Rhythm and Flow: France is officially out on Netflix, where French rappers battle it out for the £100K prize. To get close to the cash, they have to win over judges Niska, Shay and SCH. Let’s meet those taking part…

Jul, Soso Maness, Tiakola, Hamza, Gradur and other hip-hop stars are joining the France-based series, which involves freestyling, rap battles, making music videos, and writing and producing an original track.

In pursuit of their dreams, the rap competition sees each judge attempt to find local talent in their hometowns, including Paris, Brussels and Marseille. It follows the popularity of its original series based in the USA.

• REVISITED: Who won Rhythm and Flow 2019? Fan favourite took home the crown!

Jul

French rapper, singer and producer Julien Mari, known as Jul, is a 32-year-old contestant on Rhythm and Flow: France. He has released at least four albums throughout his music career, and accumulated over 3 million Instagram followers.

Also known as Le J, the Marseille-born star’s first single Sors le cross volé came out in November 2013. Less than a decade later, Jul has become the best-selling artist in French rap history, as of 2020.

By 30, he had sold over four million albums. In 2015, Jul left music label Liga One Industry and independently released his album D’Or et De Platine. In 2017, his next album My World won the “Urban Music Album of the Year”!

Soso Maness

Soso Maness, of Algerian descent, is a French rapper and father-of-two. The Netflix star has released three albums, Rescapé in 2019, Mistral in 2020 – which reached number two on French Albums Chart – and Avec le temps in 2021.

The 35-year-old Rhythm and Flow: France contestant’s song Petrouchka featuring rapper PLK reached number one on the French Singles Chart. His full name is Sofien Hakim Manessour, which he was given when born in Marseille.

Amid his appearance on the reality rap competition, Soso Maness also sells merchandise on his website. His Netflix debut comes after he performed at the You-F Festival in Narosse, in 2021, shortly after his album release.

Tiakola

Tiakola, who boasts at least 938K followers on Instagram, was born on December 4th 1999. The rapper is a member of the rap group 4Keus, which has enabled him able to work with top French artists such as show judge Niska, and Dadju.

His band became known for the single O’Kartier c’est la hess which was certified gold. From La Courneuve, France, he is originally of Congolese origin and was born in Bondy, before moving to his current city in Seine-Saint-Denis.

In 2019, without leaving his group, Tiakola launched a solo career when he was invited to collaborate with artists such as Dadju, Franglish and Gazo. He later decided to focus on his individual music in 2021 with the hit Pousse-toi.

Hamza

Hamza Al-Farissi is a Belgian rapper, singer and beatmaker signed to Rec. 118 and Warner Music. He was born in Laeken, a suburb of Brussels, to parents of Moroccan origin. Growing up, he formed hip hop band Kilogramme Gang.

He uses logo “Saucegod”, which he has become known for on social media. After the band broke up, Hamza went solo in 2013, releasing his solo debut Recto Verso, before later releasing the mixtape H-24 exclusively on HauteCulture.com.

The rapper’s latest mixtape 1994 has been his major chart success, making it to number 13 on the French Belgian albums chart and to number nine in France. And now he’s battling it out on Rhythm and Flow: France!

Gradur

Gradur, 31, whose full name is Wanani Gradi Mariadi, is a rapper living in Roubaix, Hauts-de-France. Of Congolese origin, he became known for a series of freestyles called Sheguey, before becoming part of the rap band 59.

He later formed his own entourage dubbed Sheguey Squad, with Sheguey meaning “child of the street” in Congolese lingo. The Netflix star then released his mixtape ShegueyVara in 2014 with the music video Traction.

Then in 2015, Gradur released his debut album L’homme au Bob. And it’s not just in the music industry that he’s making moves, because his Instagram page has accumulated 1.5 million followers!

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