Martin Mussard (; 25 February 1990 – 7 February 2025), better known by his stage name Naâman (), was a French

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

musician, singer, and songwriter, with ska, blues, folk, hip hop, and dancehall influences.

Biography

Born in

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, Naâman attended the local Catholic private school. He graduated with a literary

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

and continued studies in communication and graphic arts in

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

and was associated from youth in a local music group Les Young Kha. In 2010, he abandoned his studies to concentrate his time to music, choosing the name Naâman, from the biblical figure

Naaman Naaman the Aramean () was a commander of the armies of Hadadezer, the king of Aram-Damascus, in the time of Jehoram, King of Northern Israel (Samaria). According to 2 Kings 5 in the Bible, Naaman was a commander of the army of Aram. He was a ...

. Naâman started singing reggae with African and

Antilles The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...

influences and singing in a Jamaican accent with his band releasing his first independent mixtape ''Deep Rockers''. He also took part in 2012 in Reggae Sun Ska Festival. His mixtape was well received and buzz increased about his artistry on social networks. In 2012 he travelled to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

to study the Jamaican

Rastafari Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...

style with ''Radio VL'' naming him the reggae revelation of 2013 in addition to the same title during "Victoires du reggae 2013". With his beatmaker Fatbabs he recorded in Studio Harry J, which had recorded some of the music of

Bob Marley and the Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

. On returning to France Naâman released his album ''Deep Rockers, Back a Yard'' on 4 June 2013. He promoted the album with a French live tour with additional dates in UK, Russia, and China and a show at the Garance Reggae Festival opening for Jon Holt, the famous reggae singer of the 1970s. His album ''Deep Rockers, Back a Yard'' was named "Reggae album, French touch 2014". He also publicly supported legal production of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

during the professional exposition Expogrow. In 2015, Naâman released his new album ''Rays of Resistance'' in addition to a world tour that took him in addition to his pan-French tour to the Middle East, India, and Jamaica. With his friends, he organized a charity concert in May 2015 in Paris in aid of earthquake victims in Nepal shortly after a gig he had in Nepal itself. He was active also in the aid of Caritas for helping Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon. In July 2015, he also appeared in

Les Francofolies de La Rochelle Les Francofolies () is the annual music festival founded in 1985 in La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes, France as an initiative of Jean-Louis Foulquier. It is usually held annually in July and aims at promoting French-language music. Number of tho ...

. He also collaborated with artists including

Soom T Sumati Bhardwaj (born 17 June 1979), better known by her stage name Soom T, is a Scottish reggae singer, rapper, record label director and activist. She is nicknamed the "Raggamuffin Queen." Biography Soom T was born in Maryhill, Glasgow, Sco ...

Death

Diagnosed with a

brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

in 2019, Naâman died from complications of cancer on 7 February 2025, at the age of 34.Le chanteur de reggae Naâman, 34 ans, meurt d'une tumeur au cerveau

Discography

Albums

Others *2012: ''Deep Rockers'' (mixtape) *2014: ''From the Deep to the Rock'' (CD + DVD) *2015: ''Know Yourself'' (jointly with Massy and Triple)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Naaman 1990 births 2025 deaths 21st-century French male singers French reggae singers People from Dieppe, Seine-Maritime Musicians from Normandy Deaths from brain cancer in France