MC Solaar

Claude M’Barali, professionally known as MC Solaar (born 5 March 1969), is a French rapper of Senegalese and Chadian origin. He is one of France’s most famous and influential hip hop artists. Some consider him as the best French rapper of all time.

MC Solaar is known for his complex lyrics and distinctive flows, which rely on word play, lyricism, and inquiry. In the English-speaking world, Solaar was signed by London-based acid jazz record label Talkin’ Loud and recorded with British group Urban Species and the late rapper Guru, who was a member of the critically acclaimed New York-based rap group Gang Starr. Solaar has since released eight studio albums and one live album. His eighth studio album, Géopoétique, produced by Alain Etchart and mixed by sound engineer David Gnozzi, won best album of the year at the Victoires de la Musique awards in 2018.

Claude M’Barali was born in Dakar, Senegal, to parents from Chad. When he was six months old, his parents immigrated to France where they settled in the Parisian suburbs; initially in Saint-Denis, subsequently Maisons-Alfort and finally Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. When he was twelve, he went to live with an uncle in Cairo, Egypt for nine months where he discovered the Universal Zulu Nation and became fascinated with the rapping styles of Afrika Bambaataa. Upon his return to France, he passed the baccalauréat. The constant support from his mother was one of the reasons that he was able to pass the baccalauréat and still make music. He coined the stage name “MC Solaar” during his adolescence from his graffiti tags “SOAR” and “SOLAAR”.

He studied languages at the Jussieu university campus and was a postgraduate in philosophy. He released his first single in 1990. MC Solaar went to Paris in the summer of 1991 with his friend Jimmy Jay in hopes of succeeding in the music industry. Success came quickly when his first single, “Bouge de là” (“Get Out of There”), based on a sample from Cymande’s song “The Message” (1973) became a hit in the early 1990s. Many rappers who came out of Africa at the time spoke a lot about slavery and other topics in order to bring the history of their people into light. Nevertheless, the song went platinum in France and reached #5 on the national charts.

After the success of “Bouge de là”, Solaar went on to support the American rap group De La Soul when they performed at the Olympia in Paris in September 1991. At the close of 1991, Solaar released Qui Sème le Vent Récolte le Tempo which went on to sell over 400,000 copies in France. With the success of his debut album in France, Solaar embarked upon extensive tours of Poland and Russia. In December 1992, he performed in twelve countries across West Africa, where his French rap style proved popular with African music fans. …

Source: Article “MC Solaar” from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.