Introduction
Kendji "Girac" Jason Maillié (French pronunciation: [kɛndʒi ʒiʁak dʒɛzɔn maje]; born 3 July 1996), also known mononymously as Kendji is a French singer. He is the winner of season 3 of the music competition The Voice: la plus belle voix as part of Team Mika. He has released five studio albums, Kendji, Ensemble, Amigo, Mi Vida, and L'école de la vie'luka', as well as a string of hit singles.
Biography
Beginnings
The youngest of a Catalan Gitano family, Kendji grew up in Saint-Astier and was taught to play the guitar and sing by his grandfather. He left school at 16 to follow the family business as an arborist. He speaks Catalan with his parents. He gained some fame through publishing materials online. His Romanes version of "Bella" by Maître Gims filmed by a friend went viral. His video garnered 5.8 million views. Another popular song he uploaded was "Si j'étais président" a cover of Gérard Lenorman.
The Voice
For season 3 of The Voice: la plus belle voix, he auditioned with the song "Bella" by Maître Gims in the second episode of season 3, broadcast on 18 January, with only judge Mika turning his chair, whereas the three others, Florent Pagny, Jenifer and Garou refrained.
In the Musical Battles Round broadcast on 8 March 2014, Mika put him against Youness both singing "Tous les mêmes" by Stromae. Kendji moved to "L'épreuve ultime" round, in which he performed "Hotel California by The Eagles in the 29 March 2014 emission.
In the live rounds he performed "Ma philosophie" by Amel Bent (5 April 2014), "Mad World" from Tears for Fears (19 April 2014) and "Allumer le feu" by Johnny Hallyday (19 April 2014). In the semi-final on 3 May 2014, he sang "Belle" by Garou and Daniel Lavoie qualified for the finals as Team Mika's finalist.
Career
His first official single the bilingual French/Spanish "Color Gitano", was released in June 2014 from his eponymous EP, followed by his official album release in September. In December 2014, he won two NRJ Music Awards for Francophone Breakthrough of the Year and "Color Gitano" as Francophone Song of the Year. His album Kendji sold 600,000 copies by January 2015, and over 1 million copies by October 2015, certifying Diamond and becoming France's second-highest selling album of 2014 after Racine carrée by Stromae. He is currently the biggest-selling The Voice alumnus worldwide. His follow-up single "Andalouse" proved even more successful commercially. Other notable singles included "Conmigo" from the repackaged version of Kendji released on 4 May 2015.
A second album titled Ensemble was released on 30 October 2015. Notable singles from his second album include "Me Quemo", "Les yeux de la mama" and "No Me Mirès Màs" (jointly with Soprano).
On 31 August 2018, his third album, titled Amigo was released. It started at number one on the French sales chart with 48,408 sales.
On 22 August 2020, he joined the cast of The Voice Kids France, becoming the first French former contestant to join the jury of the French franchise of the show, alongside Jenifer, Patrick Fiori, and Soprano.
Charity work
In 2017, Kendji joined the Enfoirés, a team of high-grossing artists involved in the hugely popular charity mission Restos du Coeur, which hosts yearly concerts to raise money for one of France's most respected soup kitchen networks.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | BEL(Fl) | BEL(Wa) | NLD | SWI | ||||
| Kendji |
| 1 | 119 | 1 | 53 | 22 |
|
|
| Ensemble |
| 1 | 88 | 1 | — | 1 |
|
|
| Amigo |
| 1 | 69 | 1 | — | 7 |
|
|
| Mi Vida |
| 2 | 83 | 1 | — | 5 | ||
| L'école de la vie |
| 1 | — | 3 | — | 11 | ||
Live albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | BEL(Wa) | |||||
| Ensemble / Le Live |
| 15 | 5 | |||
Other album releases
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| FRA | ||
| Kendji / Ensemble / Kendji Girac, de l'ombre à la lumière |
| 123 |
| Kendji / Ensemble |
| 69 |
| L'Intégrale |
| 64 |
EPs
| Title | EP details | Peak chart positions | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | |||
| Kendji Girac EP |
| 44 | Tracklist
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | BEL(Fl) | BEL(Wa) | POL | |||
| "Color Gitano" | 2014 | 11 | — | 12 | — | Kendji |
| "Cool" | 20 | — | 17 | — | ||
| "Andalouse" | 3 | 14* | 3 | 10 | ||
| "Elle m'a aimé" | 22 | — | 53* | — | ||
| "Je m'abandonne" | 25 | — | — | — | ||
| "La bohème" | 61 | — | — | — | Aznavour, sa jeunesse | |
| "Conmigo" | 2015 | 7 | — | 6 | — | Kendji |
| "Les richesses du cœur" | 57 | — | — | — | ||
| "Me Quemo" | 7 | — | 8 | — | Ensemble | |
| "Les yeux de la mama" | 5 | — | — | — | ||
| "No me mirès màs" (with Soprano) | 2016 | 9 | — | 11 | — | |
| "Sonrisa" | 25 | — | 42 | — | ||
| "Ma câlina" | 2017 | 40 | — | 15 | — | |
| "L'envie" | 53 | — | 26* | — | Non-album single | |
| "Maria Maria" | 2018 | 8 | — | 19 | — | Amigo |
| "Pour oublier" | 7 | 23* | 3 | — | ||
| "Tiago" | 12 | 34* | 5 | — | ||
| "Tu vas manquer" | 2020 | — | — | 10* | — | |
| "Habibi" | 109 | — | 2* | — | Mi Vida | |
| "Dernier métro" | 79 | — | 11 | — | ||
| "Dans mes bras" | 2021 | 43 | — | 12 | — | |
| "Conquistador" | — | — | 32 | — | ||
| "Eva" | 2022 | 104 | — | 14 | — | L'école de la vie |
| "Desperado" | 2023 | — | — | 29 | — | |
| "Le feu" (with Vianney) | 29 | — | 9 | — | ||
| "Je suis fou" (with Vianney and Soprano) | 61 | — | 42 | — | À 2 à 3 | |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | BEL(Wa) | |||
| "One Last Time (Attends-moi)" | 2015 | 11 | — | My Everything and Kendji |
| "Fais comme ça" | 2019 | — | — | VersuS |
Other charted songs
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | BEL(Wa) | |||
| "Amor de mis amores" / "Volare" | 2014 | 94 | — | The Voice 3 - La Plus Belle Voix (2014) |
| "Belle" | 96 | — | ||
| "Mi amor" | 118 | — | Kendji | |
| "Avec toi" | 179 | — | ||
| "Baïla amigo" | 187 | — | ||
| "Mon univers" | 192 | — | ||
| "Au sommet" | — | — | ||
| "Ma solitude" | 2015 | 130 | — | Ensemble |
| "C'est trop" | 142 | — | ||
| "Besame" | 198 | — | ||
| "Tu y yo" | 2016 | 153 | 8* | |
| "Elle a tout" | 80 | — | ||
| "Jamais à genoux" | 85 | — | ||
| "Que Dieu me pardonne" | 2018 | 133 | 31 | Amigo |
| "Dans mes bras" | 2020 | 119 | — | Mi Vida |
| "Évidemment" | 2021 | 87 | 13 | |
| "Bebeto" | 33 | 10 | ||
Awards
| Year | Award | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | NRJ Music Awards/Francophone Song of the Year | "Color Gitano" |
| 2014 | NRJ Music Awards/Francophone Breakthrough of the Year | |
| 2015 | NRJ Music Awards/Nominated for Best French Male Artist of the Year | Album Kendji |
Filmography
- 2017: Chacun sa vie et son intime conviction