Quick Facts
Biography
Elie Yaffa (born December 9, 1976), better known under his stage name Booba (French pronunciation: [buˈba]) is a French rapper. After a brief stint as a break dancer in the early 1990s, Booba partnered with his friend Ali to form Lunatic. The duo released a critically acclaimed album in 2000 but disbanded in 2003. Booba has since embarked on a successful solo career, selling more than 10 million discs over his career and becoming the most legally downloaded artist in French history. Booba is praised for the quality of his flow and beats but often criticized because of controversial nature of his lyrics. He has also established the rap label Tallac Records, and developed a line of jewellery.
Life and career
Elie Yaffa was born on December 9, 1976, in the outskirts of Paris in Sèvres. His father is Senegalese and his mother is French of Belgian and Mosellan descent.
With his friend Ali they formed the duo Lunatic in 1994. Unable to secure a record deal from a major label because of their controversial lyrics, they created their own independent record label 45 Scientific in 1999. The following year, Lunatic released its first and only album entitled Mauvais œil.
In 2002, Booba released his debut solo album Temps mort. He followed this up with four further albums: Pantheon, Ouest Side (the most successful), 0.9 and Lunatic. In late 2012, he released his sixth solo album Futur. In whole, Booba has ten certification discs, six Disques d'Or (Golden album), three Disques de platine (Platinum album) and one Double disque de platine (Double-Platinum album). In 2011, Booba won the competition MyYoutubes, ahead of popular artists like Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Jay-Z, Sexion D'Assaut, Shakira, Stromae,...
Musical style
Booba was influenced by the American hip-hop stage of the 1980s and at the beginning of the 1990s--Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang Clan, 2Pac, and Biggie Smalls. The dark melodies accompanied with raw texts, typical of the rap from New York, are present on every album of his. He is often criticized for making the apology of easy money and murder. Booba advocates a reduction in the taxes and claims himself in support of individual freedom. Racism is a recurring topic of his songs (see for example "Couleur ébène", "Pitbull", "Ma Couleur"), although he sometimes deliberately advocates communitarian positions.
Other ventures
Booba is also the creator of a streetwear brand, Ünkut, one of the most popular brands of this type in France.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Peak positions | Certification | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA |
BEL Fl |
BEL Wa |
SWI |
|||
| 2002 | Temps mort | 2 | – | 41 | – | Gold |
| 2004 | Panthéon | 3 | – | 26 | 25 | 2× Gold |
| 2006 | Ouest Side | 1 | – | 12 | 18 | Platinum |
| 2008 | 0.9 | 6 | – | 27 | 60 | Gold |
| 2010 | Lunatic | 1 | – | 1 | 24 | 2× Platinum |
| 2012 | Futur | 4 | 74 | 5 | 14 | 3× Platinum |
| 2013 | Futur 2.0 (reissue) | 6 | – | – | 28 | |
| 2015 | D.U.C | 1 | 40 | 1 | 2 | 2× Platinum |
| 2015 | Nero Nemesis | 7 | 127 | 7 | 9 | 2× Platinum |
| 2017 | Trône | 2 |
39 | 3 | 12 | 2× Platinum |
Mixtapes
| Year | Album | Peak positions | Certification | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA |
BEL Wa |
SWI |
|||
| 2005 | Autopsie Vol. 1 | 66 | – | – | |
| 2007 | Autopsie Vol. 2 | 8 | 98 | – | |
| 2009 | Autopsie Vol. 3 | 2 | 19 | – | FRA: Gold |
| 2011 | Autopsie Vol. 4 | 2 | 32 | 64 | FRA: Gold |
| 2017 | Autopsie 0 | 20 |
48 | ||
Singles
As lead artist
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Certification | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA |
BEL Wa Ultratop |
BEL Wa Ultratip* |
SWI |
||||
| 2002 | "Destinée" (feat. Kayna Samet) |
41 | – | – | – | Temps mort | |
| 2004 | "Avant de partir" (feat. Léya Masry) |
24 | – | 17 | – | Panthéon | |
| 2006 | "Au bout des rêves" (feat. Trade Union & Mister Rudie) |
22 | – | 4 | – | Ouest Side | |
| 2010 | "Caesar Palace" (feat. P. Diddy) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Ma couleur" | – | – | 24 | – | Lunatic | ||
| "Jour de paye" | – | – | – | – | |||
| 2011 | "Paradis" | 99 | – | – | – | ||
| "Comme une étoile" | – | – | 36 | – | |||
| "Paname" | 48 | – | – | – | Autopsie Vol. 4 | ||
| "Bakel City Gang" | 30 | – | 43 | – | |||
| "Vaisseau Mère" | – | – | – | – | |||
| "Scarface" | 20 | – | 33 | – | |||
| 2012 | "Caramel" | 10 | 42 | – | – | Futur | |
| "Tombé pour elle" | 16 | 44 | – | – | |||
| 2013 | "A.C. Milan" | 7 | 19 | – | – | Futur 2.0 | |
| "T.L.T" | 16 | 44 | – | – | |||
| "Turfu" | 11 | 34 | – | – | |||
| "RTC" | 13 | – | 15 | – | |||
| "Parlons peu" | 5 | 27 | – | – | |||
| "Longueur d'avance" (feat. Maître Gims) |
13 | 48 | – | – | |||
| "2.0" | 41 | – | – | – | |||
| "Une vie" | 44 | – | – | – | |||
| "Billets verts" | 87 | – | – | – | |||
| 2014 | "La mort leur va si bien" | 7 | – | – | – | D.U.C | |
| "OKLM" | 1 | 7 | – | 72 | |||
| 2015 | "Tony Sosa" | 14 | 46 | – | – | ||
| "LVMH" | 28 | – | 35 | – | |||
| "Mon pays" | 37 | – | – | – | |||
| "Validée" (feat. Benash) |
2 | 41 | – | – | Nero Nemesis | ||
| "Attila" | 35 | – | – | – | |||
| "Génération Assassin" | 40 | – | – | – | |||
| 2016 | "JDC" | 10 | – | 21 | – | Autopsie 0 | |
| "Salside" | 8 | – | 23 | – | Gold | ||
| "E.L.E.P.H.A.N.T." | 1 | 39 | – | – | Platinum | Trône | |
| "DKR" | 1 | 42 | – | 42 | Diamond | ||
| 2017 | "Daniel Sam" | 27 |
– | 11 | – | Gold | Non-album single |
| "Nougat" | 2 |
42 | 25 | 61 | Platinum | Trône | |
| 2018 | "Gotham" | – | 17 | – | 48 | ||
As featured artist
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA |
BEL Wa Ultratop |
BEL Wa Ultratip* |
|||
| 2011 | "Corner" (Gato feat. Booba & Philly Poe) |
– | – | – | |
| "Cruella" (Shay feat. Booba) |
– | – | – | ||
| 2012 | "Call of Bitume" (Rim'K feat. Booba) |
72 | – | – | Rim'K album Chef de famille |
| 2014 | "Même tarif " (Alonzo feat. Booba) |
8 | 39 | – | Alonzo album Règlement de comptes |
| 2015 | "A.T.R" (Twinsmatic feat. Booba) |
145 | – | – | Twinsmatic album Nowhere |
| 2016 | "Here" (Christine and the Queens feat. Booba) |
52 | – | – | |
| "Rouge et bleu" (Kalash feat. Booba) |
15 | – | 33 | Kalash album Kaos | |
| "N.W.A." (Kalash feat. Booba) |
49 | – | – | ||
| "M.L.C" (Niska feat. Booba) |
46 | – | – | Niska album Zifukoro | |
| "Infréquentables" (Dosseh feat. Booba) |
19 | – | 13 | ||
| "Kiname" (Fally Ipupa feat. Booba) |
10 | 38 | – | ||
| 2017 | "Mula" (Siboy feat. Booba) |
9 | – | 32 | |
| "Oh bah oui" (Lacrim feat. Booba) |
10 | – | – | Lacrim album Force & Honneur | |
| "Tuba Life" (Niska feat. Booba) |
– | – | – | Niska album Commando | |
*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.
Other charted songs
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA |
BEL Wa Ultratop |
BEL Wa Ultratip* |
SWI |
|||
| 2012 | "Jimmy" | 108 | – | – | – | Futur |
| "Kalash" (feat. Kaaris) | 116 | – | – | – | ||
| "Wesh Morray" | 121 | – | – | – | ||
| "Rolex" (feat. Gato) | 131 | – | – | – | ||
| "Tout c'que j'ai" | 150 | – | – | – | ||
| "C'est la vie" (feat. 2 Chainz) | 153 | – | – | – | ||
| "1.8.7" (feat. Rick Ross) | 158 | – | – | – | ||
| "2Pac" (feat. Rick Ross) | 191 | – | – | – | ||
| 2015 | "Temps mort 2.0" (feat. Lino) |
58 | – | – | – | D.U.C |
| "G-Love" (feat. Farruko) |
69 | – | – | – | ||
| "3 G" | 70 | – | – | – | ||
| "Caracas" | 116 | – | – | – | ||
| "D.U.C" | 84 | – | – | – | ||
| "Bellucci" (feat. Future) |
86 | – | – | – | ||
| "Loin d'ici" | 112 | – | – | – | ||
| "Les meilleurs" (feat. 40 000 Gang) |
151 | – | – | – | ||
| "Billets violets" | 161 | – | – | – | ||
| "All Set" (feat. Jeremih) |
163 | – | – | – | ||
| "Jack Da" | 165 | – | – | – | ||
| "Mr. Kopp" | 146 | – | – | – | ||
| "Comme les autres" | 169 | – | – | – | Nero Nemesis | |
| "Habibi" | 119 | – | – | – | ||
| "4G" | 109 | – | – | – | ||
| "Walabok" | 124 | – | – | – | ||
| "Talion" | 137 | – | – | – | ||
| "92I Veyron" | 57 | – | 16 | – | ||
| "Charbon" | 168 | – | – | – | ||
| "Pinocchio" (featuring Damso and Gato) |
115 | – | – | – | ||
| "Zer'" (featuring Siboy and Benash) |
120 | – | – | – | ||
| 2017 | "Petite fille" | 28 | – | – | 32 | Trône |
| "Trône" | 32 | – | – | 34 | ||
| "113" (featuring Damso) |
– | – | – | 38 | ||
| "Ridin'" | 40 | – | – | – | ||
| "Ça va aller" (featuring Niska and Sidiki Diabaté) |
40 | – | – | – | ||
| "Friday" | 43 | 30 | – | 74 | ||
| "Drapeau noir" | 48 | – | – | 91 | ||
| "À la folie" | 55 | – | – | – | ||
| "Terrain" | 74 | – | – | – | ||
| "Centurion" | 85 | – | – | – | ||
| "Bouyon" (featuring Gato) |
98 | – | – | – | ||
| "Magnifique" | 130 | – | – | – | ||
