Introduction
Okou Gnakouri, known by his stage name Kaaris (/ˈkɑːrɪs/, French: [kaʁis]; stylized as KΛΛRIS), is a French rapper.
Early life
Kaaris was raised in 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.
A year after the release of Okou Gnakouri, on 3 Novembre 2017, he released the album Dozo.
On 25 January 2019, he released the album Or Noir Part 3, going back to a trap style and following his 2013 album.
On 3 September, he released the album 2.7.0. He left Def Jam France and created his own label OG Record while signing for Lutèce Music, affiliated to Caroline France label.
On 28 January, he released a common album with French rapper Kalash Criminel titled SVR. The name of the album is a reference to Sevran, the city where both rappers come from.
In 2023, Kaaris featured in the Netflix film, "In His Shadow".
Legal history
A fight between Booba and Kaaris led to the temporary closure of Hall 1 at Paris-Orly Airport on 1 August 2018. Kaaris was given an 18-month suspended sentence and fined €50,000.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | BEL(Fl) | BEL(Wa) | SWI | ||
| 2013 | Or Noir | 3 | — | 12 | 35 |
| 2014 | Or Noir Part II | 137 | 164 | 13 | 63 |
| 2015 | Le bruit de mon âme | 4 | 188 | 14 | 22 |
| 2016 | Okou Gnakouri | 8 | — | 21 | 57 |
| 2017 | Dozo | 3 | 159 | 9 | 59 |
| 2019 | Or Noir Part 3 | 2 | 114 | 2 | 13 |
| 2020 | 2.7.0 | 4 | 50 | 5 | 13 |
| 2022 | SVR (with Kalash Criminel) | 1 | 106 | 5 | 12 |
| 2023 | Day One | — | — | 27 | 23 |
Mixtapes and street albums
| Year | Album | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|
| FRA | ||
| 2007 | 43eme Bima | – |
| 2012 | Z.E.R.O | 141 |
| 2015 | Double Fuck | 1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | BEL(Wa) | |||
| 2013 | "Zoo" | 78 | – | Or Noir |
| "Binks" | 51 | – | ||
| "Paradis ou enfer" | 51 | – | ||
| 2014 | "Sombre" | 41 | – | Or Noir Part II |
| "Comme Gucci Mane" | 34 | – | Le bruit de mon âme | |
| "Se-Vrak" | 165 | – | ||
| "80 Zetrei" | 25 | 45* | ||
| 2015 | "Le bruit de mon âme" | 24 | 35* | |
| 2016 | "Bambou" | 155 | – | Braqueurs soundtrack |
| "Blow" | 26 | 16* | Okou Gnakouri | |
| "C'est pas pareil (Remix)" | 184 | – | ||
| 2017 | "Dozo" | 13 | 47 | Dozo |
| "Kébra" | 32 | 13* | ||
| "Bling Bling" | 74 | 3* | ||
| 2018 | "G.O.K.O.U" | 19 | 19* | |
| "Aborigène" | 70 | – | ||
| "Livraison" | 28 | – | ||
| "Débrouillard" | 49 | – | Or Noir Part 3 | |
| 2019 | "Aieaieouille" | 23 | 9* | |
| "Omega" | 71 | – | ||
| 2020 | "Goulag" | 5 | 4* | |
| "NRV" | 8 | 14* | ||
| 2021 | "Château noir" | 8 | – | |
| "Hallyday" | 96 | – | ||
| 2022 | "Apocalypse" (with Kalash Criminel featuring Freeze Corleone) | 2 | 46 | |
| 2024 | "Panama" (featuring Hamza) | 7 | 29 | |
Featured in
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | |||
| 2012 | "Kalash" | 116 | Futur |
| 2014 | "La mort ou tchitchi" | 38 | Miraculé |
| 2015 | "Bouteilles et glocks" | 38 | Perestroïka |
| 2016 | "Arrêt du cœur" | 61 | RAS |
| 2018 | "Mistigris" | 13 | |
| "GB" | 62 | ||
| "Il se passe quoi" | 107 | C'est la street mon pote | |
| 2019 | "D'une autre manière" | 101 | Mexico |
| 2020 | "Embourgeoisé " | 90 | Santé & bonheur |
Other charted songs
| Year | Song | Peak positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | BEL,small>(Wa) | |||
| 2013 | "Dès le départ" | 43 | – | Or Noir |
| "Or noir" | 106 | – | ||
| "L.E.F" | 122 | – | ||
| "63" | 130 | – | ||
| "Bizon" | 159 | – | ||
| "Je bibi" | 168 | – | ||
| "Bouchon de Liège" | 200 | – | ||
| 2014 | "S.E.V.R.A.N" | 26 | – | Or Noir Part II |
| "À l'heure" | 27 | – | ||
| "Chargé" | 130 | – | ||
| "Pablito" | 182 | – | ||
| 2015 | "Crystal" | 19 | – | Le bruit de mon âme |
| "El Chapo" | 123 | – | ||
| "Zone de transit" | 155 | – | ||
| "Terrain" | 65 | – | Double Fuck | |
| "C'est la base" | 99 | – | ||
| "Sinaloa" | 141 | – | ||
| "Talsadoum" | 160 | – | ||
| "Petit vélo" | 169 | – | ||
| "Où sont les €" | 171 | – | ||
| 2016 | "Nador" | 35 | 10* | Okou Gnakouri |
| "Poussière" | 39 | – | ||
| "Tchoin" | 7 | 40 | ||
| "4matic" | 141 | – | ||
| "2.7 Zéro 10. 17" | 164 | – | ||
| "Contact" | 183 | – | ||
| "Benz" | 199 | – | ||
| 2017 | "Je suis gninnin, je suis bien" | 20 | – | Dozo |
| "Diarabi" | 6 | 7* | ||
| "Feghouli" | 42 | – | ||
| "Végéta" | 61 | – | ||
| "Oublier" | 97 | – | ||
| "Être deux" | 90 | – | ||
| "RPG" | 125 | – | ||
| "Courez" | 144 | – | ||
| "Victoire" | 74 | – | ||
| "Marchand d'ivoire" | 62 | – | ||
| "Menace" | 67 | – | ||
| "Mood" | 84 | – | ||
| "Pas idée" | 83 | – | ||
| 2018 | "Rafaler" | 131 | – | 93 Empire |
| "Empire" | 8 | – | ||
| "Nouvelle monnaie" | 34 | – | ||
| "Pas le choix" | 90 | – | ||
| 2019 | "Cigarette" | 12 | – | Or Noir Part 3 |
| "Chien de la casse" | 22 | – | ||
| "Gun Salute" | 14 | 25* | ||
| "Golf7 R" | 27 | – | ||
| "Briganté" | 33 | – | ||
| "Dévalisé" | 36 | – | ||
| "Monsieur Météo" | 43 | – | ||
| "Octogone" | 13 | 12* | ||
| "Détails" | 70 | – | ||
| "Tout était écrit" | 75 | – | ||
| "Ça on l'a" | 85 | – | ||
| "Comme un refrain" | 99 | – | ||
| "Douane" | 106 | – | ||
| "Exo Planète" | 59 | – | ||
| 2020 | "Deux deux" | 9 | – | 2.7.0 |
| "Illimité" | 12 | – | ||
| "Sosa" | 19 | – | ||
| "Réussite" | 22 | – | ||
| "Piquée" | 26 | – | ||
| "1er cœur" | 32 | – | ||
| "Mandalorian" | 34 | – | ||
| "Ultra" | 38 | – | ||
| "Freestyle 2.7.0" | 42 | – | ||
| "Lumière" | 46 | – | ||
| "Moula moula" | 65 | – | ||
| "Tout est prêt" | 77 | – | ||
| "Guedro" | 84 | – | ||
| "Bope" | 100 | – | ||
| "Valhalla" | 107 | – | ||
| "Big riska" | 113 | – | ||
Filmography
Films
- Braqueurs (2015)
- Overdrive (2017)
- The Bouncer (2018)
- Bronx (2020)
- The King of Shadows (Netflix Film) (2023)
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Mets moi prem's | 43 Bima | |
| 2009 | De l'autre côté de la nuit | ||
| 2009 | Une armée de soucis | ||
| 2010 | Vendeur de Nah Nah | ||
| Mafia Musik | |||
| Ce que tu veux | |||
| 2012 | Houdini | Z.E.R.O. | |
| L'Hôte funeste | |||
| Bon qu'à ça | |||
| Le Légiste | Chris Macari | ||
| 2013 | Zoo | Or noir | |
| Binks | |||
| Paradis ou enfer | |||
| Dès le départ | |||
| 63 | |||
| Or noir | Greg Ohrel & Lionel Hirle | ||
| 2014 | S.E.V.R.A.N | Nathalie Canguilhem | Or noir : Part II |
| Se-Vrak | Nicolas Noël | Le bruit de mon âme | |
| Comme Gucci Mane | Julien Leclercq | ||
| 80 Zetrei | DEKDEK | ||
| 2015 | Mauvais Djo | ||
| Magnum | Amar Loudarenne | ||
| Le bruit de mon âme | DEKDEK | ||
| Crystal | Nicolas Noël | ||
| Zone de transit | |||
| Kadirov | |||
| Terrain | Double Fuck | ||
| C'est la base | |||
| Sinaloa | |||
| Talsadoum / Double Fuck | Carlos Guerra | ||
| 2016 | Bambou | Kahina Carina | |
| Blow | Cedrick Cayla | Okou Gnakouri | |
| Nador | |||
| 2017 | Dozo | Beat Bounce | Dozo |
| Kébra | Chill | ||
| Bling Bling | Cédrick Cayla | ||
| 2018 | Diarabi | ||
| G.O.K.O.U |