The concrete of Marseille, the sounds from Ibiza: Rapper Jul breaks all records. Soon to be here too?

France's superstar - The concrete of Marseille, the sounds from Ibiza: Rapper Jul breaks all records. Soon to be here too?

If you ask the French what Jul is, they answer with a funny gesture: thumbs spread apart, index and middle fingers up, ring and little fingers folded down. Sounds complicated, but if you try it, with a bit of luck you'll get "J u L". The hand sign is no longer for the initiated - Julien Marie, the artist's full name, born in Marseille in January 1990, is France's most successful rapper. Not knowing him is like not knowing who Kylian Mbappé is or in which city the Eiffel Tower is located.

Inconspicuous guy, huge success

The rather inconspicuous guy, blond hair, blond beard, fills concert halls and is the sponsor of the Olympique Marseille football club, he has his own company and has broken so many records that it would be boring to list them all. So just this much: since 2014, he has made two records a year, one in summer and one in winter. Almost every one of these 19 albums to date has achieved platinum status within a short space of time (at least 500,000 copies sold), most of them multiple times.

His videos have over 40 million clicks on YouTube. His biggest hit, the rap community project "Bande Organisée", which he created, has been streamed around 300 million times on France's paid services. In terms of numbers, only the national treasure Johnny Hallyday, who died in 2017, has been more successful than Jul in our neighboring country. So you could say that the man is a phenomenon. And now, according to French music connoisseurs, the superstar from the south is on the verge of conquering Germany too. At least, that's what the streaming service "Spotify" tells us, where he has topped the charts in France for the third time in a row this year.

Jul performs at the AccorHotels Arena on November 13, 2019 in Paris, France.

Regardless of whether it works out for Jul in Germany, it certainly wouldn't be bad for the mood. True, he also sings - as is typical of the genre - about tough urban life. But his background is the sunny Mediterranean metropolis of Marseille and not a concrete-grey Parisian suburb. He mixes influences that sound like Rio, North Africa or Ibiza with plenty of auto-tune vocals. Reggaeton, Rai, Salsa, House, Euro-Dance: Jul takes what he likes and creates tracks that you can dance to. He covers the nineties squeaky anthem "Barbie Girl" by Aqua and also Michael Jackson - what rapper does that? French music critics were initially only moderately enthusiastic about his mixture and anyone over 40 will probably switch off after three songs, annoyed. Jul is particularly popular with those who, like him, are now around 30 years old.

Jul seems like a guy from next door

His songs are - atypical for the genre - less about luxury or bling-bling, Jul prefers to talk about the simple life. About friendships, girls and cars. About hands-free scooter riding, smoking weed and drinking. But the lyrics don't really matter, her sound is more important. When Jul bangs "drogue" (drug), "drague" (hitting on) and "Drake" (meaning the artist) together in quick succession, a very unique onomatopoeia emerges.

He rarely gives interviews, he doesn't like it, they say. In fact, he always looks a little pained as soon as he is asked to speak to a camera. In a reserved, almost shy manner, he then talks about his buddies and praises one Marseille rapper after another. That's his secret: despite his incredible success, Jul still comes across as the guy next door who prefers to watch football with his boys, then fire up the barbecue and certainly doesn't pump in the gym. In Germany, he would fit in well in the Ruhr region.

But behind the nonchalance lies enormous meticulousness. Jul may be many things - but he's certainly not the type to chill out from morning to night. He started rapping at the age of twelve in his childhood bedroom. He was 15 when others noticed how well he rhymed and flowed. But first there are other things to do, finishing school and earning money. For a while, he helped his father build swimming pools around Marseille. At the age of 18, Jul bought a proper sound card for his computer and began producing his own songs and beats, and a record company in Marseille signed him shortly afterwards. His first release was a direct hit: the album "Dans ma paranoïa" was released in February 2014 and conquered the entire country. Since then, Jul In France has been a superstar. One who works hard and hard.

"La route est longue", his second album for 2023, will be released on December 8. The tracks already released are, of course, already hits.

One of the few things that has not gone smoothly in Jul's life so far is the matter with his first record company. In 2015, Jul leaves the label in a dispute. He felt cheated out of a portion of the income - but also showed that it is no longer necessary to play by the gagging rules of a music company.

He explained to his fans on Facebook what was going on. From then on, he did everything himself. With a small team, he founded the company "D'or et de platine", "Of gold and platinum", a label with only one artist under contract: Jul. In addition to music, he sells his merchandise there, from flip-flops to folding chairs, all at moderate prices. He repeatedly emphasizes that it is important to him that his fans can afford the products. He has also released many of his tracks for free in the meantime. But they were still bought later. He keeps in touch with his huge number of followers via social networks and shares new ideas for beats or tracks with his musical team in a WhatsApp group. His day-to-day work seems to function just as efficiently as his songs.

JUL during a match between Olympique de Marseille and Havre Athletic Club on October 8, 2023 in Marseille.

Soccer, chaos, drug gangs

He is loved in France simply because he is not from Paris, the city that rules everything. Marseille also stands for social problems, chaos and drug gangs. For soccer and people from all over the world who seek their little fortune in this juggernaut. For a life lived on the streets because the apartments are cramped. And if the critics in elitist Paris find Jul's music "simple", all the better: his fans celebrate him - and themselves - for an attitude to life that has little to do with glamor.

"I love you and I never forget that I have you to thank for where I am today. I'm trying to be in real life," Jul recently told his more than four million Instagram friends. They responded to him with red hearts.