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BIOGRAPHIE
AKHENATON
A pioneering figure in French rap with the group IAM, Philippe Fragione, aka Akhenaton, was born on September 17, 1968 in Marseille. The son of Italian immigrants, young Philippe grew up with his younger brother Fabien, who would later become his manager. He was passionate about dinosaurs and ancient Egypt and imagined himself becoming an archaeologist. If he did not ultimately persevere in this path, he would nevertheless draw his pseudonym from it. He was 8 years old when his parents divorced. He and his brother were raised by their mother, an EDF employee. In 1981, thanks to the show “Starting black” on Radio Star, he discovered American rap and became passionate about this music. A trip to New York in 1986 confirmed his desire to fully commit to rap. Upon his return, he moved in with his father, an IT manager at Social Security. In the late 1980s, he founded the hip-hop group IAM with several friends. It was with the hit “Je danse le mia” in 1993 that the group’s career really took off.
A few months earlier, Akhenaton, a religious enthusiast, converted to Islam and married Aïcha, who became the manager of the rapper’s production facilities. Together they had three children: Yanis, born in 1995, Inaya, born in 1998 and Reyan, born in 2000.
In 1995, Akhenaton took advantage of the fact that IAM was taking a break after a long tour to release his first solo album, “Métèque et mat”. The album, carried by tracks such as “Bad Boys de Marseille”,
Very interested in cinema, in 1998 he composed, with his IAM colleague Kheops, the soundtrack of Luc Besson's film "Taxi" and were rewarded with the Victoire de la Musique for best original soundtrack.
In 2000 he took the plunge and directed with Kamel Saleh "Comme Un Aimant", a feature film presented at the Critics' Week in Cannes. Alongside all his projects, the rapper is also involved in the discovery and production of young talents.
In 2001, under another of his pseudonyms, Chill, the musician released his second solo opus, "Sol Invictus" which sold nearly 250,000 copies. The following year he released the album "Black Album", composed of tracks written at the time of the recording of "Sol Invictus".
It was not until 2006 that a new Akhenaton album, entitled “Soldats de fortune”, was released. A committed artist, the rapper included a page in the booklet encouraging people to register on the electoral lists.
In 2010, he returned to directing for a musical TV film, “Conte de la Frustration”, broadcast on France 2. While continuing to participate in IAM albums, in 2011 Akhenaton recorded “We Luv New York” with Faf Larage, a tribute album to early rap, the one that made him, a kid from Marseille, want to become a hip-hop star.
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