Born in 1974 in Ségou, Mali, and brought to Paris at the age of one, Oxmo Puccino (Abdoulaye Diarra) grew up in the Danube district of the 19th arrondissement and discovered hip-hop at 11. He joined the collective Time Bomb in 1995 alongside Pit Baccardi, crossing paths with Booba and Lunatic, before signing to Virgin and releasing Opéra Puccino (1998), which went gold eight years later. Nicknamed the “Black Jacques Brel” for his metaphorical writing and striking one-liners, he describes himself as a “chansonnier” and has pursued a demanding body of work with L’Amour est mort (2001), Cactus de Sibérie (2004) and L’Arme de paix, which won a Victoire de la Musique in 2009. He continues to release critically acclaimed albums, including La Nuit du réveil (2019).