Soolking | European tour

With a combined total of no fewer than 13 billion streams globally, Abderraouf Derradji, known professionally as Soolking, is one of the world’s biggest French-speaking urban pop stars right now. The Algerian-born rapper and singer was a dancer and even a drummer in a rock band before moving to Paris, where his career in rap and R’n’B truly took off.

For an English-speaking audience, the astonishing thing about Soolking is the multilingual, intercontinental fusion of styles that characterises his extremely popular music, which is an addictively melodic blend of French street rap, vocals, R’n’B, reggaeton and raï – a form of Algerian folk music – that quite simply brings people together.

The 34-year-old began his rap career as a member of Algerian group Africa Jungle, but it was as a soloist in 2018 that he got his big break, as he appeared on Planète Rap – a show on French radio station Skyrock – and performed his freestyle single ‘Guerilla’, which has since earned Diamond certification.

From then on, Soolking has consistently found success with tracks that have cemented his place among the stars of Francophone music, as demonstrated by his first two albums, Fruit du demon and Vintage, which both gained Platinum certification, thereby propelling the man of many facets onto the international stage. Thanks to his countless collaborations with artists from around the world, the El Hammamet native has built up a solid fanbase in recent years, not to mention getting himself into the singles charts in countries including Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Morocco and the Czech Republic.

In 2022, Soolking released his third album, entitled Sans visa, which reached prominence thanks to the hit single ‘Suavamente’, which again achieved Platinum status both in France and abroad. Then, in July last year, the Algerian put out ‘Casanova’, a duet with fellow rapper Gazo that found its way into the international streaming charts and would later be followed up by two new versions: one with renowned German rapper Milano and another in the company of Spanish stars Lola Indigo and Rvfv.

While we wait for his next album to drop, Soolking will be embarking on a European tour starting on 29^th April 2024, with dates lined up in the UK, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and France.

In the meantime, why not check Soolking out now on our French Hits in France playlist?