Jok'Air, pseudonym of Melvin Félix Aka (born 23 September 1991 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

), is a French

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

of Ivorian descent. He was part of the hip hop collective MZ until 2016, before starting a solo career.

Biography

Melvin Félix Aka was born in the

19th arrondissement of Paris The 19th arrondissement of Paris (''XIXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-neuvième''. The arrondissement, known as Butte-Chaumont, ...

and grew up in the 13th arrondissement, precisely in Chevaleret.

Career

MZ

He became passionate about

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

at the age of 15, so much so that his brother Davidson decided to pay him for hours in a recording studio, together with his friends Hache-P, Dehmo and Loka. The four friends founded the MZ group, i.e. ''Mafia Zeutrei''. Between 2006 and 2016, MZ released two

studio albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

and six mixtapes, before disbanding due to an argument Jok'Air and Davidson had with Hache-P and Dehmo. Feeling betrayed, Jok'Air decided to start a solo career.

Solo career

He began his solo career with his title ''C'est la guerre'', which preceded his EP ''Big Daddy Jok'', released on February 24, 2017. He also released two mixtapes during the same year he, titled ''Je suis Big Daddy'' and ''Jok'Pololo''. At the beginning of 2018, he signed a deal with Play Two label, with which he released his first album, ''Jok'Rambo'', on May 25 of the same year. His second album, ''Jok'Travolta'', was made available on March 29, 2019, and was subsequently certified gold. ''Jok'Chirak'', his third album, was released on March 20, 2020. During this period, he regularly participated in ''Radio Sexe'', a

web radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

broadcast on

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

on the topic of

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. He also launched, on the

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

channel, his own

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

, called ''Jok'Air in LA''. He released his fourth album, ''VI République'', on December 11, 2020. The album cover depicted activist Assa Traoré under the French tricolour, in the role of

President of the Republic The President of the Republic is a title used for heads of state and/or heads of government in countries having republican form of government. Designation In most cases the president of a republic is elected, either: * by direct universal s ...

. On November 19, 2021, it was the turn of his mixtape ''New Jok City'', which also included

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

sounds. His fifth album, ''Melvin de Paris'', was released on May 12, 2023, and featured

Laylow Jeremy Larroux (born 1993), better known as Laylow is a French rapper from Toulouse. In 2018, Laylow released the EPs ''.RAW'' and ''RAW-Z''. His first album, ''Trinity'', featured collaborations with Lomepal, S.Pri Noir, Jok'Air, Wit., Alpha ...

, Dann, Linema,

Damso William Kalubi Mwamba (born 10 May 1992 in Kinshasa), better known by his stage name Damso (), is a Belgian- Congolese rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is popular in France, where all of his albums have been certified at least platinum. Early ...

, So La Lune, Kady and

Soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

as guest artists.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Jok'Rambo'' (2018) * ''Jok'Travolta'' (2019) * ''Jok'Chirak'' (2020) * ''VI République'' (2020) * ''Melvin de Paris'' (2023)

Mixtapes

* ''Je suis Big Daddy'' (2017) * ''Jok'Pololo'' (2017) * ''New Jok City'' (2021)

EPs

* ''Big Daddy Jok'' (2017)

As a member of MZ

* ''Affaire de famille'' (2015) * ''La dictature'' (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jok'Air 1991 births Living people Black French rappers French male rappers Rappers from Paris