Akhenaton (rapper)

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Akhenaton (real name Philippe Fragione) (born September 17, 1968) is a French rapper and producer of French hip hop. Born in Marseille in 1968, of Neapolitan origins. He has also worked under the aliases Chill, AKH, Sentenza, and Spectre. He became famous as a member of the group IAM, and has since made a number of records, both with IAM and as a solo artist. He is a convert to Islam.[1]

Akhenaton has also worked as a producer, producing songs for several French rappers and groups such as Passi, Stomy Bugsy, Chiens de Paille, Fonky Family, Freeman (a fellow member of IAM who has since made his break as a solo artist), La Brigade, Le 3ème Œil, etc. He is the creator of the record label Côté Obscur, the publishing house La Cosca, and the vinyl record label 361.

[edit] Biography

Akhenaton was born Philippe Fragione in Marseille on 17 September 1968, and spent his youth in Plan-de-Cuques, a small village on the outskirts of the city. In 1981, he discovered hip hop music, and started traveling frequently to New York City where he received the nickname Chill Phil. At about the same time, back in Marseille, he met Éric Mazel, a DJ who would later be known as Khéops. Mazel and Fragione started working together to advance the cause of French hip hop.

In 1988, Fragione debuted as a hip hop theorist, publishing the essay La Deuxième génération du hip-hop in the fanzine Vé. The same year, he appeared on the B-side of the US MC Choice's single Let's Make Some Noise. Having returned to Marseille, he met Geoffroy Mussard (Shurik'n) and Malek Brahimi (Freeman). Fragione became known as Akhenaton, and together with Khéops and Shurik'n formed the group B.Boys Stance, renamed IAM in 1989. The group was later joined by Freeman, Imhotep and Kephren.

After IAM's first three albums' success, Akhenaton released his first solo album, Métèque et mat, in 1995. The album sold 300,000 copies, and in 2001, it was followed by Sol Invictus. He began to delve into his other projects, such as producing Passi's album Les tentations (1997) and the 2001 film Comme un aimant. He continued working with IAM, releasing the album Revoir un printemps in 2003.