"You'll see, Jul is the same boy you met at the beginning of his career," promised Carine Nahon, the lawyer who organizes and secures all interviews with the urban pop star. In seven years, the 32-year-old from Marseille has become the heavyweight of the record industry regardless of genre, with a style that is all his own: a type of rap passed through the filter of Auto-Tune with a dance beat, featuring hints of reggaeton or baile funk – the music of the favelas of Rio, Brazil. Having sold more than 6.6 million albums since recording his first tracks in his teenage bedroom in 2013, Jul is the most listened-to artist in France on streaming platforms. What's more, this is without the support of a major record label, instead using his own: D'Or et de Platine ("Gold and Platinum").
On Friday, December 9, his 26th album, Cœur Blanc, was released. This workhorse of the rap world puts out at least two albums a year – if not three or four – and has his own line of clothing (from sweatpants to flip flops). On Saturday, June 4, he filled the Stade-Vélodrome for a hometown show that lasted almost three hours, filled with an electric, good-natured atmosphere. It's hard to believe that he hasn't changed and has remained the shy blond kid we met in the offices of the Parisian radio station Skyrock in December 2015. For the people of the southern French city, Jul is the local boy who has become the voice of urban, working-class kids. He's an ordinary guy who looks like them, not a rapper who pretends to be American. For trendy Parisians, he is the funny alien from the planet Mars. And for all those over 50, certain of their good taste, he's an enigma.
Jul started out in 2013 on a label based in the northern districts of Marseille. He then became angry with his producers and in September 2015, decided to entrust his business to two criminal lawyers, Damien Benedetti and Carine Nahon, with whom you have to negotiate, parley, give reassurances and be turned down many times before finally getting suitable interview conditions. Rarely appearing in the media, the champion of French CD sales across all categories "agrees" to talk to one journalist from the written press every year and gives one interview to a television channel. "He is so nice that he is very protected. His lawyers always size up the people he is going to meet," said Leïla Sy, from Duosceno and one of the two scenographers for his Stade-Vélodrome concert.
The only ones who don't have to pass an exam belong to his close circle, such as Nicolas Romano and Kakou, the sound engineers who have been working with him since 2005; his cousin Romain "Babyboys," who manages his WhatsApp group of beatmakers; his brother Mathieu "Tchyco," who is in charge of merchandising; and his "backer," Moubarak. According to them, Jul has stayed simple and humble. Mr. Romano said, "He is a very pleasant person to work with, conscientious and respectful. He never throws artistic tantrums." Ms. Sy added, "He is heartwarmingly normal." Along with her associate Pénélope Richard, she managed to pull off the motorbike parade at the Stade-Vélodrome concert.
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