The rapper, whose identity is unknown, has established himself in the space of three years as a staple of the French rap landscape. On the occasion of the release of his second album, this Friday, a look back at his enigmatic rise.
Ziak has made the black bandana his trademark. In line with successful masked rappers – Kekra, Kalash Criminel, Siboy, Fuzati – the artist has resolved to make a career out of hiding his identity.
If we therefore know nothing about him, except that he is from Essonne, Ziak has nevertheless succeeded in the space of three years to become one of the essential artists of the French rap landscape.
Surfing on the style of the drill – rather dark evolution of the trap born about ten years ago in Chicago and popularized between 2019 and 2020 in France – the rapper made himself known thanks to a first record Akimbocritically acclaimed.
Millions of plays and a platinum disc later, Ziak returns this Friday with his second album, Chromiumthe opportunity to look back on his ascent laden with mystery.
Originality and trademark
Ziak makes his rap debut in 2020 with a debut track Double-Dash published on YouTube. Quite confidential at first, the rapper quickly gained visibility, in particular thanks to his titles such as Rasputin Or Fixette.
But that’s the piece Gallery which will change the game. A real hit on YouTube as soon as it was released in May 2021, the title was also very successful on TikTok, where it was reused at the time in more than 15,000 videos. This visibility allows Ziak to join the Millenium label in 2021 with which he released his first studio album. Akimbo the same year.
At a time when drill is at the peak of its popularity in France in 2021, worn by artists such as Gazo or Hamza, Ziak is jumping on the bandwagon and soaking up this musical genre to make his record.
If some listeners fear that the artist delivers a monotonous project by locking himself too much in the codes of the genre – ultra-fast tempo, dark soundscapes and texts that address the difficult and violent daily life of the street – Ziak manages to surprise his audience and to bring his trademark: a charismatic voice from beyond the grave, original productions and a sense of effective formula with heady gimmicks.
As a result, due to its uniqueness and its risk-taking, the album Akimbo wowed listeners and rose to number two on the bestseller chart the week of its release.
enigmatic character
But beyond his hit tracks and raw lyrics, it’s the mystery that surrounds Ziak’s enigmatic character that helps heighten the public’s fascination and curiosity for the artist. Influenced, as for his music, by drill, and more specifically by the evolution of the genre in the United Kingdom, the rapper chose to hide his face behind a bandana like a Mr. Huncho or a LD across the Channel.
The communication around Ziak is also quite cryptic. The artist never appears on his album covers, hasn’t given any interviews since his debut and systematically hides comments under his YouTube videos.
As for the close collaborators of the rapper, some do not even know his identity. During an interview granted to the Lacrem media in 2021, the artist Maes – present on the track Rum & Machete in a duet with Ziak – confided that he had never seen the face of the rapper during their studio session to record the title.
“He came hooded. He even smoked with his mask on. Limit he was going to drink with his mask”, assured with humor Maes in this interview.
Only the producer ERRRO, who takes care of Ziak’s management, wanted to break the silence to respond to our requests. Very elusive in his answers, assuring “that he cannot say more”, he describes a “hardworking, talented and respectful” rapper surrounded by a “very demanding” team.
Artistic evolution
Almost a year after offering a small revolution in drill in France, driven by the success of his first record AkimboZiak does it again this Friday with a second album Chromium.
If with this new disc, Ziak still does not intend to lift the veil on his identity, the magic which surrounds the artist seems to seduce his followers once again, as evidenced by the hundreds of thousands of views recorded by the first extracts from the disc. Not even a squeak And Chromium.
With this new album Ziak also marks a milestone in his artistic development. The one who once illustrated his title Rasputin with Ikea knives hanging from the ceiling with wire and plastic sheeting hung on the walls, has traded its artisanal decor for an artistic and visual direction worthy of the biggest names in French rap.
An evolution that the rapper will be able to continue on the festival scene this summer. After a sold-out concert at the Zénith de Paris last January, Ziak will take his faithful bandana to the Chorus Festival in Boulogne Billancourt on April 1, 2023 and to Dour in Belgium on July 16.
