
In February 2007, with a jazz quartet including Laurent de Wilde, Abd al Malik began a tour that lasted almost 13 months and consisted of over 100 concerts in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada.
At the same time, Malik managed to appear at festivals. In March he traveled to Paris to the La Cigale theater and then to the Cirque d'Hiver.
In 2008, the Beni-Snassen team gathered around Abd al Malik. Here you could also see the musician's wife, the singer Wallen. The group released the album Spleen et idéal - a hymn to humanism and loyalty to others.
2008: Dante album
The third album of the singer Dante set very high goals. It was released in November 2008. The rapper showed his ambitions.
Indeed, the disc began with the song Roméo et Juliette, a duet with Juliette Greco. Most of the songs are written by Gérard Jouannest, Greco's concertmaster.
References to the French song were all over the place. Here the rapper paid tribute to all French culture, such as Serge Reggiani in Le Marseillais.
To show a little more affection for French culture, even regional, he interpreted the Alsatian name Contealsacien.
On February 28, 2009, Abd al Malik received the Victoires de la Musique award for his album Dante. During the Dantesque tour in autumn 2009, he presented the show "Romeo and Others" at the Cité de la Musique in Paris on 4 and 5 November.
He invited such artists as Jean-Louis Aubert, Christophe, Daniel Dark to the stage.
2010: Château Rouge album
2010 marked Abd al Malik's entry into literature with the publication of the essay "There Will Be No Suburban War", which won the Edgar Faure Prize for Political Book.
On November 8, 2010, the fourth album Château Rouge was released. The transition from rumba to rock, from African music to electro, from English to French - this eclecticism managed to surprise everyone.
The album included several duets, notably with Ezra Koenig, New York singer Vampire Weekend and Congolese singer Papa Wemba.
In February 2011, the rapper-philosopher received the fourth Victoires de la musique award of his career, winning the Château Rouge album award in the Urban Music category. It was with this new award that he began a new tour on March 15, 2011.
In February 2012, Abd al Malik published his third book, The Last Frenchman. Through portraits and short stories, the book evoked a sense of identity and belonging to a homeland.
In the same year, the rapper signed a contract with Amnesty International and wrote the song Actuelles IV, the soundtrack to the campaign for respect for human rights.
Fascinated by the writings of Albert Camus from a young age, Abd al Malik dedicated to him the show "The Art of Rebellion", created around the first work of the French author L'Enverset lace.
On stage, rap, slam, symphonic music and hip-hop dance accompanied Camus' thoughts and ideas. The first performances took place in Aix-en-Provence in March 2013, before a tour that took him to the Château Theater in Paris in December.
Meanwhile, the artist published in October 2013 his fourth work "Islam to the aid of the republic." In this novel, he showed a candidate for the President of the Republic who secretly converted to Islam.
This is a fable that again defends tolerance and humanity and also fights against preconceived ideas.
2013 was also the year the musician set about adapting his book May Allah Bless France for film.
2014: Qu'Allah Bénisse la France ("God bless France")
On December 10, 2014, the film "May Allah bless France" was broadcast on the screens of cinemas. For Malik, this film was a "breakthrough". Critics also talked about the success of the film.
The film was recognized at many events, in particular at the Reunion Film Festival, the La Baule Music and Film Festival, received the Discovery Award at the Namur International Film Festival and the Discovery Critic Award from the International Film Press Federation in Argentina.
The soundtrack was composed and performed by Abd Al Malik's wife. All tracks have been on pre-order on iTunes since early November 2014 and were officially released on December 8th.
In 2014, the L'Artet la Révolte tour continued.
2015: Scarifications album
A month after the Paris attacks, in January 2015, Abd al Malik published a short text, Place de la République: Pour une spiritualité laïque, in which he accused the (French) Republic of not treating all of its children.
This text, which also sought to clear up some misunderstandings about Islam, the religion he turned to a few years ago.
In November, the rapper released a new album, Scarification, in collaboration with the famous French DJ Laurent Garnier. At first glance, listeners may be surprised by this collaboration.
However, the two musicians have been considering working together for a long time and have invested in their work all the developments over the past few years. The sound is quite rough, and the lyrics are harsh.
Thus, Abd al Malik showed off his "biting" rap, which everyone missed so much. According to critics, this work is one of the most successful in the career of a rap musician.
