Fonky Family () or La Fonky Family (often shortened to La Fonky, or La FF), is a

French hip hop French hip hop is the hip hop music style developed in French-speaking countries. France is the second largest hip-hop market in the world after the United States. History Beginning of French hip hop: the 70s and 80s By 1982 and 1983, a numbe ...

band from

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, consisting of four

rappers Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, Le Rat Luciano, , and

Sat The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

, producer , DJ Djel, dancer Blaze, singer

Karima The name Karima (Arabic: كريمة) is an Arabic given name. In Arabic the meaning of the name Karima is Generous. Karima is the feminine form of the name Karim. It’s a popular name in the Arab countries. However Karima in Africa among the agik ...

, Flex (fetus) Nandell, and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Fafa. Fonky Family made their first appearance on the French hip hop scene in 1994, after

IAM IAM may refer to: Concepts * Identity and access management, a concept that combines business processes, policies and technologies * Indo-Aryan migration, the theory that speakers of Indo-Aryan languages migrated into the Indian subcontinent dur ...

had paved the way for new hip hop artists originating from Marseille. In 1995, they appeared in the song titled "Les Bad Boys de Marseille" on ', the first solo album by IAM's

Akhenaton Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...

. Their first album, ', came out in 1997 and soon received a gold album. Karima left the group before the release of the album. In 1998, the group were invited to collaborate with Akhenaton on the soundtrack of

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

's film ''

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

''. The film became a huge success and its soundtrack topped the French charts. After numerous collaborations with different members of IAM on their solo albums, the group released one EP record with six live and edited titles, titled ''Hors série volume 1'', in spring 1999. ''Hors série volume 2'' was released in 2000. Their second album, '' Art de rue'', came out in 2001. After that, many members of the group chose to pursue solo careers: Le Rat Luciano had already released a solo album in 2000, and Sat and Don Choa followed in 2001 and 2002 respectively. DJ Djel produced two compilations in 2001 and 2003. In January 2006, Fonky Family released their third album ' (Jive/Sony BMG), which debuted on the French charts straight at number one. Fonky Family have a global music publishing deal with

BMG Music Publishing Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music co ...

. Fonky Family's track "La Furie et la Foi" was used as the soundtrack for French skateboarder J. B. Gillet's part in the film ''Rodney Vs Daewon Round II''.

Lead members

Le Rat Luciano

Le Rat Luciano (; real name Christophe Carmona ; born 9 April 1976) is a French

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

from

. His father is of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

origin and his mother comes from

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

. He got noticed as a rapper in 1994 when he was part of the group Fonky Family.

Sat l'Artificier

Sat l'Articier or just Sat born Karim Haddouche in

on September 16, 1975 in Marseille, France), is a French rapper of Algerian origin and is a member of the group Fonky Family. Born to an

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

n father and French mother of Corsican descent, Sat discovered rap at an early age. In 1993, along with his neighborhood friends Le Rat Luciano,

Don Choa Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON * Don (river), a river in European Russia * Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a v ...

and Menzo, they created the group Fonky Family. After meeting with

Akhenaton (rapper) Philippe Fragione (; born 17 September 1968), better known by his stage name Akhenaton, is a French rapper and hip hop producer. He has also worked under the aliases Chill, AKH, Sentenza and Spectre. He is best known as member of hip hop grou ...

they started working on their first album. Since then, the group has released 4 albums and are considered one of the biggest rap groups in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Discography

Albums

Live albums

EPs

Others

*2001: ''Si Dieu veut / Art de rue'' (Peak FR: #89) *2002: ''Art de rue / Hors Serie Vol. 2'' (Peak FR: #135)

Singles

References

External links

Fonky Family
– Official site
Fonky Family
at MCM.net
Fonky Family Biography
at Radio France International {{Authority control French hip hop groups Musical groups from Marseille Rappers from Bouches-du-Rhône