Malek Brahimi (Freeman)

Biography: Freeman, whose real name is Abdel Malek Brahimi, born May 9, 1972 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, is a French dancer, composer and rapper of Algerian origin. At the end of 1988, Freeman met Akhenaton and Shurik'N who then formed a rap group called B. Boys Stance. It was as a dancer that Malek joined the group around 1989. Malek accompanied Kephren during the group's various concerts. Also present in the group's music videos, Malek Sultan also makes appearances on record, in comic interludes (Do the Raï Thing and The Return of Malek Sultan). During the production of IAM's third album, L'École du micro d'argent, Malek wanted to intervene as a rapper. He mainly participates on a title from L'École du micro d'argent: A good raw sound for the crooks. Subsequently, Malek renamed Freeman) appears on Chroniques de Mars, as well as on the soundtracks of Taxi, Ma 6-T va crack-er, the solo album Where I live by Shurik'n (he appears on two tracks) or even on the 11'30 charity project against racist laws. He also published Mauvaise Graine in 1998 featuring Akhenaton on the Hostile Hip Hop 2 mixtape. In March 1999, Freeman released his first album entitled L'Palais de justice, which reached number 7 in the French charts. Produced largely by the members of IAM (Akhenaton, Imhotep, Shurik'n and Kheops), the album also includes appearances by rappers such as Pit Baccardi, Oxmo Puccino and K.Rhyme Le Roi who appears on the majority titles. Thus framed, Freeman managed to seduce the general public and his album was soon certified gold. On the other hand, in 2001, his second project, the mini-album Mars Eyes, was ranked 20th in the rankings. In 2002 and 2003, Freeman focused on the conception of IAM's album Revoir un Printemps. Present on almost all of the tracks (15 out of 18), he establishes himself as a rapper in his own right. In 2006, Freeman focused on personal projects (album Equality in Difference with K-Rhyme Le Roi, mixtape En Haut la Misère Pays) before the release of IAM's fifth album, named Saison 5. This disc marks a great decline for Freeman within the group, since he only appears on four tracks on the album, compared to almost all previously. This decline seems to reflect the open conflict between Freeman and the group's leader, Akhenaton. Absent from certain clips, he officially left IAM in the summer of 2008. He expressed his numerous criticisms, mainly towards Akhenaton, in an interview on the Orbeat website. Since leaving the group, Freeman has pursued a more confidential career. He notably released En Haut la Misère Pays, as well as Moi et Moi Seul, a joint album with the rapper Fossoyeur and the two-volume mixtape Hip-Hop for Life. Since 2012, he has notably published the album of the Puro collective, the album Phoenix, and in January 2013 a double mixtape entitled Chant de tir. He also collaborates with Alino and Morsay. The album Sous la mine was released on May 9, 2017. In 2021, Freeman approached L1dzirable (Krimo) with whom he created the group DZ² (DZ ô carré). From this collaboration will be born an album entitled "Plafond de verre" released on April 25, 2023, with the participation of Lil' Fame from the group MOP and Gilbert Montagné.