GIMS

French rapper and producer Maître Gims, born Gandhi Djuna, established himself as a chart-dominant solo act while launching Monstre Marin Corporation, the French Universal Music imprint he created, after earlier stints in the groups 3e Prototype and Sexion d'Assaut.

He entered the world in the Congo and relocated to France alongside his family when he was two. Immersed in music from childhood as the offspring of vocalist Djuna Djanana, the MC issued his debut solo single in 2006, although additional time elapsed before he could devote sustained attention to individual projects. His inaugural solo full-length, Subliminal, surfaced in May 2013 and benefited from the number-one performance of the single "J'me Tire," even as the project itself came within one position of topping France's official SNEP album chart. The platinum-certified double album Mon coeur avait raison, his second LP, altered that outcome by claiming the summit in both France and Belgium. Ceinture noire followed in 2018 with similar commercial traction and included appearances by Lil Wayne, Sofiane, and Vianney. The next year brought Transcendence, an expanded and revised edition of that release carrying contributions from Maluma and J Balvin, Dadju, Vitaa, and Sting.