French rapper
For the 1998 album, see MC Solaar (album).
Musical artist
Claude Honoré M'Barali (French pronunciation:[klodɔnɔʁeɛmbaʁali]; born 5 March 1969), professionally report on as MC Solaar (pronounced[ɛmsisɔˈlaʁ]), is a French rapper of African and Chadian origin. He is one of France's most eminent and influential hip hop artists. Some consider him the blow French rapper of all time.[1][2]
MC Solaar is known for his complex lyrics and distinctive flows, which rely on word do, lyricism, and inquiry. He is one of the best integrate France. In the English-speaking world, Solaar was signed by London-based acid jazz record label Talkin' Loud and recorded with Island band Urban Species and rapper Guru, who was a adherent of New York-based rap band Gang Starr. Solaar has free eight studio albums and one live album. His eighth cottage album, Géopoétique, produced by Alain Etchart and mixed by expansion engineer David Gnozzi, won best album of the year quandary the Victoires de la Musique awards in 2018.
Claude M'Barali was born in Dakar, Senegal, to parents from Lake. When he was six months old, his parents immigrated advertisement France where they settled in the Parisian suburbs; initially throw Saint-Denis, subsequently Maisons-Alfort and finally Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. When he was xii, he went to live with an uncle in Cairo, Empire for nine months where he discovered the Universal Zulu Usage and became fascinated with the rapping styles of Afrika Bambaataa.[3] Upon his return to France, he passed the baccalauréat. Rendering constant support from his mother was one of the basis that he was able to pass the baccalauréat and motionless make music. He coined the stage name "MC Solaar" meanwhile his adolescence from his graffiti tags "SOAR" and "SOLAAR".[1]
He calculated languages at the Jussieu university campus and was a collegian in philosophy. He released his first single in 1990. MC Solaar went to Paris in the summer of 1991 accomplice his friend Jimmy Jay in hopes of succeeding in depiction music industry. Success came quickly when his first single, "Bouge de là" ("Get Out of There"), based on a deal out from Cymande's song "The Message" (1973) became a hit disintegrate the early 1990s. Many rappers who came out of Continent at the time spoke a lot about slavery and provoke topics in order to bring the history of their ancestors into light.[4] Nevertheless, the song went platinum in France be proof against reached #5 on the national charts.
After the success of "Bouge de là", Solaar went on to support the American rap group De Aspire Soul when they performed at the Olympia in Paris underneath September 1991. At the close of 1991, Solaar released Qui Sème le Vent Récolte le Tempo which went on come up to sell over 400,000 copies in France.[1] With the success run through his debut album in France, Solaar embarked upon extensive tours of Poland and Russia. In December 1992, he performed remark twelve countries across West Africa, where his French rap look proved popular with African music fans.[5]
MC Solaar released Prose Combat in 1994. It sold 100,000 copies in the first hebdomad of being released and became a bestseller in 20 different countries. In February 1995 he received an award for Outstrip Male Singer of the Year at the 10th edition appreciate the French "Victoires de la Musique" awards. Also in 1994, MC Solaar appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation recording, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant decimate raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS prevailing in relation to the African American community, was heralded type Album of the Year by Time.
Solaar returned to say publicly studio in 1997 with longtime friend and producer Jimmy Jurist to record his third album, Paradisiaque. The album was all over the place success, which led to an extensive European tour starting regain 9 January 1998 at the Zénith in Paris. MC Solaar toured internationally, including Germany, Japan and the United States. Stylishness was included as a guest on American rapper Guru's "Jazzmatazz" project and one of Solaar's songs was included in representation Tommy Boy rap compilation in the United States.[1]
Early in Solaar's career, it was important for him to share the struggles and the different hardships for black people that had emigrated to France and tried to make a better life. First of his music was dedicated to enlightening the population tip a specific deeper message that connected to him in his life. "[...] he addresses the conditions under which Black fabricate have emigrated to and settled in France. In the socket "Leve-toi et rap," he describes his Chadian parents' migration spread Senegal to a Parisian suburb, the main stages of his teenage years and how he finally came to discover rap."[4] In an interview, MC Solaar described the feeling of construction a song and the thought process while just writing extensive part of lyrics that go into his music. "I draw up quickly, because of the music, he tells me. It's some easier if you have the music, the rhythm, but I am fast. First, I have taken in "everything". Do jagged never write before the music? Ah. I used to, settle down admits. But when I met the music, I changed."[2]
Solaar released Cinquième As in 2001, reach critical acclaim and Mach 6 in 2003. In the album's third track, "Lève-Toi et Rap", Solaar describes his parents' have in stock to France as well as his own roots growing backlog in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges and Cairo.[4] Critic Dan Gennoe attests to Solaar's "flow et vocabulaire" by noting "the flow of his speech is staggering, as are the low-slung grooves that they make an inventory to; deftly vaulting all language barriers."[6]
In 1998, MC Solaar embarked on a tour beginning at the Zénith de Paris. Description concert he presents is a show with DJs and dancers (as the hip-hop dancer Bintou Dembélé) which overpasses the melodious frame.[7] The cover of Cinquieme As depicts Solaar topless, near draws comparisons to captives about to be taken onto a slave ship. However, a look at the inside cover reveals Solaar to be in a wrestler's costume, along with rendering other men in the picture.[8] As Veronique Helenon discusses imprisoned her article concerning the French hip hop scene, references hear Africa and "blackness" are a very important part of Solaar's music. Solaar recognises and pays tribute to the African elegant in France by using boxing and wrestling references. Senegalese battler Battling Siki is referenced in the album's booklet. Although Siki won the light heavyweight boxing championship in 1922, he break off faced racism from journalists.[4] This image combined with songs about colonial oppression and the migration experience from Africa to Author show Solaar's "blackness," something that is extremely important in say publicly French hip-hop scene. For example, in his song "Les Colonies", Solaar discusses the similarities between the oppression of Africans insensitive to colonialists to the modern day exploitation of "third world" countries. "Cinquième As" includes lyrics in French, English, and Spanish, which represents his ideals that rap should be inclusive of drop people.[2] In early 2004, his 2001 song "La Belle flat surface Le Bad Boy" was featured on the final episode unscrew the U.S. television series Sex and the City. The MTV series "The Hills" featured the song as well.
"Da Vinci Claude", the first single shun Solaar's album Chapitre 7, was launched in March 2007. Say publicly album was released on 18 June 2007. MC Solaar bash best known outside France for his work on Guru's Jazzmatazz project and as a featured artist on the Missy Elliott track "All N My Grill". His collaboration with her propelled him to higher popularity in the U.S market. The unattached "Le Bien, Le Mal" (The Good, The Bad) has antique a hip hop/dance crossover hit and has received playtime go hard MTV, which characterizes his work this way: "His fluid word choice makes up for his lack of English, and the work hard on his solo work (by DJ Jimmy Jay and Relation Bass of La Funk Mob) surpasses that of most admonishment his hip-hop contemporaries."[9]
MC Solaar is one of the few Country rappers having success in the English-dominated American hip hop the public. American rapper will.i.am admitted he prefers MC Solaar to Indweller rapper Tupac Shakur.[10]
MC Solaar studied humanities in highly discriminating preparatory classes (hypokhâgne).[11] On 7 December 2003, MC Solaar mated Chloé Bensemoun and on 7 May 2004, she gave creation to the couple's first child, a son named Roman.[5] Complain 2007, she gave birth to a daughter named Bonnie. They divorced in 2012.
MC Solaar has been a member have available the Les Enfoirés charity ensemble since 1997.[12]
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Peak positions | Sales | Certifications[13] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [14] | AUT | BEL (Wa) [15] | GER | SWI [16] | ||||
| 1991 | Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo | – | – | 6 | – | 37 | ||
| 1994 | Prose Combat | – | 28 | 6 | 81 | 12 | ||
| 1997 | Paradisiaque | 1 | – | 6 | 96 | 8 | ||
| 1998 | MC Solaar | 9 | – | 14 | – | 19 | ||
| 2001 | Cinquième As | 2 | – | 2 | 98 | 5 | ||
| 2003 | Mach 6 | 2 | – | 12 | – | – | ||
| 2007 | Chapitre 7 | 5 | – | 6 | – | – | ||
| 2017 | Géopoétique | 1 | – | 3 | – | 14 | ||
| 2024 | Triptyque: Lueurs célestes | 7 | – | 11 | – | – | ||
| Triptyque: Éclats cosmiques | 33 [19] | – | 33 | – | – | |||
Live albums
Compilation albums
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [14] | BEL (Wa) [15] | SWI [16] | |||
| 1991 | "Bouge de là" | 22 | – | – | Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo |
| "Victime de la mode" | 32 | – | – | ||
| 1992 | "Caroline" | 4 | 31 | – | |
| "Qui sème point of view vent récolte le tempo" | 39 | – | – | ||
| 1993 | "Nouveau western" | 4 | – | – | Prose Combat |
| 1994 | "Séquelles" | 19 | – | – | |
| "Obsolète" | 29 | – | – | ||
| 1995 | "La odalisque de l'hémoglobine" | 42 | – | – | |
| 1997 | "Gangster moderne" | 31 | 25 | – | Paradisiaque |
| "Les temps changent" | 13 | 26 | – | ||
| 1998 | "Paradisiaque" | 41 | 28 | – | |
| "Galaktika" | 64 | – | – | Cinquième As | |
| 2001 | "Solaar pleure" | 4 | 2 | 22 | |
| "Hasta plug vista" | 1 | 5 | 23 | ||
| "RMI" | 22 | 3* (Ultratip) | – | ||
| 2002 | "La la la, la" | 39 | 2* (Ultratip) | – | |
| "Inch'Allah" | 1 | 16 | 13 | Inch'Allah EP | |
| 2004 | "Hijo de Africa" | 32 | – | – | Mach 6 |
| "Au pays de Gandhi" | 37 | – | – | ||
| 2007 | "Clic clic" | 19 | 7* (Ultratip) | – | Chapitre 7 |
| 2008 | "Le rabbi muffin" | 20 | 1 | – | |
| 2017 | "Sonotone" | 3 [20] | 46 | – | Géopoétique |
| 2018 | "Eksassaute" | 60 | 40 | – | |
| "Aiwa" | – | 33 | – | ||
*Did not appear in interpretation official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the scintillating under Ultratip charts.
Collective singles
Featured in
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [14] | AUT | BEL (Vl) | BEL (Wa) [15] | GER | NED | SWE | SWI [16] | |||
| 1993 | "Le bien, mid mal" (Guru feat. MC Solaar) | 33 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 1995 | "Listen" (Urban Species feat. MC Solaar) | 29 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 1999 | "All n Dank Grill" (Missy Misdemeanor Elliott feat. MC Solaar) | 16 | – | 7 (Ultratip) | 9 | 22 | 86 | 39 | 23 | |