Jazzy Bazz

Hailing from Paris’ 19th arrondissement, the French rapper Jazzy Bazz rose to prominence after competing on the freestyle battle Rap Contenders. Born Ivan Bruno-Arbiser on April 24, 1989, he developed a taste for hip-hop from a very early age and began writing his first rhymes at the age of 8, inspired by American rap acts such as D.I.T.C, Boot Camp Clik, and Slum Village. During his teenage years, Jazzy Bazz formed the hip-hop collectives Grand Ville and Entourage alongside fellow Parisian MCs Deen Burbigo, Alpha Wann, and Nekfeu. After a handful of victories on the Rap Contenders competition, he finally released his debut mixtape Sur la Route du 3.14 in 2012. A true word-of-mouth success, the album was made available for free download and was downloaded over 20,000 times in three days. Following a period of writer’s block and a trip to New York City, Jazzy Bazz returned in 2016 with P-Town, an album riddled with references to his Parisian upbringing and cameos by Freddie Gibbs, Esso Luxueux, and Bonnie Banane. In the subsequent years, he released the albums Nuit (2018) and Memoria (2022), featuring many of his Grand Ville and Entourage colleagues. “Panorama,” one of the singles from the album, reached Number 131 on the French Singles Chart.