Blacko French Rapper Born 1979 in Montfermeil

Early life

Blacko, whose birth name is Karl Appela, was born on 5 February 1979 in Montfermeil, in the Seine-Saint-Denis department of France. He is of Reunion Island origin. He began performing at the age of twelve, and at sixteen he sang with the American rapper Issa Dina. With friends in the south of France he formed a hip-hop crew called KDM, short for Killer du Microphone. After moving to Deuil-la-Barre in 1995, he became linked with the A.R. Possee group and later with Kaotik.

His early work also took in the collective Comite de Deuil, where he met Tunisiano. Out of that meeting came a character called Personnalite Suspecte, and his ragga-influenced style helped him stand out in the group's M Group piece "9.5.1.7.0.". He has also used the aliases Afrikaf, Tikaf Lakour, Solitary Lion and Black Renega.

Career

In 1997 Blacko joined the hip-hop group Sniper, after an appearance at the FrancoFolies festival in La Rochelle. The group was made up of Blacko, Tunisiano, Aketo and, at first, DJ Boudj, and it blended rap with reggae in its songs. Sniper's first two albums, Du rire aux larmes in 2001 and Grave dans la roche in 2003, were made with DJ Boudj. After he left, the remaining trio released Trait pour trait and A toute epreuve, both in 2006. Blacko remained in the group until July 2007, and a final tour that year closed its first period.

Even before Sniper ended, he had a hit through a collaboration with the group 113 on the track "Un jour de paix", released in 2005. Right after the group's split he was featured on Soprano's hit "Ferme les yeux et imagine toi", which gave him significant exposure as a solo artist. In 2009 he planned a first solo reggae album, Enfant du soleil, but his label Desh Musique refused to release it. He took part instead in Kool Shen's album Eldorado that year. In 2010 he released the 17-track Enfant du soleil online on his own, and he explained that the dispute reflected his move toward ragga and reggae. The disagreement with the label also led to legal proceedings.

At the end of 2011 he released a five-track EP, Instin Kaf, which was offered as a free download. His later listed releases include two albums dated 2015, Duality and Le temps est compte. His single "Le temps est compte" charted on the official French singles chart in 2014. Guest appearances include Dragon Davy's "Leur France" in 2007 and Atheena's "Femme de courage" in 2010. His music is classed as hip-hop.

Public roles

Blacko is best known as a member of Sniper, the group he belonged to from 1997 to 2007, and he has continued as a solo performer since leaving it. His YouTube channel had about 272,000 subscribers when counted in May 2025.