Rocé

Rocé is a multi-faceted French rapper. His real name is Youcef Kaminsky, and he was born in Bab-el-Oued (Algeria) in 1977. The son of resistance fighter and anti-colonialist Adolfo Kaminsky, Rocé's music reflects the rigour, militancy and hope that his parents passed on to him.

He grew up in 9.4 and was close to the K1Fry Mafia and Dj Mehdi, whose label he was one of the first to sign.
Rocé has released 4 French rap albums: "Top départ" (2002), "Identité en crescendo" (2006), which won the Prix Charles Cros for writing, "L'être humain et le réverbère" (2010) and Gunz n'Rocé (2013).

In 2018, Rocé released "Par les damné.e.s de la terre", a project that left its mark on historians and record collectors the world over, and which took 10 years of research. It's a collection of pieces of music from all over the world, sung in French from the 60s to the 80s, which bear witness to colonialism, immigration, labour, trade union and feminist struggles. Accompanied by 2 historians, the project provided a unique perspective on this era of emancipation. The project has given Rocé an international profile (USA, UK, Japan, etc).

For several years now, Rocé has been organising conferences around his musical and socio-political projects. His knowledge of the music of struggles and the visuals of vinyl records has enabled him to be invited to work with the Musée Georges Pompidou, the Musée du Quai Branly and the Macba in Barcelona. Alongside these projects, he is in charge of events and artistic direction for the Mama Shelter France hotels (designed by Philip Starck).

From July 2020, Rocé will fill seven years of absence from the rap scene, with tracks that he releases spontaneously on platforms. After presenting an EP Poings serrés in June 2021, he returns with a new album Bitume in November 2023. A sincere and raw project. Songs that speak of the battles to be fought and that insist unquestionably on hope, songs with raised fists. The album features contributions from Ol Kainry, Daddy Mory and actor Slimane Dazi, and on stage Rocé and Dj Juicy Fruits unleash all the energy of hope in a wild, precise, chiselled flow.