Soprano

Born on January 14, 1979, in Marseilles, France, Saïd M'Roubaba rose to prominence among French rap listeners under the stage name Soprano. Early exposure to American R&B and hip-hop figures such as Michael Jackson and Kris Kross shaped his musical outlook during childhood. Although he showed little inclination toward leadership, he soon gathered a crew that included two members from his parents’ native Comoros and one from Morocco. During the period when European hip-hop was establishing its base, M’Roubaba and his colleagues became central figures, noted for a level of lyrical intuition and insight seldom found in the style. The four embraced this distinction by taking the name Psy 4 de la Rime, or Four Psychiatrists of Rhyme. He selected the alias Soprano out of admiration for the American television character Tony Soprano, drawn especially to the figure’s psychiatric self-examination. The group attained immediate visibility through its first two albums, Enfants de la Lune and Block Party, each attaining gold certification within weeks of release. Following the familiar pattern in successful hip-hop collectives, Soprano was singled out for solo prospects and received offers from multiple labels. He gauged the market with the 2006 mixtape Psychanalyse Avant l’Album; its strong reception and label encouragement led him to prepare his debut studio album. Issued in March 2007, Puisqu’il Faut Vivre entered Billboard’s European Top 100 and reached number two on the French album charts. While major American hip-hop artists remained reference points, he also absorbed West African music and the work of socially aware French rap acts such as Fonky Family, aiming for a more affirmative rap that avoided attitudes frequently linked to the genre. A live set, Live au Dôme de Marseille, appeared in 2008, yet he proceeded deliberately on the next studio project, a conceptual double album. La Colombe, the opening half, surfaced at the end of 2010 and entered the top three; Le Corbeau followed a few months afterward and likewise reached the top three. The two discs were later combined for a double-CD reissue. Fans encountered the subsequent project more quickly with the 2012 release of E=2MCs, recorded in tandem with fellow rapper REDK.