The Biography

From his real name Elie Yaffa, Booba is a French rapper born in Boulogne-Billancourt, December 9, 1976. Coming from a modest family, Booba grew up in the Hauts-de-Seine. During a trip to his Senegalese family, he met one of his cousins named Boubacar, and it was in homage to the latter that Booba would later take his stage name. He meets Daddy Ali while he is still a hip hop dancer. With him, he set up his first group: Lunatic. While Booba had his first successes with Ali thanks to the titles "Le Crime Paie" and "Les Vrais Savent", he was imprisoned in 1997 for more than a year for robbing a taxi. After this dark period, Ali and Booba publish their album "Mauvais Œil", the album enters the history of French rap by obtaining the first gold record for an independent album. The group separates and Booba leaves for a long hegemony on the throne of French rap which will begin with the cult "Temps Mort", published in 2002 and considered with "L'École du Micro d'Argent" of the group IAM, as the best French rap albums of all time. Booba's texts were praised by Thomas Ravier in 2003, an author of La Nouvelle Revue Française, (an important French literary review created in 1908) who elevated him to the rank of writer, comparing him to Céline and Artaud. Thomas Ravier invents the neologism "metagore" (mixture of metaphor and gore) to qualify Booba's use of images. Thomas Ravier invents the neologism "metagore" (mixture of metaphor and gore) to qualify Booba's use of images. In total Booba will publish ten studio albums, will sell more than 3 million records, will obtain many certification records and is ranked fourth among the rappers who have sold the most albums in the history of French rap. His first album, Temps mort, appeared in 2002. It was followed by Panthéon, Ouest Side and 0.9, all certified and considered classics of French rap. His fifth album, Lunatic, released in 2010, uses the name of his former group. In 2012, Booba published his sixth opus, entitled Futur. In 2015, Booba released two albums: D.U.C and Nero Nemesis. In 2017, he released his 9th album, Throne. In 2021, ULTRA is announced as his last album. On August 1, 2018, a fight broke out between Booba and Kaaris at Orly airport. The two rappers are arrested by the police and sentenced to one month in prison. Booba fills the Stade de France on Saturday September 3, 2022, and brings his 2 children Luna and Omar on stage in front of 81,000 fans. He is the first French rapper to give a concert at the Stade de France.