Diam's

Jul 25, 1980 (44 years old) in Nicosia, Cyprus

Mélanie Georgiades (born 25 July 1980, in Nicosia), better known by her stage name Diam's, is a retired French rapper of Greek Cypriot origin.

Mélanie Marie Georgiades was born on 25 July 1980, in Nicosia, capital of Cyprus. Her mother is French and her father is Greek Cypriot. After her parents separated, she arrived in France with her mother at the age of three. She spent her childhood in Paris, then in the department of Essonne, in Brunoy, until the age of thirteen.

She studied for a while in Igny, in the private Saint-Nicolas college. Later, she moved to Massy then to Orsay in the suburban district of Mondetour, where she spent most of her adolescence. She discovered rap through the album The Chronic (1992) by Dr. Dre and the first song by the group NTM, Je rap (1990) (published on Rapattitude, the first French rap compilation). She chose Diam's as her pseudonym in 1995, a choice she explains as "I came across the definition of the word diamond and I learned that a diamond can only be broken by another diamond and that it is only made of natural elements".

In 1995, at the age of fifteen, she attempted suicide. In 2003, she rapped about her past and how, aged 17, she was beaten by her partner in a song called Ma souffrance (My suffering).

She formed a group called Mafia Tres. In 1997, the group released a four title EP with Diam's on two tracks. Diam's became better known, thanks to her appearance in 1997 on Mafia Trece's first album, called Cosa Nostra, and thanks to an appearance on Phonograph with the rap group ATK.

After her separation from Mafia Tres, Diam's released her first album, Premier Mandat in 1999, but it was not a success, selling just 9,000 copies.

In 2001 the song Suzy broadcast on the compilation Original Bombattack on radio Générations 88.2. The song is picked up on the Internet. Suzy came to the attention of Jamel Debbouze who became her friend and mentor. She then made many appearances, and participations on radio shows. She finally prepares her second album, entitled Brut de femme and the record company EMI offers her a contract in April 2002. The project is abandoned following a restructuring of EMI while the two titles Pogo and 1980 are broadcast by a journalist on the Internet before their official release.

She signs on the Hostile label after long negotiations. The tracks are reworked and finally integrated into his second album, Brut de femme. Brut de femme quickly went gold and the single DJ was certified platinum. Diam's won a Victoire de la Musique for the best rap album of the year 2004.

She took a stand against Marine Le Pen and her National Rally party (formerly the National Front), especially in the song "Marine", which was released on her DVD Ma Vie/Mon Live in 2004. She also stands against Nicolas Sarkozy, whom she called a demagogue and a fascist in La Boulette and Ma France à moi.

In 2005, she cemented her importance as a songwriter with "Ma philosophie"—a huge number one hit for Pop Idol star Amel Bent. ...

Source: Article "Diam's" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.