He began his career at 19 years old when he decided to
join the now defunct supergroup LA CLIQUA. That's
where he first gave the public a taste of his writing
skills & smooth-as-butter flow, appearing on a few
records now considered classics in France: LA CLIQUA's
"Conu pour durer" (1995), ARSENAL RECORD's "Le vrai
hip hop" (1996), and ROCCA's "Entre deux mondes"
(1997). When he left the group, he changed his musical
approach & reinvented himself while staying true to
his CLIQUA's roots. His artistic growth could be
noticed on records like N.A.P.'s "La fin du monde",
ZONZON's original soundtrack, I.M.S.'s "La bible du
soldat", LORD KILLER's "Feat", PARIS-NEW
YORK-Marseille's compilation, and the list goes on...
In 1999, he finally dropped his long-awaited first EP
titled "Prlude l'odysse". When asked about the nature
of that record, he explained "I'm trying to bring some
fresh & authentic hip hop, talking about mature topics
while maintaining the rage & hunger from the streets".
He completed his EP trilogy with the releases of
critically acclaimed "Jungle Boogie" (2000) and"J'Entends Les Sirnes (Woop! Woop!)" (2001). All
produced by a bunch of up & coming beatmakers
(Caserio, Funky Maestro, Stix, Jee2Tuluz & Kohndo
himself), these records were a breathe of fresh air in
a rap world saturated with senseless violence & thug
fantasies. In the beginning of 2003, he finally
dropped his first full length LP, the aptly titled
"Tout Est Ecrit". Armed with his witty wordplay &
sharp lyricism, he kicked what some would call "urban
poetry" over jazz & soul-tainted beats. Often cited as
a masterpiece, this album helped him consolidate his
position on French rap's map, showing people that even
if he had almost 10 years of rapping behind him, the
best was yet to come. As a way to thank his devoted
fans & remind others who he was, KOHNDO released a 19
tracks LP called "Blind Test" at the end of 2004. A
cross between a Best-Of album and what Nas did with
his "Lost Tapes" CD, this album mixed together classic
tracks from his previous EP's, alternative versions of
a few tracks from "Tout Est Ecrit", plus a bunch of
new & unreleased joints.
