Laouni Mouhid, a.k.a. La Fouine, left his Parisian school at age 14 to pursue music. Quickly gaining a name among the locals for his freestyle rap on the Violences Urbaines mixtape, he was soon plucked up by Sony and released his debut studio album in 2005. Urban pop anthems like “Qui peut me stopper?” were early hits but it was the double-time flows on songs like “Reste en chien" (feat. Booba) that began to draw a loyal fan base. West Coast hip-hop, rap, trap and R&B are his primary influences—but there are also hints of his Moroccan family ties that glimmer on tracks like “Hamdoulah ça va".