Abd
Al Malik
Abd Al Malik is a French rapper, poet, novelist, essayist, activist, scriptwriter and film director of Congolese origin.
Born in Paris in 1975, he grew up in the most difficult projects of Strasbourg (Neuhof). Nowadays, he is one of the most prolific and respected artists in France. He is the only hip hop artist to get awarded 4 times in a row the French Victoires de la Musique for each of his solo albums.
In 2008, he is simultaneously designated Artist of the Year and Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. In 2009, a French-language Pan-African news magazine Jeune Afrique includes him in its “100 most influential individuals of African diaspora”. In 2010, his second book La guerre des banlieues n'aura pas lieu (The ghettos war will not happen) wins the Edgar-Faure prize of political literature. The same year, his best-seller Qu’Allah bénisse la France! (May Allah bless France!) is adapted for the cinema. The movie will receive 2 French Césars nominations (2015) and will be awarded the FIPRESCI prize in Toronto in 2014.
His second solo album, Gibraltar (2006), is nowadays a reference in French hip hop, jazz and French chanson. It is also considered one of the most important French albums of these last 10 years. In 2016, his latest album Scarification and his novel Camus, l’art de la révolte (Camus, the art of revolt) are released.
Abd Al Malik shares his life with the French R&B artist, singer and songwriter, Wallen. They have 3 children and form the most influential and symbolic couple in French hip hop.