Léa Castel, a French R&B vocalist born Léa Folli on December 1, 1988, in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France, entered the music scene with her first solo album, Pressée de Vivre, issued in 2008 and reaching the Top Five on the French albums chart. Her initial appearance on record came in 2006 via the rap compilation Block Life, Vol. 4, where she contributed the track “Dernière Chance” alongside Soprano from the group Psy 4 de la Rime. Throughout 2007 she appeared on multiple rap releases, supplying vocals to “La Famille” on Soprano’s Puisqu’il Faut Vivre, “Amour Impossible” on Black Marché’s Black Marché, both “Entre 2 Flammes” and “L’Enfant de Marseille” on L’Algérino’s Mentalité Pirate, and “Mariah” on Mino’s Il Était une Fois…. The next year she released her debut full-length, Pressée de Vivre, through the Street Skillz imprint under Universal Music distribution; the project included a fresh recording of “Dernière Chance” and the single “Pressée de Vivre,” which climbed to the Top 20 on the French singles chart, while the album itself entered the national albums chart at number three in its opening week.
