Maître Gims

Gandhi Djuna (born 6 May 1986), better known by his stage name Maître Gims, is a Congolese rapper and singer who has lived most of life and made his career in France. He is a member of the hip-hop group Sexion d'Assaut and also has developed a solo career with a major release, his solo album Subliminal.

Career

Gandhi Djuna, born in Kinshasa (DRC) with his brother, immigrated to France when he was just two years old. Growing up in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, he later moved to the 9th arrondissement and eventually the 19th arrondissement. Taking the name of Gims, he rapped at college with his friends of Sexion d'Assaut while studying communication and graphical arts. He also worked part-time as a courrier at night.

He recorded his first track with Sexion d'Assaut "Coup 2 Pression" and worked with JR in the Prototype 3015 duo project. He decided to add Maître to his name Gims and also used the pseudonyme "le Fléau" ("the Bane"). He also worked on a number of independent releases, and a mixtape La Terre du Milieu ("Middle-Earth")as part of 3e Prototype after taking Dawala as manager. In 2007, he also worked as producer, wrote instrumental pieces and released his maxi Pour ceux qui dorment les yeux ouverts ("For those who sleep with open eyes"). On the maxi were tracks with Sexion d'Assaut, rapper Koma (from Scred Connexion) and a singer Carole. Continuing to record tracks with Sexion d'Assaut at two Inch'All Star battles, he became a well-known French freestyler. He also took part with 3e Prototype in a new street album called Le Renouveau ("The Rebirth").

Subliminal (album)

Subliminal is the debut solo album of French rapper Maître Gims, member of the French rap group Sexion d'Assaut. The 18-track album was released 20 May 2013 on Wati B and on MMC, the latter founded by Maître Gims himself. The lyrics were all by Maître Gims whereas the music was by Maître Gims, Renaud Rebillaud and Stan-E Music. The album was a big success charting in France (reaching #2), Belgium (reaching #1) as well as charting in Switzerland.

On 2 December 2013, he re-released the album with six additional tracks he called La face cachée (the hidden face) for a total of 24 tracks, resulting in further interest in the album.

By 31 August 2015, the album had accumulated a total of more than 1,000,000 copies sold in France.

Promotion

In 2012, Maître Gims announced through social network that he was preparing for an animated series titled Au cœur du Vortex and in conjunction was developing a clothing line to be named Vortex VX.

The greatly expected solo album was heavily promoted by Maître Gims in an announcement through his video "Welcome to the Wa Part. 4: La Consécration".