La Fouine

Biography

Laouni Mouhid (Arabic: لاوني محيد, pronounced [laːwniː muːħiːd]; born 25 December 1981), commonly known by his stage name La Fouine (French pronunciation: [la ˈfwin]; lit. 'The beech marten'), as well as Fouiny (), is a French rapper and singer. He is the founder of record label Banlieue Sale and the clothing line Street Swagg. La Fouine was voted Best French Artist at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2011 and Best Male Artist at the Trace Urban Music Awards in 2013. With two million subscribers on YouTube, seven million on Facebook, and four million on Twitter, he was the most-followed French rapper on social media in 2015. Known as "the rapper with the goatee," he eventually shaved it off in June 2016.
La Fouine has sold over one million albums. On 26 October 2004, he released his first mixtape, titled Planète Trappes. The following year, he released his first album, Bourré au Son×Bourré au son25 April 2005 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Peu à l’arrivée3:562Bourré au son4:563Quelque chose de spécial3:444Basta4:055Peace on Earth4:486Autobiographie5:017J’roule4:598J’rap pour le fric4:129Fouiny Flow3:3610C’est ça4:0211Marche ou crève4:3512Symphonie6:0513L’unité3:4914Die5:0215Groupie Love (Manque d'argent part 2)3:1816Quelque chose de sauvage3:43. He released his second album, Aller-Retour, in 2007, which was certified double gold. With his growing fame, Laouni released a series of albums and mixtapes annually. He released Mes repères in 2009, followed by La Fouine vs Laouni in 2011, both went platinum. In 2013, the rapper published a book and an album, both titled Drôle de Parcours×Drôle de parcours4 February 2013 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1J'avais pas les mots3:412À bout de bras3:513Ma meilleure5:054À l'époque4:325Redbull & Vodka3:106Panam Boss6:517Interlude Fatima0:278Fatima3:539Interlude - Banlieue Sale Mafia2:2310Donne moi4:3411Essaie encore4:0012Il se passe quelque chose3:3713Quand je partirai4:1014Karl4:2015Demain on verra3:1716J'espère6:1517On s'en bat les couilles 20134:5918Ray Charles5:27. The album sold over 200,000 copies and has been certified gold.
La Fouine, known for his Capitale du Crime mixtapes, released four compilations from the series in 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2014, with the last three all being certified gold. In 2014, in collaboration with Sindy, Sultan, and Fababy, he released the pop project Team BS, which was certified gold within just a few weeks. In 2016, he released the album Nouveau Monde×Nouveau monde4 March 2016 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Nouveau monde3:212Sans ta voix3:193Insta3:334Argent sale3:185Par intérêt4:106Trappes3:037Es-tu validé ?3:208Terminus3:299Tu valais mieux3:2810La Fouine VS Laouni3:5411Amigo3:4112Je l'aime quand même3:5613Sabary4:4314Machine arrière3:2915La fin du monde4:29, which sold approximately 10,000 copies in one month. In May 2017, during the Mawazine Festival in Morocco, La Fouine achieved the largest audience of his career, with 150,000 people attending his concert.

Personal life

Born in Trappes in a family of seven children to Moroccan parents from Casablanca, Laouni grew outside Paris in the Yvelines. He is the penultimate of his six brothers and sisters, Hakim (aka the rapper Canardo), Kamel, Illham, Samira, Naima and Adil. La Fouine talked about this in "Je regarde là-haut".
He left school at the age of fifteen to devote himself to rap and took his first music lessons. La Fouine, who was called "Forcené" was an active member of the collective "GSP". It was part of the short-lived group "FORS" with DJ RV (Hervé), Le Griffon (Tarek Medimegh) And LaylaD (Layla Melloni Forcé), created mainly to participate at 2 R puissance ART in La Verrière, where he won the second prize.
La Fouine endured challenging times while in foster homes and prisons. "I was only fifteen when I was expelled from school and placed in foster homes. I became an insomniac for most of the time. But it did not take me to sleep with me, if the cops were looking for me directly. I slept with people in cars, premises, etc.. It was misery", he said to the magazine Planète Rap.

2005: Bourré au Son

After releasing his first street-tape Planète Trappes that made him earn an early legitimacy in rap, he released his first album in 2005 called Bourré au Son×Bourré au son25 April 2005 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Peu à l’arrivée3:562Bourré au son4:563Quelque chose de spécial3:444Basta4:055Peace on Earth4:486Autobiographie5:017J’roule4:598J’rap pour le fric4:129Fouiny Flow3:3610C’est ça4:0211Marche ou crève4:3512Symphonie6:0513L’unité3:4914Die5:0215Groupie Love (Manque d'argent part 2)3:1816Quelque chose de sauvage3:43 strongly marked by the California style. The singles "L'unité" and "Quelque chose de spécial" meet critical acclaim and broadcast on many French radio stations.

2007: Aller-Retour

After putting out Planète Trappes Volume 2 on the market launching especially his brother Canardo through three titles, La Fouine released his second album entitled Aller-Retour on 12 March 2007. The first single from this album was "Reste en Chien" with Booba. The second single was titled "Qui peut me stopper×Qui peut me stopper21 May 2007 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Qui peut me stopper4:192Reste en chien3:44", "Banlieue Sale" with Gued'1 & Kennedy and "Tombé pour elle" with Amel Bent. Today, this album is certified gold.

2009: Mes Repères

After releasing the street-tape Capitale du Crime which highlights the rappers of Yvelines, the third album of the rapper Mes Repères×Mes repères23 February 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 19 tracks1Du ferme3:532Immortelles4:373Tous les mêmes4:204Rap Français3:545Ça fait mal3:456On fait l’taf4:457Interlude en studio1:418De l’or3:269Repartir à zéro4:2310Interlude Salam0:5011Afrika3:2212Hamdoulah moi ça va4:3413Rap inconscient5:0214Chips3:1815Mes repères3:4716Je sais où ça ramène3:1117La mémoire dans la peau5:1118Feu rouge4:4219Ça fait mal (remix)4:36 released in February 2009 and received a gold disc certification in October 2009. It included three guest appearances especially with Soprano on "Repartir à zéro" and still with Soprano and Sefyu on "Ca fait mal (Remix)" and Canardo (his younger brother) on "Hamdoulah Moi Ca Va". Today, this album is certified platinum.

2010: Capitale du Crime Volume 2

The disk Capitale du Crime Volume 2 released on 18 January 2010, ranks third in the album sales in France in the first week of its release. On this album are collaborations with Canardo, Green Money, Kennedy, Vincenzo, Chabodo, A2P Rickwell, Gued'1...
In April 2010, La Fouine worked with Admiral T & Medine on the piece "Viser la Victoire", extract the Admiral-T's album entitled L'Instinct Admiral and so on Street Lourd II with the song "Dans nos quartiers" in collaboration with Alonzo and Teddy Corrona. Nowadays, this mixtape is certified gold.

2011: La Fouine vs Laouni

The first single from her double album La Fouine vs Laouni×La Fouine vs Laouni14 February 2011 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 25 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Veni vidi vici4:092Fouiny Gamos3:443Nhar Sheitan Click3:474Stan Smith4:535Mathusalem4:216Laisse-les parler3:337Caillera for Life4:178Bafana Bafana2:589Interlude : One Shot2:3310Passe leur le salam5:0011Gucci Sale Music3:3312Fouiny Juice4:1513Bafana Bafana remix6:08Disc 21Débuter en bas4:142Là-bas3:363M’évader4:384D’où l'on vient4:355Elle venait du ciel5:266Les Soleils de minuit3:417Papa4:288Du bout des doigts3:559Petite Sœur3:5410Les Vents favorables3:5111Populaire3:1412La Lumière4:58 is "Passe-leur le salam×Passe-Leur Le Salam15 November 2010 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Passe-Leur Le Salam4:57" featuring Rohff. "Veni, vidi, vici×Veni, vidi, vici10 December 2010 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Veni, vidi, vici4:11" is the second single and the third extract "Caillera for Life" is a collaboration with California rapper The Game in which The Game tried performing in French. And the fourth from the album entitled "Papa" is a track where La Fouine speaks about his father. The fifth single was released on 21 January 2011 called "Les Soleils de Minuits".
La Fouine revealed the list of titles, but also the production of the album on 21 January 2011. The music is especially tracks with Street Fabulous, Animalsons, Dj E-Rise Skalp, etc., while his brother Canardo appears on the microphone on "Bafana Bafana (Remix)".
On 7 May 2011, La Fouine had a concert at the Zenith in Paris, That evening, he performed with Zaho the title "Quand ils vont partir". Moreover, some time after, Kamelancien signed with the label of La Fouine's managers "S-Kal Records". Other notable rappers followed such as Sultan.
La Fouine released a reissue of the album on 15 June 2011. While waiting his new mixtape Capital Crime Vol. III, La Fouine released a new edition of La Fouine vs Laouni entitled La Fouine et Laouni including twelve songs of his double album with an unpublished remix "Toute la night×Toute la night15 June 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Toute la night3:35" produced by Majestic Drama and "Veni, vidi, vici" remixed by Dj Battle featuring Francisco. Today, this album is certified platinum.

2012: Capitale du Crime Volume 3

Capitale du Crime Volume 3 was released on 28 November 2011. It contained many guest appearances with American stars such as T-Pain on "Rollin' Like a Boss", DJ Khaled at production on "VNTM.com" and Ace Hood on "T'es mort dans le film". The mixtape sold over 62,000 copies until March 2012 and was certified gold. Meanwhile, he joined the group Trappes Stars created by his former manager Bodé. Trappes Stars was composed of some rappers of Trappes region such as Canardo, Green, MAS, Chabodo, Gued'1 or the A2P. All gathered on a compilation mixed by DJ Battle.

2013: Drôle de Parcours

On 10 September 2012, La Fouine revealed on social networks the title of his new album entitled Drôle de Parcours×Drôle de parcours4 February 2013 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1J'avais pas les mots3:412À bout de bras3:513Ma meilleure5:054À l'époque4:325Redbull & Vodka3:106Panam Boss6:517Interlude Fatima0:278Fatima3:539Interlude - Banlieue Sale Mafia2:2310Donne moi4:3411Essaie encore4:0012Il se passe quelque chose3:3713Quand je partirai4:1014Karl4:2015Demain on verra3:1716J'espère6:1517On s'en bat les couilles 20134:5918Ray Charles5:27. The first single from the album was "Paname Boss" and released on 2 November 2012. This single featured Sniper, Niro, Youssoupha, Canardo, Fababy and Sultan. 6 November 2012, La Fouine released the second single from Drôle de Parcours called "J'avais pas les mots×J'avais pas les mots19 November 2012 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1J'avais pas les mots3:41". The third single is "Ma Meilleure" in featuring Zaho. 60,000 copies of the album were sold and the album was certified gold.

2014: Team BS

Team BS was a project and a hip hop collective of La Fouine launched in 2013, and an initiative of La Fouine's record label Banlieue Sale, "BS" denoting actually the record label they work in. The collective was made up of acts La Fouine, Fababy, Sultan and the vocalist Sindy the latter from the French television series Popstars where la Fouine was one of the judges. French producer Pascal Lemaire known as DJ Skalp / Skalpovich was also part of the collective.
In 2013, Team BS had a debuting charting success with the self-titled single "Team BS" (alternatively known as "Vrai frères"). The release was accompanied by a music video. In January 2014, Team BS came up with a follow-up single "Case départ".

2024–present: Recent projects

Following the release of his album XXI in 2021, La Fouine continued his musical career with the mixtape Capitale du Crime Radio×CAPITALE DU CRIME RADIO22 November 2024 · Studio album · Mixtape/StreetSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 19 tracks1Intro1:3623002:343Gangsta et Célèbre2:284Sierra Leon2:395En rapide2:346Seleção2:577U can't see me3:018Briller3:059Ne me quitte pas2:5510Freestyle CDC2:0311Eolienne2:1612Ferrari Blanche2:3813Kendrick2:4214Idalgo3:4115Désert3:0716Elle signe3:4117Location3:0618Bissap3:1619Outro1:49 in 2024 and the album État des Lieux×État des lieux11 April 2025 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracks1Intro 20252:072État des lieux (part 1)1:563État des lieux (part 2)2:094Légendaire1:585Léo2:406Cr73:057Musique intemporelle2:288Quand je reviendrai2:439O Block2:1210Lettre à Zyed et Bouna2:2311Refaire ce monde2:4012Faudra s’y faire2:3313Zeus2:2014Mektoub2:3315My Man3:0816Je t’ai aimée2:2517Pars pas (outro)2:25 in 2025. In early 2026, he was seen at various events and collaborative projects, maintaining his presence as a leading figure in French hip hop.

With Kamelancien

Early 2005, La Fouine responded with his title "Ferme ta gueule" to Kamelancien who attacked him as "twisted face" in the song "Reste vrai". Kamelancien soon turned up with his new response titled "Crise Cardiaque" and openly threatened him on a TV programme. This clash between the two Moroccan rappers, was a sort of clash with completely different style, one from Oujda and representing the Val-de-Marne and the other a native of Casablanca, representing the Yvelines. In 2011 the two rappers were reconciled and performed the song "Vécu" seen over 16 million times on YouTube. In May 2011, La Fouine invited Kamelancien to his concert at the Zenith in Paris to officially end their clash.

With Booba

Attacked by Booba, during the promotion of his album Futur according to him La Fouine "clashed" him on "Paname Boss" with a punchline. While his album had been released quite a few months, Booba insisted on releasing the song "AC Milan", where he attacked La Fouine calling him a pedophile, calling Emile Louis Laounizi (referring to Emile Louis) and diffusing an extract of a video where the criminal record of La Fouine is revealed.
La Fouine chose "Autopsie 5" to answer back (Autopsie is the name of mixtapes series of Booba). He chose to offer free the song explaining he did not want to make money on the clash. Thereafter, La Fouine and Booba released at the same time a second song "TLT" ("Tuez Les Tous" for Booba and "T'as La Tremblotte" for La Fouine) on their respective YouTube channels. La Fouine spoke mostly about Booba's photo that had circulated on the Internet, in parodying his music.
On 10 March 2013, Booba broadcast the video of their altercation that took place in Miami. American rapper 50 Cent put the video on his website. La Fouine replied "LOL! I just learned that the uncensored version of the altercation with b2obeatrice runs on the Net, I'll wait to find it to put the video of the altercation between him, Dixon (a friend of La Fouine) and Booba on Facebook. He highlighted passages that had been edited out by Booba where he runs away to escape La Fouine and Dixon. They nicknamed him Usain B2olt referring to Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.
La Fouine released further disses towards Booba on songs like "Fête Des Meres", where he spoke on Booba's ex protégé Kaaris being absent at his concert in Zenith. He then released "Aubameyang×Aubameyang28 September 2017 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Aubameyang4:28" where he mocked Booba getting attacked by Dam16.

Banlieue Sale

In 2008, La Fouine and his brother Canardo decided to launch their own label called "Banlieue Sale". This independent label, forged a partnership with Sony-BMG, one of the biggest music labels in the world. Banlieue Sale has subsidiaries that are "S-Kal Records" (created by the managers of La Fouine) and "Henijai Music" (created by Canardo).
In sum, a half-dozen artists have signed on Banlieue Sale including:

Green
MLC
Chabodo
M.A.S
Evaanz
Fababy
Sindy

Personal life

La Fouine, born to Moroccan parents, has six siblings, including his brother and fellow rapper Hakim, better known by his stage name Canardo. Speaking at Mawazine in Rabat, he said "I am proud to be Moroccan; I have never forgotten my origins, even though I was born in a foreign country."

Between the ages of 16 and 21, he served four separate prison sentences for theft, burglary, and drug trafficking, until "rap saved his life." He chose the nickname La Fouine (the weasel) in reference to his slim figure and his involvement in petty crime as a young man.
In 2002, he married Fiona, a Franco-Malian woman from Trappes. The couple welcomed a daughter, Fatima, born on May 31, 2003, whom he named after his late mother. They later divorced.
La Fouine is an advocate for Islam and a practicing Muslim. La Fouine is a fan of amateur club ESA Linas-Montlhéry.