Introduction
Willy William (born April 14, 1981) is a French and Mauritian DJ, record producer and singer, famous for his club remixes and vocal collaborations with a number of dance music artists. He is most famous for his French hit "Ego" and his Latin hit "Mi Gente", the latter with J Balvin.
Beginnings
Born to Mauritian immigrant parents in 1981, in Fréjus, Var, France, he was brought up in the small town of Champagné, Pays de la Loire, in northwestern France.
Career
He came to prominence in 2003 with his work with DJ Flex in the dancefloor hit "B Boyz Shake da Body" and in 2004 as producer of "Tragedie" using the pseudonym "Lord William". He later joined the French music collective Collectif Métissé, also continuing to produce his own materials.
He collaborated with a great number of artists producing their songs and taking part in vocals as featured artists. He charted with collaborative songs with DJ Assad, Keen'V, Ridsa and many others.
In 2016, Willy got his major French hit with "Ego" which was produced and sung by himself. It was the main single from his 2016 album Une seule vie and his biggest French hit as a solo artist.
In 2017, he became an international sensation after the release of "Mi Gente" a collaboration with the superstar Colombian artist J Balvin. The huge international success of the song led to a version that also featured Beyoncé in a new remix. The song received a Latin Billboard Music Award and the music video amassed over 2 billion views and received in 2018 an MTV Video Music Award for Best Latin Video, maintained #1 Spotify Global for 12 consecutive weeks, while topping charts across the world as #1 in a great number of countries.
In 2018, Willy produced and released a dance track called "La La La" and he appeared on "Goodbye", a David Guetta and Jason Derulo song that featured William and Nicki Minaj.
Willy William is a "Latin Grammy" nominated DJ / Producer mainly for "Mi Gente". His song "Ego" made him the #1 most Shazamed French Artist.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak positions | Track listing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA |
BEL(Wa) | |||
| 2016 | Une seule vie | 12 | 20 |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA |
AUS |
BEL (Wa) |
GER |
ITA |
NL | SPA |
SWE |
SWI |
UK |
US | |||||
| "Te quiero" | 2015 | 24 | — | 20* |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Une seule vie | ||
| "Ego" | 12 | — | 3 | 39 | 18 | 4 | — | — | 75 | — | — |
| |||
| "On s'endort?" |
2016 | 36 | — | 10* |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Mi Gente" (with J Balvin) |
2017 | 6 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
1 | 1 |
4 |
4 | 5 | 19 |
|
Vibras | |
| "Mi Gente (Remix)" (with J Balvin feat. Beyoncé) |
— | 11 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 32 | 16 | 5 | 3 |
|
N/A | ||
| "La La La" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||||
- Notes
- Note 1: Uses combined chart entries for "Mi Gente" and "Mi Gente (remix)"
Featured in
Internationally
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA |
AUS |
BEL(Fl) |
BEL(Wa) |
GER |
ITA |
NED |
SPA |
SWE |
SWI | |||
| 2018 | "Goodbye" |
93 | 33 | 20 | 15 | 47 | 92 | 16 | 33 | 16 | 50 | David Guetta album 7 |
| 2019 | "Highway" (Cheat Codes featuring Sofía Reyes and Willy William) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
Francophone markets
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA |
BEL(Wa) | |||
| 2010 | "C'Show" (Les Jumo feat. Willy William) |
— | — | |
| 2013 | "Je n'ai pas eu le temps" (Ridsa feat. Willy William & Ryan Stevenson) |
76 | — | Es tu fiesta (EP) |
| "Es tu fiesta" (Ridsa feat. Willy William) |
12 | 2* | ||
| "Li tourner" (DJ Assad feat. Alain Ramanisum & Willy William) |
12 | 2* |
||
| 2014 | "Alalila (Le Sega)" (DJ Assad feat. Denis Azor, Mario Ramsamy & Willy William) |
76 | 14* |
|
| "A l'Italienne" |
— | — | ||
| "Me Gusta" (Dj R'AN featuring José de Rico, Willy William & Anna Torres) |
— | — | ||
| "La demoiselle" (Miky Uno featuring Willy William) |
— | — | ||
| 2015 | "Englishman in New York" (Cris Cab feat. Tefa & Moox, Willy William) |
16 | 26 | Non-album single |
| 2016 | "Keep My Cool" (Madcon feat. Willy William) |
— | 8* |
Non-album single |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | ||||
Other songs
| Year | Title | Peak positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA |
BEL(Wa) | |||
| 2016 | "Tes mots" | — | — | Une seule vie |
| "Paris" |
106 | — | ||
| "R.Q.T" | — | — | ||
| "Qui tu est" | — | |||
| 2017 | "Voodoo Song" |
— | 13* |
|