| Lunatic | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France |
| Genres | French hip hop |
| Years active | 1994-2003 |
| Labels | Time Bomb 45 Scientific |
| Members | |
| Booba Ali |
|
Lunatic was a French hip hop duo from Boulogne-Billancourt. The lineup consisted of Booba (Boulogne-Billancourt) and Ali (Issy-les-Moulineaux), coming from the department of Hauts-de-Seine in the west suburb of Paris.
After the split-up both of whom have since gone onto successful solo careers. The duo frequently considered as one of the best French rap group of all time. Their release Le Crime Paie producted and mixed by well-known DJ Cut Killer, is a considered as a classic in the French rap.
Contents |
In 1994, Booba met Daddy Ali at a party. They decided to make a group and Daddy Ali drooped the "Daddy" from his stage-name, now named Ali. Between 1994 and 1996 they appeared on different mixtapes of the record Time Bomb.
Their first song "Le crime paie" ,released in 1996 and considered a classic song of French hip hop, talked about dangers of the street life and the banlieues. They should have released their first album Sortis de l'ombre with Timbe Bomb in 1996, but the producers decided for not doing that.
In 1997, they released their second song, "Les vrais savent" which talked about the same thing, but both rappers used a different way to say it, more sad.
During this time, they made their own style: Ali was talking about peace, love and the major thing he wanted to do was to prevent kids about street life. Booba was talking about what he did when he was young, and he also wanted to prevent kids about this, but with more violent lyrics. He also used to talk about prostitutes and money. They left Time Bomb in 1997.
Booba was penned up in 1998 and Ali had to continue in solo. They later created the 45 Scientific record with two friends to release the album they were preparing. The reason why they did it was no official record at this time wanted to release an album with such violent lyrics. Their major influence was then American rappers such as Mobb Deep.
In 2000, they released their debut album Mauvais oeil. It's considered as one of the best rap albums ever released in French hip hop history. The mix of the peaceful lyrics of Ali and the violent lyrics of Booba was one of the factors that used to bring Lunatic on top. They were also the first French hip-hop group to sell more than 100,000 albums with their independent record 45 Scientific.
In 2002, Booba started a solo career, and released his debut album Temps mort with 45 Scientific. This album features a song with Ali ,"Strass et Paillettes". The two rappers were at this time thinking about writing lyrics for a second Lunatic album. But Booba wanted to stop talking about dangers of street-life, because he was not living anymore in banlieue. They separated in 2003 and Booba continued his solo career. The fame of Lunatic helped him to release his second solo album with his own record Tallac Records in 2004. After releasing this album, he became very famous and is now singing with stars like Akon and Diddy.
Ali also started a solo career in 2005 releasing "Chaos et Harmonie" with 45 Scientific. He made the track "Golden Boy" talking about his old friend Booba without saying is name (in this track he says that Booba is no more a singer but only a man who wants to make money).
In 2006, the two leaders of 45 Scientific, Geraldo and JP Seck, released a Black Album of Lunatic, with the help of Ali. This album consists in some rare freestyles of Lunatic, some live tracks and some songs that were never released. Booba refused this idea but his old friends did not take care and released the album.
In 2010, Ali released his second album Rassemblement with 45 Scientific. Booba also released his album Lunatic at this time and fans thought that Lunatic was back.
The two rappers took different ways: Booba became very famous and is now rich. Ali is not very famous in France because of his choice (he ever talks about peace like in Lunatic).