Alix Mathurin (; born 28 December 1977) better known as Kery James, is a

French rap 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 ...

per, singer, songwriter, dancer and record producer from Orly, who was born in

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label= Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and ...

to Haitian parents. Prior to his solo career, he was in Idéal J where he was known as Daddy Kery. He is also part of French hip hop and rap collective

Mafia K-1 Fry Mafia K-1 Fry sometimes stylized as Mafia K'1 Fry is a French collective of hip hop artists, rappers, beatboxers, DJs, MCs and music producers mostly coming from the Val-de-Marne and the Orly-Choisy-Vitry-Joinville axis (being locations in Orly - ...

Biography

Personal life

Kery James arrived in continental France at the age of seven. His mother raised him in Orly, a suburb of Paris. He started at a young age to rap, dance, and write his own texts. The famous

MC Solaar Claude M'Barali, professionally known as MC Solaar (; born 5 March 1969), is a French rapper of Senegalese and Chadian origin. He is one of France's most famous and influential hip hop artists. Some consider him the best French rapper of all ...

noticed him when he was only 10 years old in a

cité Cité may refer to: Places * Cité (Paris Métro), the metro station on the ''Île de la Cité'' * Cité (Quebec), type of municipality in Quebec * Citadel, the historical centre of an old city, originally fortified * Housing estate A hous ...

(suburban housing estate) of Paris. He described the setting as "A place where the Islamic faith was omnipresent", then he added Ali to his name. After his conversion to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

, it has been declared that James is a follower of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (AICP), known as

Al-Ahbash Al-Ahbash ( ar, الأحباش, , en, "The Ethiopians"), also known as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects ( ar, جمعية المشاريع الخيرية الإسلامية, , AICP) is a neo-traditionalist Sufi religious movem ...

. The media has labelled him "the rapper repented through Islam". Kery James is aware of it, he does not deny this story. "I prefer to be the one who hold this role rather than somebody else. Numerous young Muslims are tempted to be intolerant or extremist. If I can open their eyes it is a good thing for them".

In Idéal J

At around thirteen years old, he became a member of the group Idéal Junior (later abbreviated to Idéal J). There he was known as Daddy Kery. Idéal J garnered a few singles with explicit titles like "Hardcore", "Pour une poignée de dollars" and a first album titled ''Original MC's sur une mission''. In 1992, their single "La vie est brutale" was released showing great promise though one of the talented artists, Alter MC (who is nowadays known as Jessy Money), promptly left the group. In subsequent years while colleague

DJ Mehdi Mehdi Favéris-Essadi (20 January 1977 – 13 September 2011), better known by his stage name DJ Mehdi, was a French hip hop and house music producer and DJ. He was signed to the label Ed Banger Records, founded by his friend Pedro Winter, in ...

progressed as a prominent producer, Kery worked extensively on writing new material, his texts reflecting a life that involved altercations with the police, street rivalries and an omnipresent fear of death. In 1996 the band's first album under the moniker Ideal J led the group to become renowned and respected as amongst the top French rappers with well-known singles like "Ghetto français", "Show business" and "Je veux du cash". Ideal J multiplied their appearances on Maxis and as featured acts, reaching a surprising maturity with the single "J'désole mes parents" present on the compilation ''Nouvelle donne''. However, Kery's career was put temporarily on hold in 1999 when his close childhood friend Las Montana was shot and killed. Kery took refuge in religious faith and took the name Ali as a symbol of his full conversion to Islam.

Solo career

In October 2001, he released his solo album "Si c'était à refaire" with, among others, the tracks "28 décembre 1977", "Si c'était à refaire", "Soledad", and "Y'a pas d'couleur". This album is very personal and benefits from numerous collaborations: Nubians, Salif Keita... The rap is influenced by African, Arabic, Cuban musical influences, without forgetting the use of percussions and original instruments for this music style as the xylophone. He sings his African roots but also the problems of society like money, violence, and moral values. This album reflects the surprising maturity of Kery. In 2004, Kery James' second album, ''Ma vérité'' continued to underline social and political militant messages taking positions on such subjects as the war in Iraq and on reality TV. However, at the same time, duets with very popular stars such as

Diam's Mélanie Georgiades (; born 25 July 1980 in Nicosia), better known by her stage name Diam's (), is a French rapper of Greek Cypriot origin. Biography Mélanie Marie Georgiades was born on July 25, 1980 in Nicosia, capital of Cyprus. Her mothe ...

Mélanie Giorgadès and

Amel Bent Amel Bent Bachir ( ar, آمال بنت بشير; born 21 June 1985) is a French R&B and pop singer who gained fame after reaching the semi-finals of season 2 of French TV singing competition ''Nouvelle Star''. She is best-selling artist to come ...

, started to distance him from his underground image. In March 2008 this metamorphosis to mainstream popularity was underlined by a new album ''À l'ombre du show business'' whose title track was a collaboration with legendary French

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic so ...

star

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...

. Other tracks included ''Le combat continue part III'', ''Banlieusards'' and ''Vrai Peura''. On its first week of release the album reached third place on the French charts with 24,459 albums sold. For the music videos of this album, he worked with

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 ' ...

, Matthieu Kassovitz, J.G Biggs and

Chris Macari Christian Gabriel Ledru Macari (born February 8, 1980) is a French music video director and producer from the French West Indies. Through his company, Tchimbé Raid Production, he has released more than 50 videos of Hip Hop, RnB, Reggae-Dance ...

Discography

Albums and EPs

Solo studio albums

;Others *2013: ''Coffret integral''

Live albums

Other albums and EPs (collaborations)

;with Idéal Junior / Idéal J *1992 : ''La vie est brutale'' (Maxi-single) (credited to Ideal Junior) *1996 : ''O'riginal MC's sur une mission'' (credited to Ideal J) *1998 : '' Le Combat Continue'' (credited to Ideal J) ;with

*1997 : ''Les liens sacrés'' *1999 : ''Légendaire'' *2003 : ''La cerise sur le ghetto'' *2007 : ''Jusqu'à la mort'' (+ reissue)

Singles

Collaborations

(Refer to relevant section in French Wikipedia)