Gandhi Alimasi Djuna (born 6 May 1986), known professionally as Maître Gims and, since around 2019, just Gims (stylized in all caps), is a Congolese singer and rapper. He grew up in France and currently lives in France and Morocco. Gims rose to fame as a member of the hip hop group Sexion d'Assaut and pursued an individual career under the name Maître Gims in 2013. In 2006, he released an extended play, titled Ceux qui dorment les yeux ouverts. During his career he has worked with several international artists such as Sia, Pitbull, Lil Wayne, Stromae, Maluma, Sting, and others. He has sold over 5 million records, including 3 million albums since the start of his career. He started his solo career in 2013 with the release of his first album, Subliminal in May on Wati B and Monstre Marin Corporation, which sold over a million copies and peaked at number two on the French album charts. In December he released a reissue titled Subliminal la face cachée. The album contained songs such as "J'me tire", "Bella" and "Zombie". From its first week of operation, the album certified platinum and would end up being double diamond disc for over 1 million in sales. The album was a great success, charting high in France, Belgium, and Switzerland.
In August 2015, Gims released his second album, Mon cœur avait raison. The album was divided into two parts: the red pill, which contains rap songs, and the blue pill, which contains pop-urban songs. The idea came from the movie The Matrix. A year later he released a re-release titled À contrecœur. The album contained some of the best songs in his career, such as: "Est-ce que tu m'aimes?", "Laissez passer", "Brisé", "Sapés comme jamais", "Tu vas me manquer", "Je te pardonne", "Ma beauté" and "Tout donner". The album was well received and after having sold nearly 85,800 records in its first week, it was certified platinum. At the end of 2018, more than 700,000 units had been sold in France and 581,000 units had been sold internationally. He released his third album in March 2018, titled Ceinture noire on the TF1 Group and Play Two labels. The album has been reissued several times: Transcendence reissue was released in April 2019 and an other reissue Décennie with 4 new titles was released in December 2019. The album entered top position in Wallonia and spent over seven weeks in first place. The album contained songs such as "Caméléon", "Miami Vice", "Hola Señorita", "Reste", "10/10" and "Mi Gna". His song "La même" was the most played in France in 2018 and it helped Gims become the most played artist of 2018 on French television and radio, as well as the seventh most performed artist in the world on Deezer.
In November 2020, In 2020, he won the International Artist of the Year in Distinctive International Arab Festivals Awards after his featuring in Mohamed Ramadan's song "Ya Habibi". During the COVID-19 pandemic confinement, Gims announced on an Instagram live that a 100% rap album would be released October 2020. According to some publications on his Instagram, Gims reveals that his album would be an 80% rap album contrary to what had been announced. On 4 December 2020, he released his fourth album titled Le fléau. On 17 September 2020, Netflix released a documentary about the last ten years of his career titled Gims: On the Record. A reissue entitled Les vestiges du fléau was published on 28 May 2021. A second reissue titled L'Empire de Méroé was released on 3 December 2021. The album contained songs such as "Yolo", "Immortel", "Jusqu'ici tout va bien", "Belle" and "Only You".
In December 2022, he released his fifth album, Les dernières volontés de Mozart or LDVM (Symphony). The album is certified gold with more than 50,000 copies sold in June 2023. In July 2024, the album reached 100,000 copies sold and was certified platinum. In August 2022, he played the song "Arhbo" for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Official Soundtrack along with Ozuna, which they also performed during the closing ceremony. He has topped the French singles chart five times, including once as a featured artist, most recently in 2024 with "Spider", featuring Dystinct. On 13 September 2024, Gims released a second EP and his first since 2006, titled Le Nord se souvient containing the tracks "Spider", "Sois pas timide", "Terminal 2F" and "Vent du Nord" as well as three new tracks.
Early life
Gandhi Djuna was born on 6 May 1986 in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). He comes from a family of musicians: his father Djanana Djuna is the singer of Papa Wemba's Viva La Musica troupe. Due to political instability and lack of economic opportunity, his parents, who were undocumented immigrants, moved to France in 1988 when he was two years old.
Because of his parents' undocumented status, he had a difficult childhood. He was placed with foster families and lived in squats until he was 18 years old. This passage from his life is mentioned in his book Vise le soleil. He is part of a family of fourteen children. He is the brother of Dadju, member of the group The Shin Sekaï, of Bedjik, Afi (formerly Xgangs), and Djelass, all three of them rappers. On his first album Subliminal (2013), they participate in the song "Outsider". Gims grew up in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. His family then moved to the 9th arrondissement and finally to the 19th arrondissement. Gims studied graphic design and communication. He took the nickname "Gims" in reference to Asian cinema and the world of martial arts.
Career
2002–2012: Sexion d'Assaut In 2002, Gims joined with the rappers JR O Crom and Makan to form Prototype 3015. The name of the group was chosen in reference to a film, mainly for its "combative" meaning. The name Sexion d'Assaut also includes a reference to the Sturmabteilung (SA), in French "Section d'Assaut", a famous Nazi paramilitary unit, which the group learned of by chance during a concert for the City of Paris. In 2005, the trio merged with Assonance, another group from the Sexion d'Assaut collective. The group was then called 3rd Prototype. After a few pieces produced independently, Sexion d'Assault met their agent, Dawala, in the cellars of Châtelet-Les Halles in Paris. With Dawala, the 3rd Prototype released its first mixtape, La Terre du Milieu, on 13 May 2006. Gims designed the CD cover. In 2007, they released the album Le Renouveau, which contained the well-known piece "Anti Tectonick".Through Prototype 3015 first, then Prototype 3, Gims was part of the Sexion d'Assaut supergroup. Sexion d'Assaut released their first songs between 2002 and 2003. Among them, were "Gang yaba Gang," "Coup 2 pression" and "Frères de rue." With Sexion d'Assault, Gims participated twice in the 12 Inch'All Star, a famous rap competition in the Parisian underground which takes place at the Batofar. He came in second place and gained notoriety, now known as one of the best kickers (freestylers) in France. In 2008, the group presented monthly freestyles called Les Chroniques du mois: each month, at least two freestyle songs were released via audio or video. In January 2009, Sexion d'Assaut published a net-tape renamed Les Chroniques du 75, a compilation also containing previously unreleased tracks, including the solo piece "À 30%" by Gims.
Sexion d'Assaut's second street album, L'Écrasement de tête, was released in May 2009 on label Because Music. The last sub-entity of the supergroup, 3rd Prototype, disappeared completely. L'Écrasement de tête acquired a certain notoriety with the general public thanks to titles and music videos, including "T'es bête ou quoi?" and "Wati Bon Son" (in collaboration with Dry). Sexion d'Assaut went on tour, notably opening for Orelsan and Medina. The album sold more than 50,000 copies. Following the release of LÉcrasement de tête, the group left Because Music due to misunderstandings and signed with Sony Music Entertainment.
In 2010, Sexion d'Assaut released the studio album L'École des points vitaux. Gims is credited there as a singer-songwriter. He composed the instrumental tracks of several pieces, including "Ils appellent ça 'Casquette à l'envers'". Other beatmakers also participated in the album, such as SoulChildren with "La drogue te donne des ailes". The album met with great success with the general public, selling over 400,000 copies. The group opened for Suprême NTM at the Parc des Princes and performed at the Zénith de Paris. In April 2011, a controversy broke out over the group's openly homophobic claims. In reaction to criticism, Sexion d'Assaut decided to release a mixtape entitled En attendant L'Apogée: les Chroniques du 75, which despite everything met with success with titles like "Paris va bien" and "Qui t'a dit". The project contains a DVD including a video of one of the songs, as well as a documentary retracing the group's journey.
In March 2012, they released their second album, L'Apogée, which was more successful than the first. The album sold over 700,000 copies. The same year, Gims published an online comic entitled Au cœur du vortex. In parallel with his career with Sexion d'Assaut, Gims tried his hand at musical composition. At the end of 2006, he released his first solo project, an Extended play entitled Ceux qui dorment les yeux ouverts. The EP is produced by ATK's Fredy K and Noko. With a very limited pressing, the disc aimed to make Gims known to the general public. The record features tracks with Sexion d'Assaut, Scred Connexion rapper Koma and a singer named Carole.
2012–2015: Subliminal
On 29 January 2013, in the video Welcome to the Wa Part. 4: La Consecration, Gims announced the release of his first solo studio album, Subliminal, for 20 May 2013. On 1 March Gims published "Meurtre par strangulation". On 15 March he unveiled "J'me tire", his second single which remained at number 1 on the French charts for four consecutive weeks, the music video being released on 10 April 2013. In an interview on the Rapelite.com site, Gims confirmed the presence of rapper Pitbull on a track entitled "Pas touché". His three brothers, Bedjik, Dadju and X-Gang, from the group MM Solja, reunited on the track "Outsider".
On May 4, he published "Bella". On 13 May "VQ2PQ" was broadcast exclusively on Skyrock. The song "It Works," was aired on May 14, similarly exclusively, in collaboration with The Shin Sekaï. The album Subliminal was released on 20 May. To promote it, Gims unveiled previously unreleased tracks, not part of the album, in the form of a series of music videos (clips in French) entitled This is not a clip. On the commercial side, the album was certified double diamond disc with more than 1 million sales.
On 31 May 2013, he performed his first solo concert at the Olympia. He featured on the album Racine carrée of Stromae on the song "AVF" featuring with Orelsan. After the last date of the Sexion d'Assaut tour, 28 September 2013 at the Stade de France for Urban Peace, which also brought together IAM, Orelsan, Youssoupha, La Fouine, Psy 4 de la Rime, Rohff and Stromae, Gims announced that he wanted to take a break. He also intended to take care of his marriage and his children, whom he says he has seen too little because of his career. The new Sexion d'Assaut album was scheduled for November 2015.
In September 2013, he collaborated with singer Vitaa on the single "Game Over". The song topped the singles charts in France. On 22 November 2013, Gims unveiled his new clip "Changer", which ranked 17th for the week of 1 December 2013. With this ballad, Gims hoped to reach a new, wider audience. In February 2014, Gims was nominated in the Urban Music category at the Victoires de la Musique, but the prize went to the rap group 1995. His solo career was nonetheless a success. According to the magazine Challenges, the singer was the second highest paid French artist of 2013, behind Mylène Farmer but just ahead of Johnny Hallyday.
2015–2016: Mon cœur avait raison