Kaaris

Armand Okou Gnakouri, known by his stage name Kaaris (, French: [kaʁis]; stylized as KΛΛRIS), is a French rapper, actor and record producer.

Early life

Kaaris was born in Cocody, near Abidjan. At age 3, he moved to Sevran in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, northeast of Paris.

Career

Kaaris started rapping in 1999, and released his first mixtape in 2001. He returned to his native Ivory Coast for a while, but returned to France after political unrest in the country. In 2007, he released his street album 43ème Bima (pronounced "Quarante-troisième Bima"), that led to signing with a new independent label French Cut Music.

However, his meeting with French rapper Booba and producers Therapy gave him his first recording with Booba, "Criminelle league" released as part of Booba's Autopsie Vol. 4. Kaaris had his first charting hit "Kalash", credited to Booba featuring Kaaris appearing in Booba's album Futur.

Kaaris co-writes most of his materials in cooperation with a record producer duo, known as Therapy (made up of producers 2031 and 2093). On 21 October 2013, he released his studio album Or Noir on Therapy Music / AZ / Universal Music. It is considered as one of the most important in the history of French rap. With the 2014 reissue Or Noir Part 2, the album is certified platinum.

On 30 March 2015, Kaaris released his studio album Le bruit de mon âme.de The record includes featuring including Lacrim, 13 Block or Future. In October 2015, he released a mixtape titled Double Fuck.

On 11 November 2016, he released his third studio album Okou Gnakouri. The album includes featurings with Gucci Mane and Kalash Criminel. In early January 2018, the record was certified double platinum with over 200,000 sold copies.