Nicolas Salvadori (; born 27 October 1980), better known by his stage name Seth Gueko (, ), 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 ...

. He has released two albums that have charted in France and a number of street albums and mixtapes.

Career

Nicolas Salvadori was born in France of mixed

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

origin. He was discovered by independent rap

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

Néochrome in the early 2000s, appearing on Néochrome's compilation ''Néochrome Hall Stars Game'' featuring AlKpote and Zekwé Ramos, before releasing his first EP ''Mains Sales'' in 2004. He then worked on a number of EPs and street CDs with the Néochrome label before signing for

EMI Music EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

and later to East-West / Warner Music. Seth Gueko's first studio album was ''"La Chevalière"'' on 4 May 2009 with Hostile Records, followed by the album ''"Michto"'' on 28 March 2011. On 6 May 2013, Gueko released album ''"Bad Cowboy"''.

Style

Seth Gueko is well known for his skills in punchlines in his tracks full of references to various popular culture items. His emblematic track like "Shalom Salam Salut" is a reference to "Salut à toi", a famous track by alternative punk band Bérurier Noir. Track "Tapis moquette" has become a street anthem. His rap is also various linguistic influences using "parler banlieue", a contemporary Parisian lingo in addition to use of Romani (gypsy) languages (known as gitan), particularly "Manouche" of the nomadic Romani Tziganes, African

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 ...

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and also English language expressions. Using

Verlan () is a type of argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of individual words to create slang words. The wor ...

, a French

argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argot ...

in the French language, and a common slang language used by the youth featuring inversion of syllables in a word, many

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

s and

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

. His lyrics are full of humour and gimmicky phrases and newly invented words followed by fans. As influences he mentions popular French singer-songwriter

Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (), known as Renaud (), born 11 May 1952, is a French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in F ...

, alternative punk band

Bérurier Noir Bérurier noir is a French punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk ro ...

, French hip hop band

113 113 may refer to: *113 (number), a natural number *AD 113, a year * 113 BC, a year *113 (band), a French hip hop group * 113 (MBTA bus), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route * 113 (New Jersey bus), Ironbound Garage in Newark and run ...

and French rock band Mano Negra. He remains a vocal champion of the Romani community popularizing many of their expressions (bicrave, criave, bédave, michto, etc.) While imprisoned in 2010 for charges of voluntary violence, he met

Mister You Younes Latifi (; ar, يونس لطيفي; born 5 February 1984), better known by his stage name Mister You, is a French rapper of Moroccan descent known for his freestyles. Career Born in Paris, he was raised in the Belleville area of the capita ...

, eventually recording "Zoogatazblex (30 juin 2010)", talking about the day they met. The track is available on his album ''Michto''. He doesn't escape from controversy calling himself. In his street album ''Le fils caché de Jack Mess ( a hidden child of Jack Mess') is a reference to infamous criminal

Jacques Mesrine Jacques Mesrine (; 28 December 1936 – 2 November 1979) was a French criminal responsible for numerous murders, bank robberies, burglaries, and kidnappings in France, the US, and Canada. Mesrine repeatedly escaped from prison and made in ...

. He also invited

Dominique Alderweireld "Dominique" is a 1963 French language popular song, written and performed by the Belgian female singer Jeannine Deckers, better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile" in French) or The Singing Nun. The song is about Saint Dominic, a Spanish-bo ...

, allegedly involved in sexual scandals to appear on his music video "Dodo La Saumure" in reference to him. He is also popular on online social networks with his posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with his fans known as Gueko Youth and ZdededeGirlz.

Origin of name

His pseudonym is from the character

Seth Gecko Seth Gecko is the name of two fictional characters in the ''From Dusk till Dawn'' film series. The original Seth is the protagonist of the original film, described as a cool, suave, short-fused, anti-heroic criminal in the ''From Dusk till Dawn ...

played by

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

in the 1996 film ''

From Dusk till Dawn ''From Dusk till Dawn'' is a 1996 American action horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino from a concept and story by Robert Kurtzman. Starring Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Ernest Liu, and ...

'' directed by

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...

. In the song "A.K.A." taken from his album ''La Chevalière'', he also mentions that he named himself "Guy Georges Clooney" which is a reference both to Clooney but also to

Guy Georges Guy Georges (born Guy Rampillon; 15 October 1962) is a French serial killer and serial rapist, dubbed ''le tueur de l'Est Parisien'' (the East Paris killer) or The Beast of the Bastille. He was convicted on April 5, 2001 of murdering seven women ...

, a serial killer. He utilized the title in "J'marche avec ma clique" that featured

Despo Rutti Pascal Trésor Azu'Simba, better known as Despo Rutti "Rutt's" (born 26 June 1982 in Kinshasa), is a French rapper from Democratic Republic of the Congo. Spending his life in Kinshasa and in Brazzaville, he immigrated to France in 1992. He release ...

and is a track on his album ''Patate de forain''.

Discography

Studio albums

Others * 2012: ''La chevalière / Les fils de Jack Mess'' (2CD package, reissue by EMI of earlier releases)

Maxi albums, street albums and mixtapes

EPs

Singles

;Featured in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gueko, Seth 1980 births Living people French rappers French people of Italian descent French people of Russian descent French Roman Catholics Rappers from Val-d'Oise