Abd al Malik
Abd al Malik (born March 14, 1975 in Paris , France ; real life Régis Fayette-Mikano ) is a French rapper and slampoet of Congolese origin. He is also the author of several books and directed the film adaptation of one of his books.
Life
Régis Fayette-Mikano was born in 1975 in the 14th arrondissement of Paris as the son of a high-ranking Congolese officer living in Paris . From 1977 to 1981 he lived with his family in Brazzaville (Congo). On their return to France, his family moved into a social apartment in the Neuhof district of Strasbourg . He went to the private Collège Saint-Anne in Strasbourg Neudorf . After his parents divorced, he lived with his mother and six siblings. Despite his dyslexia , he took part in the church choir. He was involved in street crime very early on, until the death of several friends from overdoses took him seriously. Then he started reading a lot of literature. He was accepted into the Catholic Lycée Notre-Dame des Mineurs and then studied philosophy and literature at the Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg .
During his youth he converted from Christianity to Islam, he is close to Sufism . After his conversion, he took the stage name Abd al Malik, which is based on his birth name Regis: "Régis" comes from the Latin word "rex" and means "King" in German, which in turn means "Malik" in Arabic.
Abd al Malik has been married to the singer Wallen since 1998 and has three children with her.
Career
During his studies, Abd Al Malik founded the rap group New African Poets (NAP) with his older brother Bilal and cousin Aissa .
Between 2004 and 2010 he recorded four solo albums: Le Face à face des cœurs , Gibraltar , Dante and Château Rouge . With the last three of these albums he won the Victoires de la Musique in the category Urban Music Album of the Year . At this music award ceremony in 2008 he was named artist of the year. In the same year he worked on the album Last Night by Moby on the track La Même Nuit with (a French version of the track Alice ).
Abd Al Malik mixes the musical styles of rap , jazz and slam with a deliberately serious tone and complex lyrics. His music has been strongly influenced by Sufism from the start .
In 2004 he published an autobiographical book Qu'Allah bénisse la France (German: Should Allah bless France) about his youth in Strasbourg-Neuhof. In the following years he wrote other books, including La guerre des banlieues n'aura pas lieu (German: The war of the suburbs will not take place) about life in impoverished French banlieues , which are mainly inhabited by immigrants. His first book Qu'Allah bénisse la France was filmed in 2014, with Abd Al Malik writing and directing.
Discography
Albums with NAP
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
FR | |||
1998 | La fin du monde |
FR40 (5 weeks) FR |
|
1999 | À l'intérieur de nous |
FR43 (2 weeks) FR |
More albums
- 1996: La racaille sort 1 disque
- 2008: Un monde perdu (compilation)
Solo albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FR | BE W | CH | |||
2004 | Le face à face des cœurs |
FR155 (2 weeks) FR |
- | - | |
2006 | Gibraltar |
FR13
platinum
(101 weeks)FR |
BE W50 (25 weeks) BE W |
CH97 (1 week) CH |
|
2008 | Dante |
FR11
gold
(36 weeks)FR |
BE W48 (18 weeks) BE W |
CH66 (3 weeks) CH |
|
2011 | Château rouge |
FR22nd
gold
(27 weeks)FR |
BE W70 (2 weeks) BE W |
- | |
2015 | Scarifications |
FR61 (3 weeks) FR |
BE W75 (10 weeks) BE W |
- |
Solo singles
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
FR | |||
2011 | Mon amour |
FR67 (8 weeks) FR |
feat. Ripples
|
literature
- 2004: Qu'Allah bénisse la France , 208 pages, Editions Albin Michel, Paris
- 2009: La guerre des banlieues n'aura pas lieu , 180 pages, Éditions Le Cherche midi, Paris
- 2012: Le dernier Français , 240 pages, Éditions Le Cherche midi, Paris
- 2013: L'Islam au secours de la République , 146 pages, Flammarion, Paris
- 2015: Place de la République , 32 pages, Indigène éditions, Paris
Filmography
- 2014: Qu'Allah bénisse la France (screenplay and direction).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b http://www.fondaction-alsace.com/les-laureats/item/abd-al-malik.html
- ↑ http://www.gala.fr/l_actu/culture/abd_al_malik_j_accepte_d_etre_le_porte-voix_des_sans-voix_331346
- ↑ Biography on allmusic.com
- ↑ Abd Al Malik en duo avec Moby ( Memento from September 7, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Chart sources: FR
- ↑ a b Chart sources: FR BEW CH
- ↑ Awards for music sales: FR
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Abd al Malik |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Fayette-Mikano, Régis (real name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French rapper and slampoet of Congolese origin |
DATE OF BIRTH | March 14, 1975 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris , France |