MC Solaar, born Claude M'Barali in Dakar, Senegal, moved to France as a baby and grew up in the Paris suburbs. He developed a passion for music and rap in his teenage years. In 1990, he recorded his first demo tape which included the hit single "Bouge De Là" that reached #5 on French charts. The following year, he supported De La Soul on tour and released his debut album Qui Sème Le Vent Récolte Le Tempo which sold over 400,000 copies, establishing him as a major figure in French music. He is known for his innovative rap style and poetic lyrics that incorporate wordplay and puns.

2. The Childhood
Claude M'Barali, better known to music
fans as MC Solaar, was born in Dakar(Africa)
on March 5, 1969. He moved to France with
his parents when he was just 6 months old. He
was really good at Football (American’s
“Soccer”), and started spending less time on
school and more time on the field. He relied
on his memory rather than his homework to
see him through.

3. Young Artist
Claude had been a passionate music fan
from an early age, and growing up in the Paris
suburbs he had been listening to rap music
throughout his teenage years. This allowed him
to begin to adapt to his new style. The young
rapper went into the studio in the summer of
1990, accompanied by his sidekick Jimmy Jay, to
start recording a series of demo tapes. One of
the songs on the demo tapes, "Bouge De
Là", went onto become MC Solaar's début single
and it proved an instant hit, rocketing to the n°5
spot in the national charts.

4. His First
The following year MC Solaar went on to
support the famous American rap group De La
Soul when they performed at the Olympia in
Paris in September of 91. By the time the
French rapper recorded his début album, Qui
Sème Le Vent Récolte Le Tempo (released at
the end of 91) he had become a major figure
on the French music scene. This album would
sell over 400,000 copies.

5. Chick Magnet
MC Solaar's innovative rap style revolves
around soft melodies and finely-crafted poetic
lyrics. The French rapper, renowned as an
insatiable reader of novels and newspapers and
an avid collector of dictionaries, has an
exceptional gift for language and his songs are
filled with clever puns and wordplay. On February
1995 he received an award for Best Male Singer
of the Year at the 10th edition of the French
"Victoires de la Musique" awards.

6. The Inner Message
Early on in MC Solaar's career it was
important for him to share the struggles and the
different hardships for Black people that
migrated to France and tried to make a living.
Most of his music was dedicated to enlightening
the population of a specific deeper message that
connected to him in his life.

7. Some Albums
Solaar's career continued to evolve
throughout the late nineties and into the new
millennium. He released Cinquième As in 2001
to critical acclaim and Mach 6 in 2003.

8. Just a bit more..
MC Solaar is currently one of the only
French rappers able to find success in the
English-dominated American Hip Hop culture
with his French prose. Solaar has appeared in
many Bollywood movies like Hum Tum. MC
Solaar has also released a few songs which
never appeared on albums, including "Comme
dans un film" (falsely known as "John Woo") and
"Inch'Allah”.

9. Happy Ending?
On December 7, 2003, MC Solaar married
Chloé Bensemoun and on May 7, 2004, and had
two children: Roman and Bonnie.