Diam's

Mélanie Georgiades entered the world on July 27, 1980, in Nicosia, Cyprus, yet spent most of her teenage years in the Parisian suburb of Orsay, where hip-hop captured her attention during adolescence. At fourteen she started composing original material and chose the stage name Diam's after consulting a dictionary definition that highlighted both the gem’s lavishness and its resistance to penetration. By 1995 she had become a regular presence on the Paris rap scene, frequently working alongside the Instances Glauques collective. Two years later she formed a friendship with rapper Yannick of the Mafia Trece posse, appearing on two tracks from their album Cosa Nostra and joining the anti-racism tour “Sachons Dire Non.” Between various temporary jobs, she collaborated with composer and producer Black Mozart on her first solo release, Premier Mandat, which Reel Up issued in 1999 and which attracted scant notice. Attention arrived in 2001, however, when her track “Suzy” stood out on the compilation Original Bombattack. EMI signed her in spring 2002, yet corporate restructuring delayed the follow-up Brut de Femme until mid-2003, when Hostile finally released it to unexpected commercial success; the project yielded the chart-topping single “DJ” and captured the Victoires de la Musique prize for Best Rap/Hip Hop Album. Early 2006 brought Dans Ma Bulle, which ascended to the top of the French charts within weeks and finished as the year’s highest-selling French album. That achievement secured her an MCM cable program, Télé Diam’s, together with an A&R position at the French branch of the historic Motown label. Fame’s demands eventually proved overwhelming, and after struggling with depression Diam’s embraced Islam in October 2009. The same year saw the release of her third album, S.O.S.