Kery James
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Alix Mathurin, aka Kery James, was born in Guadeloupe on 28 December 1977 to parents who had come from Haiti. He spent his first seven years with his mother in Guadeloupe. But his father had high hopes for his children and decided to send him to stay with his sister in France in order to get a good education. Kery left for France in October 1985. Her mother soon followed him to France, and after a while managed to reclaim her son. Kery discovered his new home: a single 30 square metre room in a bungalow in Orly in the Paris suburbs. He found it hard to adjust; in his teenage years he took to the streets and there he discovered rap.
Ideal J make an explosive début
By the age of 11, Kery had mastered the art of dancing, rapping and songwriting and he made quite an impact with his impromptu performances down at the local youth club. At 13, he joined forces with Harry and Teddy, two like-minded friends and formed the group Ideal Junior (their name making much of their young prodigy status). The group, whose name soon got shortened to Ideal J, built up quite a following on the French rap underground, youngsters identifying with their hard-hitting lyrics and provocative attitude. Recognising Ideal J's potential, a producer took the young rap trio under his wing and got them into the studio to record their first maxi single, "La vie est brutale," in 1992. Kery exploded behind the mike, unleashing the full force of his rap talent.
Later in 1992, DJ Medhi (who has gone on to establish himself as one of the leading figures in the French rap and electro world) joined Ideal J as the fourth member. And from this point on it was Medhi who took charge of writing the group's instrumentals. Things were far from rosy in the group's early career, however. In 1993 they quarrelled with their producer and the release of their début album ended up stalled for three years. "Original MC sur une nouvelle mission" was finally released in 1996, but the album that really rocketed Ideal J to rap fame was their 1998 release "Le combat continue."
With their razor-edge lyrics, driving beats and Kery upfront, ranting like a political agitator, Ideal J acquired a reputation for being one of the most hardcore rap outfits of their day. Kery was notorious for raging behind the mike, urging fans to attack the French state and, at times, his discourse even flirted with the more radical forms of extremism. Caught up in a spiral of violence and hard living on the streets, the young rapper appeared to be on the verge of going completely off the rails. But in 1999, one of his best friends was murdered on the streets, and the news of his untimely death acted as an electric shock on Kery. Realising it could easily have been him gunned down in his prime, Kery underwent a radical conversion, abandoning the rap world and seeking refuge in religion.
A rapper reformed
Like a growing number of American rap stars, Kery chose to convert to Islam. Changing his name from Alix to Ali, the former rap prodigy introduced some major changes to his life, becoming a full-time practising Muslim. Meanwhile, Kery's friends spent their time urging him to reconsider his decision to abandon music. Kery finally came round to the idea that he could combine his music with his religion and went into the studio to record a first solo album.
The release of Kery's début album was put back several times, but "Si c'était à refaire" finally hit record stores in October 2001. The album made a clear break with the violent lyrics of Kery's Ideal J past. Heavily influenced by the teachings of the Koran, "Si c'était à refaire" preached a message of love, peace and respect and smashed rap clichés of easy money and power through the gun. The young hoodlum from Orly openly renounced the mistakes he had made in his past and, in so doing, took a step towards musical maturity.
The French media seized on the news of Kery's conversion, dubbing him "the reformed rapper." And there is no doubt that the new direction he pursued in his music made him stand apart from the rest of the French rap crowd. "Si c'était à refaire" got Kery's solo career off to an excellent start, going down well with both the critics and the record-buying public. Indeed, sales of the album topped the 100,000 mark within a few weeks of its release, earning Kery his first gold disc.
Kery had been tempted by the idea of writing his own music for a while and on his album, "Si c'était à refaire," he assured the majority of the compositions. (Respecting an Islamic commandment, he made sure he did not use any string or wind instruments in his scores). When he performed the songs from his new album live on stage, Kery took the innovative approach of performing with an acoustic orchestra, Le James Band – a rare feature in the hip hop world! After bringing down the house at the legendary Paris venue, L'Olympia, in March 2002, Kery went on to perform at the Stade de France on 21 September 2002, appearing at the grand finale of the "Urban Peace" festival (the biggest rap and r'n'b event organised in France). His love'n'peace rap went down extremely well with the crowd.
Kery's new musical direction, guided by the tenets of orthodox Islam, was not to his record company's liking, however. And, despite the commercial success of his first album, his label announced they would not be supporting him in any future project.
Religious and social commitment
Kery's second album, "Savoir et vivre ensemble," was thus released on the independent label Naïve in April 2004. Deeply perturbed by the wave of unprecedented terrorist attacks perpetrated around the world by fanatics claiming to act in the name of Islam, Kery sought to restore a different image of his religion through his music, promoting the values of peace, tolerance and fraternity. With this in mind, he turned his second album into a compilation, inviting artists from different musical and religious backgrounds to join him in the studio to put across a collective message on an album featuring everything from rap to traditional music. All the major French rap stars responded to the call and the credits on "Savoir et vivre ensemble" read like a veritable Who's Who of the French rap world, guest artists including everyone from Kool Shen, Passi and rap diva Diam's to Disiz La Peste and Rim'K from the 113 posse.
In an act of religious broadmindedness, Kery donated part of the profits from his second album to fund the building of a cultural centre open to all and where religious classes (devoid of any kind of fundamentalism) are taught. Not wanting to limit himself to a purely religious gesture, Kery donated the rest of the proceeds to the French social and medical charity Vivre son Handicap (part of the Handisport network) based in the Paris suburb of Gennevilliers.
Explosive comeback
After the release of "Si c'était à refaire", Kery James gave the impression that he'd shortly be retiring from the rap scene. But somewhere along the line he seemed to rediscover the pleasure of rapping because in April 2005 he put out a new album entitled "Ma vérité". Listening to this album it is clear that Kery was back with all the energy and verve of his early days. Acoustic instruments make way for synthesisers and a heavier sound. The MC, who defines himself as "Militant & Conscient" (militant and aware), abandons the moralising and returns to incisive lyrics that make no concessions to anyone. "I didn't want to be labelled as the Muslim rapper who's there to preach," he explained. "I'm not always dressed in robes at home. I'm an artist, I make music, I have things I want to say about society and the world." With "Ma vérité", Kery James takes his distance from religion and establishes a perfect balance between the violence of Ideal J and the wisdom of his first solo effort. It is without doubt one of his best albums.
Kery James has certainly come a long way from his street hoodlum beginnings, when the heart of his rap message was "Chacun pour soi, Dieu pour tous, comme ça t'es fixé!" (Every man for himself and God for all/That way you know where you are!)
May 2005
http://www.rfimusique.com/siteen/biographie/biographie_7383.asp
