Florat Qerimi (born 30 July 1997), known professionally as Florat, is a Swiss-Albanian rapper and producer. He is the co-founder of the hip hop group and label MRM.

Early life

Florat Qerimi was born on 30 July 1997 in

Muri, Aargau Muri, formerly known as Muri (Freiamt), is a municipality in southeastern Swiss Canton Aargau and is the capital of same district. The present municipality of Muri was created in 1816 from the merging of the four municipalities Langdorf, Egg, Has ...

, Switzerland. He is of

Kosovar Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

descent. His grandfather went to work in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 1971, and took his family with him in 1990. Florat was born and raised in a tough neighborhood in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

. However, he managed to avoid trouble and soon became interested in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

Career

Florat's interest in hip-hop music began by listening to hip-hop artists such as

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the Li ...

and

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

, and later R&B artists such as

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

. He started to experiment with rhyming and rapping with his friends, with whom he would establish his record label MRM (an acronym for MoreMoney). Later, they set up a recording studio in a basement of one of the apartment blocks nearby where they recorded their first songs, "Vi me Benzo" and "Komm mit", which were produced by DJ A-Boom (who had previously worked with Kosovo-Albanian singers

Noizy Rigels Rajku (; born 27 September 1986), known professionally as Noizy, is an Albanian rapper. Life and career 1986–2010: Early life and career beginnings Rigels Rajku was born on 27 September 1986 into a multi-religious Albanian family ...

and

Era Istrefi Era Istrefi (; ; born 4 July 1994) is a Kosovo-Albanian singer. Born and raised in Pristina, Istrefi rose to significant international recognition with the breakthrough single "BonBon", which experienced commercial success worldwide and receive ...

). "Vi me Benzo" and "Komm mit" proved successful, achieving nearly 1 million YouTube visits each, and expanding Florat's fanbase. He made his debut live appearance on 8 June 2019 in a public event held

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In this event, which was organized by the

FC Prishtina Football Club Prishtina ( sq, Klubi Futbollistik Prishtina, ; sr, Фудбалски клуб Приштина, Fudbalski klub Priština), commonly known as Prishtina, is a professional football club based in Prishtina, Kosovo. The club play i ...

ultras Plisat, Florat performed alongside Kosovo-Albanian rapper

Tayna Doruntina Shala (; born 14 December 1996), known professionally as Tayna, is a Kosovo- Albanian rapper and singer. Born and raised in Prizren, she rose to prominence in the Albanian-speaking territories during the span of 2018 after the release ...

. Florat's songs are played regularly by nightclubs in Kosovo and

Albanian diaspora The Albanian diaspora ( sq, Mërgata Shqiptare or Diaspora Shqiptare) are the ethnic Albanians and their descendants living outside of Albania, Kosovo, southeastern Montenegro, western North Macedonia, southeastern Serbia, northwestern Greece an ...

Discography

Singles

Notes

References

{{Albanian music 1997 births Living people 21st-century Albanian rappers Albanian hip hop singers Swiss people of Kosovan descent Swiss male rappers 21st-century Swiss male musicians