Okou Gnakouri Armand Olivier (; born 30 January 1980), better known by his stage name Kaaris (, ; stylized as KΛΛRIS), is a Ivorian-born French rapper, record producer, composer and actor. ''

Or Noir ''Or Noir'' (; "Black Gold") is a series of albums by Kaaris with three albums issued to date: the original ''Or Noir'' (2013), ''Or Noir Part II'' (2014) and ''Or Noir Part 3'' (2019). ''Or Noir'' ''Or Noir'' is a 2013 album release by French rap ...

'', his major album on Therapy Music / AZ /

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

, was released on 21 October 2013.

Early life

Born in

Cocody Cocody (, ) is a suburb of and one of the 10 urban communes of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is upmarket and has an abundance of mansions. Cocody is where most of the wealthy businesspeople, ambassadors, and other affluent people live in Abidjan. The U ...

, a suburb of

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

in the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

, Kaaris was raised in

Sevran Sevran () is a commune in the French department of Seine-Saint-Denis, northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the center of Paris. Geography Sevran is located northeast of the Boulevard Périphérique.

in the

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobig ...

department, northeast of Paris.

Career

Kaaris started rapping in 1999, and released his first mixtape in 2001. He returned to his native Ivory Coast for a while, but returned to France after political unrest in the country. In 2007, he released his street album ''43ème Bima'' (pronounced "Quarante-troisième Bima"), that led to signing with a new independent label French Cut Music. However, his meeting with French rapper

Booba Élie Yaffa (; born 9 December 1976), better known under his stage name Booba, is a French rapper. After a brief stint as a break dancer in the early 1990s, Booba partnered with his friend Ali to form Lunatic. The duo released a critically ac ...

and producers Therapy gave him his first recording with Booba, "Criminelle league" released as part of Booba's '' Autopsie Vol. 4''. Kaaris had his first charting hit "Kalash", credited to Booba featuring Kaaris appearing in Booba's album '' Futur''. Kaaris co-writes most of his materials in cooperation with a record producer duo, known as Therapy (made up of producers 2031 and 2093).

Legal history

A fight between

and Kaaris led to the temporary closure of Hall 1 at

Paris-Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly an ...

on 1 August 2018. Kaaris was given an 18-month suspended sentence and fined €50,000.

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes and street albums

Singles

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

Featured in

Other charted songs

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

Filmography

Films

* ''

Braqueurs ''The Crew'' (french: Braqueurs) is a 2015 French action thriller film directed and co-written by Julien Leclercq. The film is about a Parisian heist crew led by Yanis Zeri ( Sami Bouajila) which specializes in well-planned robberies of armoured ...

'' (2015) * '' Overdrive'' (2017) * '' The Bouncer'' (2018) * ''Bronx'' (2020)

Music videos

References

External links

Facebook
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaaris 1980 births Living people French people of Ivorian descent French rappers Ivorian emigrants to France Rappers from Seine-Saint-Denis