Orelsan

Aurélien Cotentin (August 1, 1982), better known by his stage name Orelsan, is a French rapper from Alençon. The son of teachers, he grew up listening to rock music before discovering rap, with his own work drawing comparisons to Eminem. After releasing a number of underground singles, he made his debut with the album Perdu d'Avance and the single “Changement” in 2009. That year, his song “Sale pute” created controversy with its lyrics about domestic violence with the French culture minister attempting to have it banned. Orelsan maintained that he was writing about a character and the lyrics were not his own views. In 2013, he joined forces with fellow rapper Gringe and formed the hip-hop duo Casseurs Flowters, with whom he released the albums Orelsan et Gringe sont les Casseurs Flowters (2013) and Comment C'Est Loin, the soundtrack of their 2015 autobiographical film of the same name. He released three further albums, Le Chant des Sirènes in 2011, La Fête Est Finie in 2017 featuring the single “Basique” and Épilogue in 2018. Civilisation, his fourth album as Orelsan, came out in 2021 and shot straight to the of the French charts thanks to the Number 1 hit single “L'Odeur de l'Essence.”

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