Soolking

Soolking (born December 10, 1989 in Baïnem , Algeria ; real name Abderaouf Derradji ) is an Algerian singer and rapper.

Life

Derradji was born in Baïnem, in the province of Algiers in northern Algeria. He grew up in Staoueli , a suburb of the capital Algiers . His youth as a Maghrebian was plagued by poverty, he says that he grew up as a street child and had to take on various jobs at an early age in order to survive. For example, he trained as an acrobat and even worked as such in a circus for a short time. He also played in the theater and even some Algerian films as an actor. For fifteen years he was a dancer in a dance group and also a member of a rock band.

In 2008 he moved to Paris for the first time on a three-month visa , where he was left on his own as he had no family there. After his visa expired, he returned to Algeria without success. In 2009 he founded the hip-hop group Africa Jungle there with two other Algerian rappers and called himself MC Sool. After a member of the group made him aware of a talent competition organized by the mobile operator Djezzy , he signed up for himself and his dance group, which was still in existence at the same time. Soolking's group won the competition and with it a professional report that was to be broadcast on television. However, Soolking asked the organizer to use the money instead to shoot a music video with Africa Jungle, which they allowed. The song Hip Hop Dziri was recorded within a very short time and a music video was made for it. It was Algeria's first HD music video.

Soolking returned to France with Africa Jungle in 2012, where they started recording songs in a small recording studio in Clichy . On his first songs, Soolking mainly worked with the Bochum producer AriBeatz . Time and again, Soolking also cooperates with German artists, including Mert and Veysel .

At the beginning of 2018 it was announced that Soolking had signed a contract with the French label Affranchis Music des rapper Sofiane . On November 2, 2018, Soolking finally released his first solo album entitled Fruit du demon (German: Teufelsfrucht ) via Affranchis Music . The name of the album is based on the Japanese manga series One Piece , in which devil fruits give unique abilities.

Music genre

Soolking's songs are characterized by a mixture of reggae , soul and hip-hop with the Algerian music style Raï . He uses trap beats, which stand alone with bass-heavy bass drums and fast hi-hats. He mentions artists like Michael Jackson and Bob Marley as inspiration , but also Algerian musicians like Cheb Khaled , Cheb Hasni , or Cheb Mami . The French musician Georges Brassens is also an inspiration for him.

Discography

→ Main article : Soolking / discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		FR	BE W	DE	AT	CH
2018	Fruit du demon Affranchis, Capitol Music France	FR4th platinum (… Where.)FR	BE W10 (... wk.) BE W	-	-	CH34 (1 week) CH	First published: November 2nd, 2018 Sales: + 100,000
2020	Vintage Affranchis, Hyper Focal	FR3 (... weeks) FR	BE W5 (... weeks) BE W	DE71 (1 week) DE	-	CH12 (3 weeks) CH	First published: March 20, 2020

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Konbini: Interview - Soolking: l'Algérie puis le monde ou rien on YouTube , November 10, 2018, accessed on December 6, 2018 (French).
2. ↑ Gian-Andrea Gottini: Rap Français: 7 new rappers you need to have on your radar in 2018. Hiphop.de, February 28, 2018, accessed December 6, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Soolking - Guérilla. rapunchline.fr, January 24, 2018, accessed December 11, 2018 (French). 
4. ↑ Devil Fruits - OPwiki - The Wiki for One Piece. Retrieved February 26, 2019 . 
5. ^ Nivek: Le premier album de Soolking s'appellera "Fruit du demon" et sortira en novembre! In: NewZikStreet. Retrieved February 26, 2019 (fr-fr).