OrelSan Tickets

OrelSan In Concert

Born Aurélien Cotentin, the French rapper known as OrelSan first fell under the sway of hip-hop as a basketball-playing teen growing up in Normandy. Initially, his fascination with the music inspired him to translate the lyrics of favorite American rappers like Chuck D and rap them in French just for fun.

After spending a year studying abroad at the University of Tampa, he returned to France to pursue his musical dreams in earnest. His debut release was a mixtape, ‘Fantasy: Episode 1,' recorded with fellow MC Gringe under the name Casseurs Flowters, but the partnership was put on pause as they each pursued solo careers. 

In 2007, OrelSan raised eyebrows with his video for the track "St Valentin," a low-budget parody of porn websites. The single effectively branded OrelSan the French Eminem, thanks to the frantic, rapid-fire flow and accusations of misogynistic lyrics that spurred an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to have the rapper removed from the lineup of the 2009 Printemps de Bourges festival.

The controversy only amplified his notoriety — OrelSan's 2009 debut album ‘Perdu d'avance' scored a nomination for France's Prix Constantin award and won him the MTV Europe Music Award for Best French Act. 

The freaky electronic boom-bap beats of 2011 single "RaelSan" showed a boldly experimental creative vision. His reunion with Gringe in Casseurs Flowters yielded playful, pop-friendly jams like "15h02" and a semi-autobiographical comedy feature film (2015's Comment c'est loin) about their adventures in and out of the studio. 

His star in full flight, OrelSan's next solo album — ‘La fête est finie' — debuted at No. 1 on the French album charts. It featured hit single "La pluie" (a sax-sweetened match-up with Belgian MC Stromae) and collaborations with grime legend Dizzee Rascal and French future-soul duo Ibeyi. 

A greatly expanded edition of the record, ‘La fête est finie — EPILOGUE,' was given a surprise release in 2018. It yielded another hit single collaboration, the twitchy "Rêves bizarres" with Belgian Congolese rapper Damso.