La Fouine

MY CHILDHOOD
It is in Trappes, in the Paris suburbs, was born on December 25, 1981, Laouni Mouhid as a Christmas gift for his parents. They had landed in Morocco, with their five children a few years ago, and this first child born in France was to his mother Fatima a godsend. She already knew before his birth that he had something special. She also gives him a uncommon Arabic name which means "who assists" originally from the village of her husband’s family called Laounette. His father, Ahmed, a carpenter, was working hard every day to feed his family and his mother an excellent cook was taking care of their 6 children : Laouni, Adil, Samira, Ilham, and Naima Kamal. A seventh child will be born a few years later Hakim, known today as Canardo The whole family lived in music. There was in the living room, jazz, Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson posters, an electric piano, guitars, an amp, a microphone. It looked more like a concert or rehearsal hall than anything else. The Mouhid family is not a traditional Moroccan household. The meetings took place around the turntable and hundreds of vinyl records as diverse as : guitar like Django Reinhardt, Egyptian music like the famous Oum Kalthoum, some Edith Piaf. Everything always happens in music in the Mouhid family, good and bad times. From Jacques Brel to Léo Ferré passing by Brassens or Otis Redding. Lulled by the melodies his parents , brothers and sister listened to while growing up, the little Laouni developed a strong sense of musicality, an ear, a voice, the meaning of harmony, and especially a sensibility to any kind of melodies and sounds.

MY FATHER USED TO SAY
Not only did his father made him discover all these great French singers but he also told him stories about their lives. Some of them started from nothing to become legends. While listening to his father stories of the life of Léo Ferré, Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf, the little Laouni dreamed of being an artist. Both of his older brothers played guitar and listened to soul, his sister played the piano and the bass, his mother was singing Oum Kalthoum throughout the day, and his father was a jazz and French variety fan. It is with all this diversity of music that he established its references. Having no other attachment to France except for his parents, brothers and sister, they were his only models. At 8 years old, his father decided to enroll him in the conservatory of Trappes so that he could learn music in a more academic way. The young Laouni is then taking musical awakening classes, music theory, singing,and then looking for his own vibe by trying several instruments like the piano, saxophone, and drums which he practices at home and it is ultimately the guitar that he choses. Laouni then experienced a strict education between school and the music academy. Nothing is going well at home anymore. The lack of money, rent due, bailiffs, daily hassles of parents who can no longer pretend like in the good old days and the tone goes up ... what drives the small Laouni to move away from home. He is less and less interested by school. He very quickly need freedom, cannot stand to be enclosed and starts to hang around the neighborhood in Trappes.

WE REMEMBER EVERYTHING
At 11 years his last sister leaves the house leaving behind her piano. The young Laouni loses all perspective, finding himself alone with his younger brother Hakim and his parents, having no more models. The symbols which are the musical instruments remain in the house but no one played it. He took refuge in music, but this time in one of his generation : rap. He wrote his first lyrics and took as a model a neighborhood groups known as the RDP. Writing becomes his escape. Boder, an older guy of his neighborhood, took him under his wing and integrates him with the News Family. They rehearse every day at the Charly Chaplin room. Laouni is always with the older guys, never knowing what to do to help them. He is everywhere, smart, clever, curious, which earned him the nickname La Fouine. Laouni learns very quickly, too quickly the evils of a disoriented world. He knows at 13 years what you should not know before 18. Then life is going to inevitably to bring him unhappiness. A child in a world of adults. Laouni is lost, Laouni drifts away and seeks to make money by any means necessary. Foster Homes, courts, juvenile judges become his daily routine. At night he cuts hashish, and during the day his father cuts wooden boards. Him who wanted his son to become a carpenter ! At 16 so he goes to prison for the first time and until the age of 21 he will be going back and forth. The local mission, the punishment block, the empty fridge, his mother tears, Laouni does not know anymore, does not see clear, he smokes, he drinks, while believing that he had nothing to lose. Laouni has no more reference points. Wandered between foster homes and prison, the only thing he has left is rap. But what rap ? French rap ! NTM, La Cliqua via 2bal 2Neg, Pit Bacardi, Time Bomb to Busta Flex. 96-99 remain his music "best years". His passion for French rap keeps increasing.
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GOD

At 21 years old he is released from prison for the last time. An event made him understand the value of human life and makes him take the right path. He is about to become a father ... With the birth of his daughter, named Fatima like his mother, everything becomes clear for him and he turns his life around. God sends him signs and Laouni doesn’t take them for granted . He permanently stops drinking and smoking. Music is still his passion, but he starts to work hard, take two jobs simultaneously, him who did not have any educational background. Besides two of the older guys from his neighborhood, Gouressy and Kibaki who saw him develop since his younger age in music, believe so much in him that they decided to produce his first hit single titled "J’avance." This first release then allows them to canvass and La Fouine who has kept its neighborhood nickname finds himself on a few mixtapes and even on stage at the Stadium of France since he was the one who opened the first edition of Urban Peace on September 21, 2002 . That evening he will leave his job at the gas station to go on stage the Stadium of France, and will return to his job right after his performance... He works during daytime, recorded in the studio every night. There he pours out his rage, his anger and his problems, he tries out his luck ... In 2003, with hard work and perseverance, he landed a contract with Sony as well as with the municipality of Trappes and becomes a mediator in the neighborhoods. Who could better than himself understand and help young people ?

A THOUSAND TIMES THE WALTZ

And everything comes together very fast, like a waltz. From 2004 he will release an album every year. A first mix tape, Planète Trappes volume 1, a remake of some American rap classics, the first single «  Le manque d’argent  », his first album in 2005 "«  Bourré au son " with one of the most played title on the radio that year "Unité", a second mix tape in 2006 Planète Trappes volume 2 and a second album in 2007 «  Aller-retour  » with the hits «  Reste en chien  », «  Qui peut me stopper » and «  Tombé pour elle ». He is more and more successful, but his life darkens again when he loses his mother right before the release of his second album. Not very talkative in general, he will then sing what he can not to say. He writes, «  Là-haut  » one of his most moving texts dedicated to his mother, which is included in his second album. La Fouine raps, takes one stage after the other, tours, travels around the world. The small Laouni that lies dormant within him always tries to keep up. His strength, he owes it to his fans who supported him, to his closest friends, to his daughter and to his excessive love of music. Thanks to «  Aller-retour  »he will make the tour of Europe and Africa, he will acquire a new audience, he will get a taste of celebrity, fame, fans and crowds. La Fouine smiles, raps, sings, dances, but cries inside. Tormented soul, nobody sees his wounds... La Fouine is constantly recording and true to his commitment of releasing a record every year, in February 2008 he released the street- album Capitale du Crime with Banlieue Sale the label that he created with his younger brother Canardo, musician and entertainer like all the children in the family, who composed all the titles. He had already begun with «  Aller-retour  » on which he signed two tracks : "My life" and «  Quel est mon rôle  ».

WHEN LOVE IT’S ALL WE HAVE LEFT
It is quite an experience, 3 street albums, 2 major albums, tours, 1 remarkable sold out concert at La Cigale in March 2008. Then Laouni starts working on his third album «  Mes repères  ». ("My landmarks.") In «  Bourré au son  »he had lost them, on «  Aller-retour  » he was looking for them and in«  Mes repères  » he had finally found them. "Finding its own landmarks, he should have thought of it earlier ..."
The album is a masterpiece. The topics approached are all of those who punctuated his life : his love for rap with «  rap français  », hope for the youth with «  repartir à zéro  » in duo with Soprano, the key title in the conception of the album. He also covers Africa in a poignant way with "Africa" text that he wrote during one of his last trips on the mother land. In "Chips" La Fouine definitely transcends the limits of mixing electro rap, hip-hop, and sonorities yet unexploited. The album is varied, going from hardcore with «  Ca fait mal  » to conscious lyrics, unifying titles as «  Tous les mêmes  », or as sung in «  Feu rouge  », the jewel of the album ! Musical color ? Layers of piano, guitar riffs, and insistent bass. . . «  Mes repères  » is Laouni in everything that he has the best and the strongest, he is an Arab with a tough attitude NWA style and a man who transmits values. La Fouine does not need tattoos, life has already marked him. He does not need messages, he is himself a message. In this album he forgets nothing, he has «  La mémoire dans la peau  » ("The Bourne Identity"). He remembers what has built him into the man and the artist that he is today. A combination of words and thoughts, his entire life traced back in a third album that wants to be the exact reflection of his personality : unpredictable and eclectic. A disc bearer of hope and above all a disk overflowing with love. The love for his family, his parents, his daughter, his fans, his city Trappes, and his country Morocco. His rhymes are «  Immortelles  », ("immortal"), his music transcends time with his technical and innovative rap, his captivating voice. An album that is anchored in modern music while succeeding the gamble of making tracks that do not age thanks to musical genius developers : Clement d’Animalsons, Street Fabulous, Thierry F, and especially Canardo who composed more than half of the album. Both brothers came together on this record, they have joined their strength and talent, outdid themselves as to conjure the spell, the bad adventures from the past. A quill and a constant evolving musicality La Fouine on «  Mes repères  » reveals himself as a complete artist. He raps, he sings, he expanded his musical spectrum and finally reveals his true inspirations. His life and his music intertwine constantly, his music is a part of its landmarks, his landmarks punctuated his life. This is what the small La Fouine from the neighborhood of Trappes has become : A truly great accomplished artist who fills venues and offers us today the finest record of his career. On May 20th 2009 he will realize one of his biggest dreams by walking thru the red curtain and the stage of the Olympia like his idol Jacques Brel for an exceptional concert. His father Hamed will be of course on the balcony and his mother Fatima will admire him from heaven.
La Fouine : A man, a guitar, a microphone and a infinite creative genius. Reality music at its purest state.

Anne-Valérie ATLAN

Didier Awadi

Studio Sankara was born in Dakar in 2003 under the leadership of rapper Didier Awadi to satisfy his desire for economic and artistic independence.
Studio Sankara group is an audiovisual and phonographic production company but also a communication agency, events, sound system, and security team, whose motto is “Dare inventing the future” creed of Captain Thomas Sankara (Burkina Faso President 1983 - 1987). More than a company, Studio Sankara is an integrates entrepreneurship project and self development.

Awadi is the best imaginable example of a generation who have skifully combined the wonders of modern technology with the traditional culture of their ancestors. Awadi has fed this powerful mix into his dynamic rap, creating a,music based on genuine roots and consciousness-raising messages. In short, Didier Awadi is not afraid to stand up and speak out to the world because he knows he’s got something to say that we need to hear !

Didier Awadi was born in Dakar in 1969. His father, who came from Benin, and his mather, from Cabo Verde, were both primary school teachers. Bitten by the hip-hop bug in his early teens, Awadi launched a career as a rapper and Dj in the mid-80s and soon began to make a name for himself on the burgeoning local scene with his first group, Didier Awadi’s Syndicate. The Syndicate faced stiff competition from a rival group, the King’s MC, fronted by a certain Amadou Barry (aka Doug E Tee). Awadi hailed from the “Amitié 2” hood, Doug E Tee from “Liberté 6” and, like their rapper counterparts in Paris and New York, they were both on a mission to defend the colours of their native neighbourhood. Music finaly won out over gang rivalry, however, when in an attempt to “bury the hatchet” Awadi invited Doug E Tee to his birthday party in 1989.

The coming together of two of Dakar’s most charismatic rappers made for a meeting of minds and the discovery of a common vibe. Awadi and Doug E Tee realised they were both coming from the same direction, their musical philisophy being based on a profound respect of their cultural roots and African history. Fascinated by what was going on on the American rap scenen the pair sought the means to produce a sound of equivalent quality, but breathed their own identity into their rap by mixing in elements of African culture. Right from the start Awadi and Doug E Tee made it clear they had a hard-hitting message to get across and they used their militant rap as a mouthpiece to express the views of a generation of young Africans who were open to the rest of the world and cured of their inferiority complex towards the west.

Positive Black Soul was born of the meeting of Awadi and Dou E Tee and the duo soon went on to forge an excellent reputation on the local Dakar scene thanks to a series of popular concerts. In 1992, PBS contributed a track to a compilation sponsored by the French Cultural Centre and their fame soon spread further afield. French rap star MC Solaar, who was on holiday in Dakar at the time, was so impressed by the duo’s work that he invited them to support him on his upcoming French tour and PBS returned to play in France on several other occasions. Meanwhile, back home the dire economic situation of the rap scene meant they had to wait until 1994 before they could release a debut cassette album which they financed and produced themselves. The album, entitled Boul Falé, strengthened their popularity on Africa’s Francophone rap scene and paved the way for collaborations with Africa Fête and the singer Baaba Maal who introduced PBS to directors at the Mango Island label. Once signed to his international label, the duo proceeded to embark upon an extensive tour of Europe where their live performances went down a strom. They went on to release a debut CD album, entitled Saalam, which included new versions of the hits they had scored in Africa (and which had been released on follow-up cassette albums after Boul Falé). Saalam showed the full extent of the pair’s rap talent, songwriting inspiration and militant fervour and also featured a guest vocal contribution from MC Solaar. Over the following years Positive Black Soul went on to make their mark on the international rap scene, touring extensively in Africa and the rest of the world. They brought the house down all the from Johannesburg to Paris and New York. When they performed at Midem, the international record industry fair in Cannes in 1997, PBS hooked up with their American producer Van Gibbs (father of the Fugees’ producer, Salaam Remi). Van and his father made their expertise and their New York studio available to PBS and the result was the album Run Cool, recorded with a helping hand from Jamaïcan stars Red Rat and Bob Marley’s son Ky Mani Marley and Franco-Cameroonian singer Princess Erika. Run Cool was released on the major label WEA.

In 2003, New York-Paris-Dakar, an album which had previously only been available as a cassette on the Senegalese market, was released on the independent label Night & Day. New York-Paris-Dakar was, in fact, PBS’s second album (but had been blocked in the pipeline as a result of contractual disputes with Island). The album featured a host of prestigious guest stars including K-Mel (the rapper from French group Alliance Ethnik), Manu Key from Mafia K’1 Fry and New York hip-hop king KRS One.

After numerous and many tours around the world, Didier AWADI and Doug E Tee decide to put a temporary hold on Positive Black Soul to take on and accomplish personal projects. For Didier AWADI, it is his first solo album, PAROLE D’HONNEUR (Word of Honor), released exclusively in Senegal, that comes to be an artistic success, where the rapper shows his intelligent sense of Panafricanism, tackling many crucial themes such as the debt, a dilapidated heritage, and political tensions.

By the end of 2004, AWADI is scheduled to take part in WOMEX in Germany with his group.
A few months later, the international release of his second solo album is anticipated. This album, signed with Sony Publishing, will be entitled UN AUTRE MONDE EST POSSIBLE (Another World is Possible), because, whether alone or as part of a group, AWADI still has messages to deliver to the youth that listens to him.
With a production of the highest maturity, AWADI opens himself once more to the multiple musical sounds of the World, wrapped around lyrics of intelligent texts, for a massive awakening of the consciousness ; to enable us to be sure that “Another World is Possible”.

In September 2006, AWADI releases another album in Senegal entitled SUNUGAAL, serving as a reality blow during the time of the massive exodus of young Africans on fortune adventures towards the Spanish coasts. They are numerous, embarking on wealth-promising canoes “Cayucos” and dying at sea. Who is to blame ?
Our leaders that promise happiness and serve us misery ? Our lack of faith in our own capabilities of development. We must act right now and not wait for our solutions to come from the West. Besides the usual drama exist the questions of racism and negrophobia that are prevalent here in Africa. Is it the fact that we are poor, black, and idle that we are not entitled to Visas ? We, the champions of hospitality…

In 2007, AWADI resurfaces with a campaign against the economic partnership and trade agreements that Europe wanted to impose on Africa, the A.P.E.
Accepting to sign these A.P.E’s that stipulate agreements of free trade and free competition with the European multinational corporations and powers, is accepting that the African peasant competes with the European, who benefits from subsidies that are denied to the African. It is also accepting to kill the fisherman, the peasant, the African businessman, and accepting to sign our own death decree. Conscious Africa, violated many times over, is against.

In 2008, AWADI releases with Mister Bongo, a British independent record label, the album SUNUGAAL, in second edition, with new title tracks such as “on ne signe pas” (we are not signing) and “kaa konko kele” (hunger free in Mandingo), the anthem against hunger during the world economic crisis that affected developing countries more severely.
The price hikes and the oil crisis bring AWADI to releasing another song entitled “Wooy”, a distress call of the poor of the world towards the speculators and bad management of the Economic crisis.

In 2010, Awadi participates in the Soccer World Cup in South Africa in an international musical collaboration on the title "Everywhere you go" with the collective Africa United which includes the greatest voices of African urban music which 2Face Idibia (Nigeria), Zuluboy (South Africa), Samini (Ghana) among others and singer Kelly Rowland (USA).

2010, also the year for AWADI to present PRESIDENTS D’AFRIQUE (Presidents of Africa), an artistic project, multidisciplinary and multimedia, on which the artist has been working for over 5 years. In this project that celebrates the 50 years of sovereignty, the artist revisits the history of Africa, the independences to date, using for support the biggest speeches of the founding fathers of Black Awareness such as Nelson MANDELA, Martin Luther KING, Kwame NKRUMAH, Thomas SANKARA, Patrice LUMUMBA, Cheikh Anta DIOP, Aime CESAIRE, Frantz FANON…

This project brings together many conscious artists of Africa and its Diaspora such as , M-One from Dead Prez of the USA, Babani KONE and the Tatapound of Mali, Maji Maji of Kenya, Tiwoni and Lady Sweetie of the French Antilles, Smockey of Burkina Faso, Skwatta Kamp of South Africa, Lexxus of the Democratic Republic of Congo, just to name a few.

The idea is to find in a song the audio sound bite of a leader’s speech, followed by an interpretation of a group of artists ; for example, Mandela’s speech with performances by Skwatta and Didier Awadi, Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream with Awadi’s voice in lyrics…
This project, dedicated to the African Renaissance, is a tribute to the founding fathers, 50 years after our independence.
A tool of entertainment, history, and education, this project will enable the youth of Africa to regain its history, rebuild its pride, in other words “restore its soul”.

This multimedia project continues with a documentary audiovisual production.
In 2011, Awadi after being a rapper, a producer, became a director and released “Le Point de vue du lion”. The film was presented in the Festival de Cannes in may 2011, by the Pavillon Cinémas du Monde of French Institute. A series of projections has been planned over the continent, and an international distribution since september 2011 (Africavenir, Germany).

Camera in hand…From social forums to institutions cabinets, for 79 minutes, the microphone is given to eminent key figures like : president Abou DIOUF, Aminata TRAORE, Cheikh AMIDOU KANE, Théophile OBENGA, Amadou Moktar MBOW, men of culture : Tiken Jah FAKOLY Manu DI BANGO, ALPHADI, and also citizens or migrants.
Without stonewalling, all the mechanisms of the control system of Africa are bared. A real investigation, that happened between 2006 and 2010.
This film is aimed at Africans, in order to make them understand the causes of their misfortunes, it allows at last “lions to give their version of hunt stories” : the history of Africa, seen by Africans. It is also aimed at the western world, then it has a correct view of the situation, and not only…the hunter’s point of view.

On November 2011, at the “Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal” (International Meeting of Documentary of Montreal), the Canadian director Yanick Létourneau released the film "The United States of Africa". The documentary follows the quest of African hip-hop pioneer, Didier Awadi in achieving "Presidents of Africa."
Featuring a score by Ghislain Poirier, as well as Awadi’s own songs, United States of Africa draws the viewer into one artist’s profound meditation on the power of music and the impact of political engagement-both individual and collective. A hopeful and compelling portrait of a continent whose politically aware youth is refusing to accept the role of victim, the film is a call for Africans to rise up, take a stand and take control of their continent and their destiny.
The film immediately gets the laurels from critics and wins the Critics and Quebecoise Cinematheque Award at RIDM. By March 2012, the documentary comes out in theaters in Quebec.

In 2012, mature, still conscious and militant, Didier Awadi is preparing an upcoming film project, and is about to release a new album "Aktivist" whose outcoming is planned for April 2012.

TECHNICAL RIDER « LE POINT DE VUE DU LION »

 Format : Feature film
 Directed by : Didier Awadi / Vincent Valluet
 Country : Sénégal
 Duration : 82 min
 Year : 2011
 Genre : Society/Militant
 Type : Documentary
 Producted by : Didier Awadi –Studio Sankara Dakar/SENEGAL
 Stared by : Abdou Diouf, Aminata Traoré, Hervé Bourges, Théophile Obelga, Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Amadou Moctar Mbow, Djibril Tamsir Niane...
 Previous screenings :
- Festival Ciné-Droit Libre – Ouagadougou – Burkina Faso
- En marge du FESPACO, Centre National de Presse Norbert Zongo – Ouagadougou – Burkina Faso > 03/2011
- SUP’INFO Dakar – Sénégal > 04/05/2011
- Pavillon Cinémas du Monde – Festival de Cannes –France > 15/05/2011
- Institut Français de Mauritanie - Assalamalekoum Festival – Nouakchott – Mauritanie > 14/06/2011
- Institut Français du Gabon - Libreville 17/06/2011
- Institut Français de Dakar – Sénégal > 18/10/2010 - 01/07/2011 – 23/07/2011
- 7° session des Rencontres Cinématographiques de Hergla – Thala – Tunisie > du 27/07/2011
- 3ème Congrès Panafricaniste de Munich – Allemagne > 28/10/2011
- Africavenir – Première Allemande – Berlin - Allemagne > 30/10/2011
- Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal > 10/11/2011 – 16/11/2011

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Contacts : STUDIO SANKARA – Sicap Amitié 2, villa n° 4098, Dakar-SENEGAL
TEL : + 221 33 824 20 24 – Fax : +221 33 824 38 85
www.awadi.net / www.studiosankara.com / didierawadi@gmail.com

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Mokobe

Mokobé is the man of the people : Success has not changed him, and is still the same guy that you could run across, back in the days, in the Meccas of hip hop culture and urban mix, at shops that were the Crystal Palace or Ruffnek.
"I ran into quite a few people back then in the world of music and beyond. Frequently we hear that Mokobé is the VRP 113, the entertainer of the group. It is because of the fact that I know everybody. I have a lot of family, male and female cousins who all reside in the suburbs. I am a quite the family type who blends in with the masses. ’
This soldier of the Mafia k1 Fry, does it all (co-writer of the document Si Tu Roules avec Mafia k1 Fry, actor in Sheitan, co-author of Il Etait Une Fois dans the Oued ...) has always made bridges with the music of his country. Hot collaborations that made the dance floors vibrate like Bouger Bouger Remix Gaou or even Oran. Parentage, inheritance, interconnection, and trans-musicality : Mokobé, like a Nas embarked on a typical business "bridgin the gap." His soul is African music. "My Africa" is the result of a journey at once artistic, spiritual and ecumenical. It is an open disk, definitely not sectarian. Broad minded like his father.
"I am very attached to Africa, this is what I wanted to demonstrate throughout this record. Africa is one tremendous cultural heritage. She has given so much rest of the world. I truly invite people to discover this continent, even those who are afraid or have some caricatured idea. Africa is the cradle of mankind ; it is where it all started. Whether you to take, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Otis Redding, Public Enemy or Grand Master Flash, these guys are African. My soul music is African music, like the Americans draw from their own soul. When you think about it, you realize that the soul, blues, jazz, all comes from the cotton fields, it is part of the painful history that is slavery, colonization, deportation all over the world. It is our heritage, rap comes from there ”
Mokobé has invited some "giants" of African music such as Salif Keita (Mali Forever, a powerful hymn) Youssou Ndour (Profitez) for unprecedented musical crossings, real African groove, primal, almost biological and not some "world music "genetically modified. He also creates the event with the afro beat explosion "Sur les traces de Fela", with Sean Kuti, son of the Nigerian visionary. "Fela and his family are one of the Funkadelic Parliament of Africa" says Mokobé, always on the lookout for a good catchphrase. Federative and urgent MC rhymes clashes with hallucinated growls, the syncopated convulsions of Sean Kuti, outrageous symbol of an African advocate and proud to be, threatened by the insatiable appetites of large multinationals and Western conglomerates.
So how has Mokobé led the usually megalomaniac and provocative Booba on a cozy, introspective and viscerally human, ground ? (on the lovely “Maman Dort” produced by Animal Sons). A soft hard and crazy disc, (from Diam’s to Patson-the hit C’est Dans La Joie - through Tiken Jah Fakoly, Manu TChao, Amadou and Mariam, Viviane Ndour ...), coated with a production that is at the same time "roots" and modern (Martin Meissonier former manager of Fela, Animal Sons, David Tayorault, Drixxxé, Jakus, Maleko, End2End ....). A disc oozing, an unrestrained funk, a caustic humor, and a deeply refreshing intellect. All of that sets Mokobé as a rapper apart, a universal artist, free, adult, mature, in a "game" often suffocated by stereotypes and ego competitions. A modern griot whose muscled "punch lines" panic the electrocardiogram of an Africa that is indeed wounded in her flesh and soul, but Western countries still have much to learn.
01 Intro
02 Mali Forever (feat. Salif Keita)
03 Safari (feat. Viviane Dour)
04 C’est Dans La Joie (Intro - feat. Patson from the Jamel Comedy Club)
05 C’est Dans La Joie (feat. Patson from the Jamel Comedy Club)
06 Interlude Chirac
07 Politique (feat. Manu Chao, Amadou & Mariam, Tiken Jah Fakoli et Fou Malade)
08 Marabout Diabi
09 Sur Les Traces De Fela (feat. Seun Kuti & Egypt 80)
10 Fanka (Feat. Bababni Koné & Popa)
11 Maman Dort (feat. Booba)
12 Profitons (feat. Youssou Ndour)
13 Beyonce Coulibali
14 Malembé (feat. Falli)
15 Nuit de Flammes (feat. Diams)
16 Bisou (feat. DJ Lewis)
17 Interlude Gohou
18 Je t’aime (feat. Sekuba Bambino)
Discography (without 113)
2005 : Single "Bouger Bouger Remix", with Magic System
2006 : Featuring avec Ivorian rapper Rudy on the title : Abidjan, l’argent, les gens.
2006 : Featuring on "On est ensemble" with Molaré
Filmography
2004 : Si Tu Roules Avec La Mafia K’1Fry, documentary of Philippe Roizès (interveniant & co writer)
2005 : Il Etait Une Fois Dans l’Oued, de Djamel Bensalah (co-author of the original idea)
2006 : Sheitan, de Kim Chapiron (actor)
1 key date :
2000 : 2 Music Awards (revelation, professionals votes and artist of the year & group elected by the public)

CONTACTS PROMO JIVE-EPIC / SONY BMG
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Tel : 01 57 64 60 60
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NIX

Born in Senegal in Dakar, Nicolas alias Omar Diop NIX presents himself as one the sure values of African Hip Hop.
Like the majority of the young people from his generation, NIX discovered the hip hop movement throught dance (breakdance,etc...)
His passion for rap reveals itself when he discovers artistes such as Doug E Fresh, Kool Moe Dee, Father Mc, Naughty By Nature, The Boys, Bobby Brown, Mc Solaar, Assassin, NTM,
IAM ...
While Senegalese Rap continues to rise with the emergence of the group Positive Black Soul, the Hip Hop movement was born in Senegal and awakens NIX will to conquer an important place in this landscape.
His uncle pushes him to form the rap group Kantiolis with the young men in Point E (neighborhood of Dakar). With his group, he is awarded back to back for two years (1994 and 1995) in rap competitions organized by the CCF (French Cultural Centre of Dakar).......

He spent ten good years with Kantiolis and despite their young age, they will make the concert openings of artists like Alliance Ethnik Menelik Raggasonic, KDD, Patra, Alpha
Blondy, Magic System, Dubmatique etc ...
In 1999, a French journalist and columnist (Jean Pierre Seck) discovers them on the Positve Black Soul compilation "Sénérap 2" and falls under the charm of the group. He organizes their first visit to France and allow them to pose a few tracks on mixtapes, to participate in freestyles on the
Generation Radio, and to collaborate with artists like Hifi, Metek, Movez Lang Malekal Dead Oxmo Puccino ...

In February 2003, NIX released his first solo album after the Kantiolis group was dissolved in 2001. On this album entitled BLACK CRYSTAL NIX brings a new vibe and a breath of fresh air for the Senegalese Hip Hop through its mastered texts, mainly written in French.

In December 2003, NIX is nominated for best music video with "Tout C’Que j’ai "and wins the award for best solo album (BlackCrystal) at the Senegal Hip Hop Awards.
In December 2004, NIX is awarded again at the Senegal Hip Hop Awards, the award for best music video with "Rap Rek".

2005 was marked by the release of the album DAKAR ALL STARS, in collaboration with many great names of Senegalese Hip Hop (Keyti Gaston Ass Malick and), and a number of concerts in Africa (Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Gabon, Togo ...).
In May 2006, in Bamako NIX begins the recording of his second album " RIMES DE VIE ’highly anticipated in Senegal and Africa. The work continues in Dakar, Stockholm and Paris.

On November 27th, 2010 NIX released his second solo album "RIMES DE VIE".
In December 2010, he wins the award for best video with "Zik des Gentlemen "at the Hip Hop Awards in Senegal and will be nominated in the category "best solo album" the following year at the Hip Hop Awards.

In the anticipation of his third album in preparation, Nix took advantage of his trips between New York, Dakar and Paris to record his first mixtape entitled "Tha NixTape Vol. 1 : "RoadTrip" with the involvement of Dula, Paris Taurean, Nubian Mady (USA), EPC (Senegal), Flag The Name, Nai, VR,
Papyss, Sam’s Fello (France), Hyde (Montreal).