Shurik'n

Shurik'n, born Geoffroy Mussard on March 11, 1966, in Marseille, belongs to the superstar French rap collective IAM, whose members he helped establish in the late '80s alongside Akhenaton (born Philippe Fragione), Freeman (Malek Brahimi), Khéops (Eric Mazel), Imhotep (Pascal Perez), and Kephren (François Mendy). The crew first circulated an underground mixtape titled IAM Concept in 1990 before issuing its proper debut full-length, ...de la Planète Mars, via Virgin Records the following year. Their sophomore effort, Ombre Est Lumière (1993), yielded the breakout track "Je Danse le Mia," which commanded the top slot on the French singles chart for eight weeks in 1994. The third album, L'École du Micro d'Argent (1997), entered the French albums chart at number three and produced multiple hit singles. Around this time the members began pursuing individual projects, with Akhenaton leading the way via his 1995 solo debut Métèque et Mat. Shurik'n followed suit in 1998, releasing his own chart-topping debut Où Je Vis on Virgin Records; the set immediately ascended to number one and delivered the singles "La Garde Meurt Mais Ne Se Rend Pas" and "J'leve Mon Verre." Two years later he joined his brother, rapper Faf Larage, for the album La Garde, which climbed into the Top 40. Later reunions with IAM produced the commercially dominant releases Revoir un Printemps (2004) and Saison 5 (2007), as well as the concert document Live au Dôme de Marseille (2005).