“That makes two years since I’ve been playing the game, you dare ask me what my name is.” At the dawn of glory, Marseille rapper Jul was already criticizing those who despised his talent and success in his legendary 2015 hit, Well then. Representative of Marseille-style rap, he revolutionized the genre to make it more danceable, light and melodious. Talentless, repetitive, commercial, empty… criticisms were rife for a long time at the start of his career, including in the French-speaking rap world.
Today, no one can dispute Jul’s genius. The one who considers himself a “rapper-singer” invented his own musical style which he imposed in French rap. He positioned himself against the “hardcore” rap popular with great French rappers such as Booba, Lacrim, Rohff and Kalash Criminel.
Contaminating his Marseille counterparts Naps or Soso Maness, he also influences internationally. 6ix9ine in the United States, Morad in Spain, Rhove in Italy, Elai in Sweden, Feduk in Russia and Boef in the Netherlands, they have all taken up what we call “the Jul style beat”. The Marseille icon created it for his first album In my paranoia (2014), with the title The neighborhood. It is the jerky beat with a high level of beats per minute which has become the melody of Marseille today.
“It’s not the capital, it’s Marseille baby”
In February 2014, the public discovered a certain Julien Mari, known as Jul, an unknown rapper from Marseille, quickly propelled into the rap industry thanks to his song I forget everything. He recounts the spleen of his neighborhood life, banditry, precariousness and his love stories, favorite themes in his music. In the cities of France, the streets, the beaches, the nightclubs, near colleges and high schools, his music resonates and places him as an essential among millennials and Generation Z.
Jul’s music is intrinsically linked to Marseille life which he recounts in almost all of his titles. A life spent in the cities of Marseille, which he never disowned despite his success and the financial success that accompanies it. “Show off yourself, but don’t forget your values.”he recalled in his song Lady (2015). He draws his values from his hometown, Saint-Jean-du-Désert where he shoots the vast majority of his clips, as well as from other northern districts of Marseille. Faithful to his modest origins, he mobilizes the residents of the neighborhood and his childhood friends.
Jul is also a language and facial expressions made in Marseille. The thank you turns into “mercé”being too talkative and pretentious is “have the boco” And “the honda” becomes synonymous with the street. Jul’s fans can no longer do without the rapper’s emblematic sign which reproduces his name with his fingers. A “J” made with the left hand, the “U” formed by the palms of the hands and an “L” with the right hand. A sign so popular that it was reproduced in 2015 by singer Rihanna and during the 2017 French presidential campaign by candidates Philippe Poutou, Benoît Hamon and Alain Juppé.
Jul doesn’t forget that he speaks to working-class neighborhoods. He has a history of releasing a large number of free streaming singles for “Team Jul”. In particular, there are six free albums in 2021 that Jul is offering to thank his fans. Very popular in the working-class neighborhoods of Marseille, Jul regularly comes to meet and offer derivative products to children in the cities, without communicating it publicly.
Project machine
With his latest album Decade, released Friday January 19, and celebrating his 10th career, Jul signs his 30th album. A staggering figure, rarely reached by artists with careers three or four times longer. Since his beginnings within the group Ghetto Phénomène with Veazy, Houari, Friz and Bilk, Jul has impressed with his fast and efficient creative process. Rapper Ninho declared in March 2019 in Rapelite that Jul composed music in “twenty-five minutes”. It is from these instrumental tracks that Jul writes and sings his lyrics.
Massively popularizing autotune, Jul multiplies collaborations with big names in Marseille rap whom he considers friends. On August 15, 2020, Jul comes out Organized band, the biggest celebration of Marseille rap. SCH, Kofs, Naps, Soso Maness, Elams, Houari and Solda wear the sky blue jersey in a clip viewed almost 500 million times. At the beginning of December 2020, the title was certified double diamond single with 100 million streams, which constitutes a record for speed of certification in the history of French music. It is today one of the three most listened to titles in France since the launch of the Spotify music platform.
Jul is the rapper of all records. The most streamed artist of the decade, he is the biggest record seller in the history of French rap with more than 7 million sales. The 33-year-old Marseille rapper releases an average of two albums per year. It thus maintains a constant flow of listening on the platforms between new and old records. According to the National Phonographic Publishing Union (Snep), Jul is the second best seller of records in all styles, behind Johnny Hallyday. His projects are all certified gold, platinum or diamond records.
Faced with contempt, indifference
“Many talk, talk, talk. But tell me, what do they know?”said Jul in Before customs (2016). Mocked by the media who negatively criticize his projects, he is regularly mocked for his spelling mistakes. Jul is a very discreet rapper. He rarely gives interviews and prefers to address his fans directly on social networks. He refuses questions about his former label Liga One Industry, his legal troubles and his father.
The Marseille emblem has suffered some controversy since its beginnings. Shortly after the release of his third album I turn around In June 2015, Jul announced that he had left his label Liga One Industry, which would not have paid him any money from the sale of his albums and T-shirts. A few months later, he announced the creation of his new gold and platinum label, a nod to the certifications of his albums.
In July 2017, residents of the Saint-Jean-du-Désert district complained about the evenings organized to celebrate the rapper’s return to the city. A few months later, Jul was arrested by the anti-crime brigade and placed in police custody in Marseille for having driven at 160 km/h with an armed passenger in a rental car on the A50, in the direction of Marseilles. Jul subsequently published an apology message to his fans on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, saying he did not want to set a bad example and learned from his mistakes. The day after the affair, he released a free song called Bad day.