Ibrahima Diakité (French pronunciation: [ibʁaima djakite]; born August 5, 1994), better known by his stage name Gazo (pronounced [ɡazo]), is a French rapper of Guinean descent.[1][2]

Gazo
Background information
Birth nameIbrahima Diakité
Born (1994-08-05) August 5, 1994 (age 30)
Châteauroux, Indre, Centre-Val de Loire, France
Genres
OccupationsRapper
Years active2019 - present
LabelsEpic Records France, BSB Productions
Websitehttps://www.gazostore.fr/

Gazo is from a suburb of Paris called Saint-Denis. It is often named in many of his songs and also often identified as the "93" based on the French INSEE code for the region. In his youth, he got involved with a lot of troublemaking. His parents kicked him out by age 12, and by age 15 he left school, deciding to embark on his rap career along with some of his friends in Saint-Denis, eventually leading him to join the Gangster Disciple Nation (GDN) around the age of 16 with his friends.[3] Putting a number of songs on YouTube, he got the attention of Gims who offered a joint track to him on his own album Le Fléau.[1] Gazo released his own mixtape Drill FR on 26 February 2021

01.[4][5] It reached number 1 on the French Albums Chart with the single "Haine&Sex" reaching number 2 on the French Single Chart.

Gazo has had much success in his rap career since. "Haine&Sex" has since received diamond certification.[6] He is commonly known as "The Prince of French Drill". Per one of his producers, Flem KGB, as well as a general consensus among fans of French rap, Gazo created an identifiable brand for French drill music, taking influence from UK and US drill yet unique on its own.[3]

Early life

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Ibrahima Diakhaté was born on August 5, 1994, in Châteauroux, to a Guinean family. He is the youngest of a family of five children. He grew up in small apartments in Belleville and then in the Roquette district. He is cousin with the rapper MHD. From the age of 11, he was placed in an educational home. He stopped school in the sixth grade and went on to placements in a home and foster family until he came of age. He then went on to live between Saint-Denis and the street, without identity papers. In 2017, he was imprisoned for the first time in a remand center, only to return there a few weeks after his release.

Career

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Bramsou (until 2019)

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Gazo began rapping under the name of Bramsou, sometimes Bram's, in reference to his first name, Ibrahima. From 5th grade, he wrote texts to "clash" one of his friends. Later, he founded a group with other young people from his home: the Barrodeur Music. Music was his only escape and allowed him to forget his difficult daily life. In 2017, he collaborated several times with the 4Keus Gang, the second entity of the 4Keus group and the former group of Tiakola, with whom he would go on to make a platinum single in 2021 and two in 2022. According to his statements, Bramsou is a name that has closed doors to him. “I had nothing more to lose. There was Bramsito, Brvmsoo La Deb and me who was called Bramsou, I passed for a fake because they had more light.” This caused him to change his musical style and so he took the name Gazo, a gazo being the nickname of trusted people in his neighborhood, those on whom you can count in case of trouble. He says: "I started with rap then I discovered drill, something dirty that reflects what happens in underprivileged neighborhoods but at the same time very melodious and even dancing, since it has its roots in Jamaica”.

Revelation to the general public and Drill FR (2019-2021)

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In October 2019, he began a series of five freestyles "Drill FR" that would make him known nationally, allowing him in August 2020 to be the first artist to sign on the label Epic Records France of Sony Music, whose American leaning includes Drake and Travis Scott, among others. He would later confess that he would have quit music if the first sound of this series had not taken off: "I was out of breath. Luckily, this is done when the drill is a hit in France, including Dior of Pop Smoke”. With this he took on the look of mid-length braided locks accompanied by impressive jewelry including diamond teeth and gold glasses without frames, this was inspired by American stars Pop Smoke, Lil Wayne and XXXTentacion. On June 18, 2020, featuring Freeze Corleone, Gazo offers Drill FR 4, still considered in 2022 as the French drill sound. On August 27, 2020, the track Inceste was released, which marked Gazo's debut with Sony. Building on his new success, Gazo unveiled the track Tchin 2X12, whiwh appeared on Kaaris' album, One song, which is now one of Gazo's best-known, reached number 44 on the Top Singles chart on the day of the mixtape's release, and number 78 the next day20. It is called HAINE&SEX. A few weeks later, videos using this sound emerged on the social network TikTok, before it finally became a viral trend, which made him known to a wider and wider audience, so much so that he was certified a diamond record in September 2021. The success led him to many collaborations. On his first mixtape with foreign artists, like the British Russ Millions. Gazo has begun putting subtitles in his clips in English to export himself beyond the borders of the French-speaking world.

Discography

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Studio albums

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Year Title Peak chart positions
FRA
[7]
BEL
(Fl)

[8]
BEL
(Wa)

[9]
SWI
[10]
2022 KMT 1 54 1 2
2023 La Melo est Gangx
(with Tiakola)
1 69 1 3

Mixtapes

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Year Title Peak chart positions
FRA
[7]
BEL
(Fl)

[8]
BEL
(Wa)

[9]
SWI
[10]
2021 Drill FR 1 93 3 20

Singles

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Year Title Peak chart positions Album / Mixtape
FRA
[7]
BEL
(Wa)

[9]
SWI
[10]
2020 "Drill FR 4"
(feat. Freeze Corleone)
135
"Drill FR 5"
(feat. Hamza)
43 11
(Ultratip*)
Drill FR
"Tchin 2x" 45
2021 "Kassav"
(feat. Tiakola)
19 17
(Ultratip*)
"Haine&Sex" 2 13 27
"Tu le sais"
(with Kalash)
21 Non-album releases
"Grokuwa" 22
"Mauvais 2x"
(feat. Ninho)
10 32 KMT
2022 "My Men"
(with Rapi Sati)
Non-album single
"Celine 3x" 1 26 KMT
"Molly – A Colors Show" 4 28
"Bodies"
(feat. Damso)
2 12
2023 "No lèche"
(with Leto, Kerchak and Favé)
4 19 47 Non-album singles
"La rue"
(with No Limit and Damso)
1 2
"Casanova"
(with Soolking)
1 3 7
"Saiyan"
(with Heuss l'Enfoiré)
2 8 53
"100K" 2 13 51 La Melo est Gangx
2024 "Mami wata"
(with Tiakola)
5 28 Non-album singles
"Probation" 10[11] 42

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.

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Year Title Peak chart positions Album
FRA
[7]
BEL
(Wa)

[9]
2020 "Oro Jackson"
(Gims feat. Gazo)
79 Gims album
Le Fléau
"Dors on te piétine"
(Jul feat. Gazo)
22 Jul album
Loin du monde
2021 "Gas"
(Mister V feat. Gazo)
41 14
(Ultratip*)
"Spaghetti"
(Hamza feat. Gazo & Guy2Bezbar)
35 Hamza album
140 BPM 2
"Kalitada"
(Unité feat. Heuss l'Enfoiré, Gazo & SLK)
94 Non-album release
2022 "Filtré"
(Timal feat.Gazo)
1 45 Timal album
Arès
"Reggae & Calypso - Remix"
(Russ Millions, Buni, YV, Gazo, SwitchOTR, CH, Rose Real)
Non-album release
"22 Carats"
(Headie One featuring Gazo)
2023 "C'est carré le S"
(Naps featuring Gazo and Ninho)
1 21 En temps réel
"Flashback"
(Favé featuring Gazo)
7 9 Non-album releases
2024 "Ça mène à rien"
(PLK featuring Gazo)
18
"Ce soir"
(Adèle Castillon featuring Gazo)
"Vrais Salauds"
(Lacrim featuring. Gazo, Kore
34[12]
"La famine"
(Werenoi featuring Gazo)
35

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.

Other charting songs

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Year Title Peak chart positions Album / Mixtape
FRA
[7]
BEL
(Wa)

[9]
SWI
[10]
2021 "A$AP" 32 Drill FR
"Go"
(feat. Franglish & Landy)
37
"Euphon" 59
"Parkinson" 68
"Intro" 80
"Cache cou"
(feat. Hache-P)
83
"Inhumain" 102
"BSB" 124
"On a"
(feat. Luciano)
127
"Malagangx" 161
"Mon cher"
(feat. Unknown T & Pa Salieu)
179
"Message groupé"
(with Kore)
161 En Passant Pécho
(Soundtrack)
"X3"
(with Ashe 22)
113 Ashe 22 Mixtape
Ashe Tape Vol. 3
"Daddy chocolat"
(with Koba LaD)
2 29 72 Koba LaD album
Cartel vol. 1
2022 "Rappel" 4 22 KMT
"Fleurs"
(feat. Tiakola)
10
"Lettre a un Opps" 13
"Die" 1 2 7
"Becte" 17
"Jeux Dangereux" 26
"M.A.L.A"
(feat. M Huncho)
27
"Hennessy" 28
"Gra Gra Boom"
(feat. Skread)
29
"Boss" 31
"Impact" 32
2023 "Notre Dame"
(with Tiakola)
1 18 43 La Melo est Gangx
"Cartier"
(with Tiakola)
4 34 76
"24/34"
(with Tiakola)
7 33
"SoBad"
(with Tiakola)
10
"Mami Wata"
(with Tiakola)
12
"AfricanBadman"
(with Tiakola)
14
"A.V.S.D"
(with Tiakola)
16
"Ambitions"
(with Tiakola)
17
"Interlude"
(with Tiakola)
18
"Outro"
(with Tiakola)
19

References

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  1. ^ a b Marie Poussel (26 March 2021). "Qui est Gazo, la nouvelle sensation du rap français?" (in French). Le Parisien. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  2. ^ Le temps, Switzerland: Gazo, la drill «en vrai de vrai» (in French)
  3. ^ a b Gazo | On The Corner (Paris, Saint-Denis), retrieved 2002-03-30
  4. ^ "Gazo, le rappeur français boss de la drill" (in French). Télérama. Retrieved 21 June 2001.
  5. ^ WhattheFrance: GAZO | The Parisian rapper releases his ‘Drill FR’ mixtape
  6. ^ "Gazo obtient le premier single de diamant de sa carrière". Mouv (in French). Retrieved 2002-03-30.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Gazo discography". French Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Gazo discography". Belgian Flanders Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Gazo discography". Belgian Wallonia Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d "Gazo discography". Swiss Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Top Singles (Week 46, 2024)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Top Singles (Week 25, 2024)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 26 June 2024.