Lino

Born in Brazzaville, Congo, in 1974, Gaëlino M'Bani records as Lino and launched the pioneering French rap outfit Ärsenik alongside his brother Calboni M'Bani in 1992. The duo forged a stark, unyielding strain of hip-hop built on aggressive rhythms and melodies rooted in traditional African and Arabic sources, delivered through pointed, politically charged verses that spotlighted the hardships of France’s marginalized communities. Both of the group’s albums, Quelques Gouttes Suffisent... (1998) and Quelque Chose à Survécu... (2002), reached the French top ten. Lino also joined the French/African hip-hop collective Bisso Na Bisso, formed in 1999 and responsible for two albums that year, as well as Noyau Dur, whose self-titled project appeared on Because Music in 2005.

Shifting emphasis to solo work in 2005, Lino delivered his first full-length, Paradis Assassiné, via EMI that September. Though it climbed into the top twenty, the release underperformed commercially, leading him to exit the label. He spent the next several years on guest appearances, linking with Stormy Bugsy in 2007 and adding tracks to Bisso Na Bisso’s third album, Africa, in 2009. An unsanctioned set of unfinished and unmixed Lino recordings titled Radio Bitume surfaced in 2012. He later joined Universal-affiliated imprint AZ, which issued his second album, Requiem, in 2015; the project became his biggest success, reaching number two on the French charts.