Ménélik

Ménélik (born Albert Tjamag on September 10, 1970 in Yaoundé, Cameroon) is a French rapper. Albert Tjamag came to France with his family in 1979, at the age of 9. In 1990, he met and befriended with Claude M'Barali (MC Solaar) at the university of Paris VIII Saint-Denis, and one year later, MC Solaar was starting his career with the song Bouge de là. From then, Tjamag took the stage name Ménélik to collaborate with his friend MC Solaar and some other artists, such as Jimmy Jay, RPM, and No Sé, quickly becoming famous on the rap jazz scene, before he released in 1995 his first album signed under Jimmy Jay Records, Phénoménélik, with the hit songs Tout baigne and Quelle aventure. Following the release of Phénoménélik, Ménélik performed on stage as the opening act in several MC Solaar lives, and toured in several countries of West Africa. The tour continued in Europe, USA, and Canada, and earned him a Victoire de la Musique in 1996, in the category "Male Revelation of the Year". His second album, Je me souviens, is released in 1997. The first single, Faut se lâcher, almost goes unnoticed and is a big disappointment in comparison to the success of Ménélik's first album. The second single, the album title track Je me souviens, is then released in order to boost the album sales by highlighting Ménélik's talent as a songwriter. While it somewhat manages to achieve its purpose, it won't be until the release of the third single, Bye Bye, which Ménélik's most successful song to date, that the album finally gets the success it deserves. Ménélik's next two albums, OQP (released in 2000) and E-Pop (Attitude) (2001), won't manage to achieve as much success. Afterwards, Ménélik decides to drop music for a while, still performing on stage from times to times, and dedicate himself to other hobbies, such as the creation of his own clothing line (Cuz Golf), graphic design, and motion design. In 2008, he changes his stage name to MNLK and makes his return to the music scene with a new album, MNLK Project. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.