Music choice: leading French rapper PLK's album Un grand garçon

Looking at the list of the rap-dominated top 10 best-selling albums in France in the six months to June, sitting on top of big-name artists such as Gims, Bad Bunny and Theodora, there is an unfamiliar name (at least to Connexion staff and possibly readers): the Parisian rapper of Polish-Corsican descent, PLK. His stage name is a contraction of ‘Polak’.

The 29-year-old artist’s fourth album, Un grand garçon, sold 197,000 copies in just three months – enough to establish him as one of French rap’s new superstars. His story and heritage, often featured in his clever rhymes (which are easy on the ear, actually, even if largely indecipherable to non-French speakers), are fascinating. 

His Polish paternal grandfather fled to France at the age of four during the Second World War to escape Nazi oppression. His passion for rap was inspired by his Corsican mother, who introduced him to the sound of Notorious B.I.G. when he was very young. The young Mathieu Pruski began writing lyrics at the age of nine and later joined the rap group Panama Bende. PLK has sold out two Stade de France shows on September 4 and 5.