JoeyStarr

Joeystarr emerged among the expanding circle of European gangsta rappers whose trajectories echo those of their American counterparts in hip-hop. Cast out of his family home in 1985 as a teenager, he spent over a year navigating the subways and catacombs of Paris, where exposure to narcotics and street violence coincided with his discovery of hip-hop culture. He formed the group NTM alongside Kool Shen in 1989. Even after NTM gained traction, Joeystarr could not deposit royalty payments because he had no fixed address for mail. The group dissolved in 2000, prompting each member to pursue separate paths; Joeystarr joined the B.O.S.S. roster that included DJ Spank, Naughty J, DJ James, and Terror Seb. From 1999 to 2004 the B.O.S.S. collective appeared on the weekly radio program Jeudi Soir de Sodomie (Thursday Evening of Sodomy). During those years the label and its roster expanded in reach, and Joey himself took on production duties for additional acts. He helmed two 2006 B.O.S.S. releases—Iron Sy’s I.R.O.N.Y. and Natty’s Jump Up—while also issuing his own first solo album, Gare au Jagaurr, in October of the same year; the record reached number three on the French national charts. Egomaniac arrived in 2011.