Kalash

Dancehall singer and rapper Kalash, born Kevin Valleray in Strasbourg on June 12, 1988, made his debut in underground sound systems as early as 2003 and appeared on the compilations Manibians Attack (2005), Executive Riddim (2006), and Maximum Dammage (2007). In 2010, he recorded his debut album Kalash with Daddy Mory, Paille, and Saël, featuring productions by DJ Gil, DJ Traxx, DJ Blue, and Kross D. In 2012, he embarked on a tour while alternating between releasing singles and mixtapes. Three years later, the track “Bando ” (No. 44) introduced a new gangsta rap aesthetic. The singles “Rouge et bleu” (No. 15), featuring Booba, and “Aller-simple” , confirmed this shift toward rap, serving as a prelude to the album Kaos , which was released in 2016. Awarded a gold record (ranked No. 4 on the album sales chart), Kalash was sentenced a few months later to a suspended prison term for weapons possession. He returned to the studio and recorded the album Mwaka Moon (No. 3 in 2017), featuring collaborations with Damso, Niska, Lacrim, Vybz Kartel, and Mavado. Diamond Rock (No. 14) followed in 2019 and featured a host of prestigious collaborations, including those with Crayon, Kalash Criminel, Dadju, and Gucci Mane. Kalash then returned in 2022 with the album Tombolo (No. 2), featuring contributions from Gazo, Damso, Hamza, and Wejdene, among others. He went on to collaborate with Busy Signal, Kery James, Scory Kovitch, LevelSantana, Damso, Werenoi, Slezay Stereo, Bounty Killer, Vybz Kartel, and Shaz on the title track for the film Zion in 2025, before releasing the album Ex-Voto (No. 4 on the SNEP chart) in 2026, featuring Ninho, L2B, Monsieur Nov, Satori, Jozii, DJ Killerz, Lino, Naïka, Cham, Parris Goebel, Zola, and PRINC€.