Doudou Masta

Mamadou Doumbia^[1] (born February 26, 1971, in Vitry-sur-Seine^[2]) is a French hip-hop artist and actor.^[3]

Biography

The young Doudou showed an early musical aptitude from the age of six, when he successfully joined France's national youth choir, which has long since been disbanded. Despite rumours that he may have been a modern-day castrato, he continued to climb the ladder to stardom well into his teens when his career took an unexpected turn.

At the age of 16, he saw his prized cocker spaniel, Monsieur Grenouille, gunned down in what was later discovered to be a turf war between local French gangs.^[4] This pivotal event caused the fragile young singer to turn to a brutal and violent life of crime.

He became heavily involved in the black market cocaine trade, and was soon doing hits for mob bosses on the side. In 1992 he was arrested for drug possession with intent to deal, weapon concealment, obstruction of justice, and resisting arrest. He was later connected to dozens of crimes both foreign and domestic, but was acquitted on all charges, save for resisting arrest for which he received 2,000 hours of community service and a short jail sentence of two years pending probation.

In September 1994 he was released, and vowed to turn his life around.

Music career

He assembled a motley crew of childhood friends and embarked on a lifelong quest to break into the mainstream French hip-hop scene. With his breakout album, Trop Loin (1998), he quickly topped the French charts for the opening weekend, and did not relinquish this position for two weeks.^[5]

In 1998 he released his first album Trop Loin. An important member of the Double H Label, with Cut Killer he went on to produce possibly his best work to date in "Mastamorphoze" in 2003.

In 2003, he released Mastamorphose (featuring Cut Killer), and it is to date his best known work. Rife with the professional-level lyrical mastery that is his trademark, it is a well-known French hip-hop work and is often counted among the best works yet produced by the country.

Acting career

He acted in a lead role Bola in the 2009 French Zombie film La horde and had formerly cameos in Arthur and the Minimoys.

Discography

• "Trop Loin" (1998)
• "Mastamorphoze" (2003)

Notes

1. ↑ Doudou Masta sur discogs
2. ↑ Fiche artiste: Doudou Masta
3. ↑ Official MySpace
4. ↑ Interview de Doudou Masta
5. ↑ Banlieue Connexion/Doudou Masta

External links

• Doudou Masta at the Internet Movie Database