Willy Fauade William (born 27 June 1981) is a French DJ, record producer and rapper famous for his club remixes and vocal collaborations with a number of dance music artists. He is most famous for his French hit "Ego" and his Latin hit "Mi Gente", the latter with J Balvin.
Early life Willy Fauade William was born on 27 June 1981 in Fréjus, Var, to a Guadeloupean father and an Ethiopian mother from Eritrea. He was raised in Champagné, a commune in the department of Sarthe.
Career William came to prominence in 2003 with his work with DJ Flex in the dancefloor hit "B Boyz Shake da Body" and in 2004 as producer of "Tragedie" using the pseudonym "Lord William". He later joined the French music collective Collectif Métissé, also continuing to produce his own materials.
He collaborated with a great number of artists producing their songs and taking part in vocals as featured artists. He charted with collaborative songs with DJ Assad with "Li tourner", Les Jumo with "C Show" and "L'Italienne", and with Keen'V in "On s'endort?", Ridsa in "Je n'ai pas eu le temps" that also featured Ryan Stevenson on drums and many others.
In 2016, William got his major French hit with "Ego" which was produced and sung by himself. It was the main single from his 2016 album Une seule vie and his biggest French hit as a solo artist. "Ego" charted in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Poland amongst many others.
In 2017, he became an international sensation after the release of "Mi Gente" a collaboration with the superstar Colombian artist J Balvin. The huge international success of the song led to a version that also featured Beyoncé in a new remix. The song received a Latin Billboard Music Award and the music video amassed over 2 billion views and received in 2018 an MTV Video Music Award for Best Latin Video, maintained #1 Spotify Global for 12 consecutive weeks, while topping charts across the world as #1 in a great number of countries.
In 2018, William produced and released a dance track called "La La La" and he appeared on "Goodbye", a David Guetta and Jason Derulo song that featured William and Nicki Minaj.
Discography Albums Title Year Peak positions Track listing FRA BEL(Wa) Une seule vie 2016 12 20 "Te quiero" (radio edit) "Ego" (radio edit) "Une seule vie" "Suis-moi" "Le tour du monde" "Dangereuse" "Qui tu es?" "Tentation" "Les 6T d'or" "Tes mots" "On s'endort" "Love" "Personne n'est parfait" "Les souris dansent" "Dernier jour" "Si j'étais le même"
Singles As lead artist + List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album FRAPeak chart positions in France: All except noted: "Voodoo Song": AUS BEL (Wa) GER ITA NL SPA SWE SWI UK US "Te quiero" 2015 24 — 20*(Ultratip) — — — — — — — — Une seule vie "Ego" 12 — 3 39 18 4 — — 75 — — SNEP: Platinum BEA: Gold BVMI: Gold FIMI: 2× Platinum "On s'endort?"(feat. Keen'V) 2016 36 — 10*(Ultratip) — — — — — — — — "Mi Gente"2017 6 27 7 3 11 1 4 4 5 19 SNEP: Diamond ARIA: 5× Platinum BEA: 2× Platinum BPI: 3× Platinum BVMI: 2× Platinum FIMI: 5× Platinum GLF: 3× Platinum IFPI SWI: Platinum PROMUSICAE: 4× PlatinumVibras(J Balvin album) "Mi Gente (Remix)" — 111 — — — — 1 32 16 51 31 SNEP: Gold ARIA: 3× Platinum FIMI: Gold PROMUSICAE: Gold RIAA: 68× Platinum (Latin) rowspan="7" "La La La"2018 — — Tip** — — — — — — — — "Mambo" (with Steve Aoki featuring El Alfa, Sean Paul, Sfera Ebbasta and Play-N-Skillz) 2021 — — — — — — — — — — — "Trompeta" 2022 27 — 14 — — 3 — — — — — SNEP: Diamond NVPI: Platinum "Solo" — — — — — — — — — — —"Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom" 2023 — — — — — — — — — — —"Cuentale" 2025 — — — — — — — — — — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. Notes Note 1: Uses combined chart entries for "Mi Gente" and "Mi Gente (remix)"1 *Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts. **Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Tipparade charts.
Featured in Internationally Year Single Peak positions Album FRA AUS BEL(Fl) BEL(Wa) GER ITA NED SPA SWE SWI 2018 "Goodbye"(Jason Derulo and David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj and Willy William) 93 33 20 15 47 92 16 33 16 507 2019 "Highway" — — — Tip** — — — — — — rowspan="2" 2020"Loco" — — — — — — — — — —2026"My Oh My" (Kris Kross Amsterdam featuring Luísa Sonza and Willy William)__________ "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Francophone markets Year Single Peak positions Album FRA BEL(Wa)2010 "C'Show" — —2013 "Je n'ai pas eu le temps" 76 —Ridsa EPEs tu fiesta (EP) "Es tu fiesta" 12 2*(Ultratip) "Li tourner" 12 2*(Ultratip) 2014 "Alalila (Le Sega)" 76 14*(Ultratip) "A l'Italienne"(Les Jumo featuring Willy William & Frédéric François) — — "Me Gusta" — — "La demoiselle" — — 2015 "Englishman in New York" 16 26 rowspan="2" 2016 "Keep My Cool" — 8*(Ultratip) "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. *Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts. **Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Tipparade charts.
Other songs Year Title Peak positions Album FRA BEL(Wa)2016 "Tes mots" — —Une seule vie "Paris" (feat. Cris Cab) 106 — "R.Q.T" — — "Qui tu es" — Tip**2017 "Voodoo Song" (remake based on "Ego") — 13*(Ultratip)2020"Bollywood" (with Sandro Silva)—— *Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts. **Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Tipparade charts.
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