Passi () is a hip hop artist who became famous in the mid-1990s with the group

Ministère AMER The Ministère AMER (Action, Musique Et Rap) is a French hip hop group from Sarcelles, consisting of the rappers Passi and Stomy Bugsy (both of whom are also major solo artists in the French hip hop scene), DJ Ghetch, and the producer/manager ...

, which included himself and

Stomy Bugsy Gilles Duarte (; born 21 May 1972), better known by his stage name Stomy Bugsy, is a French rapper and actor from Sarcelles, France. Biography Born of parents from the Republic of Cape Verde, Duarte helped found hip hop group '' Ministere AMER'' ...

. He is most widely known, however, as a solo artist, as well as a participant in many other groups, such as

Bisso Na Bisso Bisso Na Bisso ( ln, Between Us) is a music collective of rappers and singers with origins from Congo Brazzaville formed in 1999. The group consisting of Ben-J (from Les Neg'Marrons), Lino and Calbo (from the group Ärsenik), Doc and G Kill (from ...

and Dis l'heure 2 zouk.

Biography

Passi was born on 21 December 1972, in

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

. In 1979, his family moved to

Sarcelles Sarcelles () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Sarcelles is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department and the seat of the arrondissement of Sarcelles. In the south of the commun ...

, a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of Paris. He graduated from ''

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

'' and created the band ''

'' with

, who he had gone to school with. The group's first album, ''Pourquoi tant de haine?'', was released in 1992, and Passi was forced to end his

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

studies at the University of Paris ( Nanterre) to be able to focus on music.

followed up with "95200" which was released in 1994. Passi's first solo album, ''Les tentations'', was released in 1997, and it sold 450,000 copies. The project ''Bisso na Bisso'' (meaning 'Just between ourselves' in

Lingala Lingala (Ngala) (Lingala: ''Lingála'') is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree in ...

, Congo's most widely spoken language), was a collective of French hip hop artists with African origins. It included names such as Ärsenik, and he released their album '' Racines'' in 1999. That same year, Passi released his second solo album, '' Genèse''. In 2002, Passi was asked to create the anthem for the

African Nations Cup The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

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 ...

competition together with Congolese singer

Papa Wemba Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba (14 June 1949 – 24 April 2016), known professionally as Papa Wemba (), was a Congolese singer and musician who played Congolese rumba, soukous, and ndombolo. Dubbed the "King of Rumba Rock", he was one of the ...

. The two eventually managed to attract into the project such names as Youssou N'Dour and

Cheb Mami Mohamed Khelifati ( ar, محمد خليفاتي, ), better known by his stage name Cheb Mami ( ar, شاب مامي, link=no, , born 11 July 1966), is an Algerian musician and singer-songwriter. He sings and speaks in Algerian Arabic and sometim ...

. Passi's third album, ''Odyssée'', came out in 2004. Passi is also known as the artist whose song, "Il fait chaud" ("It's hot"), was featured in the last episode in the television show, '' Sex and the City''. The song was not credited at the end of the show, leaving many viewers to call the song simply "The French Rap". Passi appeared in the sixth episode of '' The Amazing Race 27'' in 2015, in which teams were required to perform one of his songs, "79 à 99", as part of a Detour challenge.

Discography

Ministère A.M.E.R

* 1992 :

- ''Pourquoi Tant de Haine'' * 1994 :

- ''95200''

Solo

* 1997 : ''Les Tentations'' * 2001 : ''Genèse'' * 2004 : ''Odyssée'' * 2007 : ''Révolution'' * 2007 : ''Évolution''

Bisso Na Bisso

* 1998 :

- ''Racines'' * 1999 : Bisso Na Bisso - ''Le 15 mai 1999'' (live)

Dis l'heure 2 zouk ''(as producer)''

* 2002 : ''Dis l'heure 2 Rimes'' * 2003 : ''Dis l'heure 2 Zouk'' * 2004 : ''Dis l'heure 2 Ragga Dancehall'' * 2005 : ''Dis L'Heure 2 Afro Zouk'' vol.1 * 2006 : ''Dis L'heure 2 Hip Hop/Rock''

References

External links

Official Site - now advertising
{{Authority control French rappers French people of Republic of the Congo descent Republic of the Congo emigrants to France 1972 births Living people Republic of the Congo musicians Rappers from Val-d'Oise