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Rising from the southern suburbs of Paris, Koba LaD was just 18 when he landed a deal with the Def Jam label and became an overnight sensation as debut album 'VII' reached number three in the French charts in 2018. One of ten siblings from a Congolese family, Marcel Junior Loutarilla grew up in the neighbourhood of Evry on the Essone River and his cousin, now manager, Deuspi introduced him to rappers such as LMC Click and Mossda, before the swampy, menacing, Chicago drill sound perfected by Chief Keef made its way to Europe in 2017. It was a huge influence on Loutarilla, who started out with his crew Seven Binks and filled his rhymes with comic barbs and soccer references, and began gaining attention when he posted a series of solo performances called 'freestyles tenebreux' to YouTube. Def Jam spotted his talent and quickly signed him up, and soon his tracks 'Train de Vie' and 'La C' were notching up tens of millions of streams and reached the top ten of the French singles charts.Taking his rap name from an aggressive, human-hating character in 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes', the bleak realism of the television series 'The Wire' also had a profound effect on his content, and his album 'VII' was credited with dragging French hip-hop into exciting new territory. Other popular tracks included 'Oye', 'Moments durs' and 'FeFe', and his woozy, psychy, swampy sound and his eccentric, quick-fire flow remained a trademark when he returned in 2019 with a guest feature on Heuss l'Enfoire's track 'George Moula'.Artist biography compiled by BDS/West 10. All rights reserved
