Orelsan, the French rap star, revealed his talent to the world in 2008. Since then, a thriving career in music and cinema has emerged. But what we don’t know is that Orelsan went to a business school, which is theEM Normandy. Focus on the journey of the talented Orelsan!
Bibliography of Orelsan
Orelsan, whose real name is Aurélien Cotentin, was born in Alençon in the Orne department, in Normandy, on August 1, 1982. He is the son of a father who was a college director and a mother who was a teacher. Aurélien Contentin grew up listening to metal and rock with Nirvana, Guns N’ Roses, etc. It’s only a matter of time before his basketball and skateboarding friends convert him to the world of rap. Very quickly, he got hooked on this musical genre and identified with the lyrics. He explains: “ The way of describing everyday life, the density of texts and images. I learned the texts by heart. I got into the game, I was rapping for fun. »
In 1998, Orelsan’s family moved to Caen. At that time, the music prodigy was 16 years old. He obtained his economic and social baccalaureate, specialty English at the Victor-Hugo high school in Caen, after which he joined EM Normandie where he graduated in 2004. In 2000, he met the music producer Skread who composed notably for Diam’s and Booba. Furthermore, he crossed paths with Guillaume Tranchant, alias Gringe, with whom he formed the duo Casseurs Flowters. Their name is a play on words between flow and the nickname – Float Breakers – of the two clumsy bandits in the film “ Mom, I missed the plane » : “We love this film and the comparison with these two broken arms, the tall skinny one and the little fat one, was inevitable,” explains Orelsan.
Orelsan’s first steps in music
Orelsan did an academic exchange in 2002 in Tampa at the University of South Florida as part of his graduate studies at EM Normandie. He alternates between study, student job and writing texts. During his stay in the United States, he had a romantic relationship with a rather complicated American woman who inspired him to write the song. 50 percent. Furthermore, he worked as a night watchman in a hotel. He took advantage of this time to write some of his texts.
In 2006, the young singer published his first video, Ramen, on Youtube as an amateur. A year later, things took a new turn. He published his first album, Valentine’s Day, a sarcastic parody of the lovers’ holiday. He attracted his first fans to his Myspace site where he regularly added new songs. In 2008, the title “ Change » allows the rapper to establish himself in the industry. He then became known to the general public thanks to the distribution of the clip by the company TF1 Video.
The label 3rd desk asked him to produce his album in collaboration with 7th Magnitude, Skread and Ablaye’s label. For his stage name, Aurélien Cotentin decided to use his nickname, Orel. He then registered with SACEM (Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers), when he was surprised to see that this nickname had already been taken by… himself. He then registers another stage name to enjoy two stage names: “Orelsan” which consists of: “Orel », diminutive of his real first name, which means, operational, rational, exceptional as the singer recalls in his music 14 grams brotheland “ san »Japanese suffix of cordiality used orally. Aurélien Contentin is, in fact, a big fan of manga.
Orelsan between success and controversies
On February 16, 2009, Orelsan published a first album entitled “Perdu d’avance” including several musical participations including those of Gringe as well as a featuring with Ron Thal, the former guitarist of Guns N’ Roses. Alongside the great success that the singer was experiencing, he received a large number of critics, mainly because of the release of the hit “Sale Whore”. Orelsan is notably accused of inciting violence against women. He was then attacked by numerous feminist associations. This controversy does not discourage him, however, and even contributes to his success.
On the Printemps de Bourges website, the rapper presents himself as being deliberately provocative: “Claiming his fourteen years of mental age, his moods of a dunce sitting at the back of the class and his mentality of a frustrated virgin, Orelsan has everything to annoy the right-thinking.”
The year 2009 was marked by his first nomination for the French revelations competition for the Constantin Prize. In the same way, Orelsan has conquered the general public with his undeniable talent and his powerful raps: he is elected by Internet users as being the best French artist of the year to represent France at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Orelsan: between singing and cinema
In September 2010, Orelsan announced during the Canal Street show that he planned to release his second album in March 2011. As promised, the French rapper released “Le Chant des Sirènes”, on which the singles “Raelsan” appear in particular. », “The earth is round” and “Nothing surprises me anymore”.
This album is certified platinum and propels Orelsan to the top. He thus began collaborations with other renowned artists such as Benjamin Biolay, Youssoupha and, a little later, Stromae.
A month after its release, “The Song of the Sirens” went gold. In 2012, Orelsan won two Victoires de la musique:
- the first in the category “Rap and urban music album of the year” for the album The Song of the Sirens ;
- The second in the category “Group or artist revelation to the public”.
In 2015Orelsan participates in the series broadcast on Canal+, Blocked, alongside Gringe. She stages “two guys talking while sitting on a couch, waiting for something to happen, they decided not to do anything”. In addition, Orelsan participates in a voice acting activity for the anime One Punch Man as well as the French feature film Mutafukaz by Guillaume Renard. In 2020, he played a secondary role in the hit series, Le Flambeau.
The earth is round: the first biggest success of rapper Orelsan
In 2012, the song “La Terre est rond” from the album Chant des Sirenes, marked the rapper’s first big commercial success which opened the doors to greater notoriety for him. The hit is placed in the top 10 sales of singles in France. It is in permanent rotation on hip-hop radio stations like Génération and Skyrock and on general radio stations like NRJ. This allows him to guarantee his nomination for the NRJ Music Awards 2013 in the category “French-speaking revelation of the year” alongside C2C, Tal, Youssoupha.
The great return of Orelsan
Six years after his second album, “The Song of the Sirens”, Orelsan made his sensational return to the music scene with his song “Basique” from his album “La Fête est finite”. The title was a big hit and contributed to the success of Orelsan’s 3rd album. A few months after its release, the album “La Fête est finie” was certified diamond.
In 2020, Orelsan landed a role in the Canal + series, “La Flamme”. The same year, the rapper still wanted to withdraw from social networks. He puts his musical career on hold and focuses on his projects and his family life as he says on the last track of Epilogue: “It’s time to leave Paname, choose who will be there on my wedding night”
Orelsan released two singles in 2021, entitled “L’odor de l’essence” and “Millions”. Also in 2021, he released his 4th album, “Civilization” and began his tour. Shortly after the publication of its first single, “The Odor of Gasoline”, on YouTube, the French association for the Mongolian ethnic group, Routes nomades, said “ shocked » from the lyrics of the song. Indeed, the rapper makes a comparison between the “Mongols” who pollute the proper functioning of our society and the Mongol Empire having ended up falling. The association denounces racist and discriminatory words and managed to collect 13,000 votes for its petition.
