Freeze Corleone

Corleone was born in Les Lilas in Seine-Saint-Denis to a Senegalese father and an Italian mother.^[4] In an interview with Les Inrocks, he claims to have spent his early years in Pantin, before attending high school in Dakar, Senegal.^[5]

On September 11, 2020, Freeze Corleone released his first studio album, LMF (La Menace Fantôme). The album reached #2 on the French charts^[6] and was certified gold three weeks after its release.^[7]

Following the release of this album, the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism pointed to numerous remarks deemed antisemitic in his lyrics and to Corleone's "obsession with Jews".^[8] On September 17, 2020, following a report by Frédéric Potier, the inter-ministerial delegate for the fight against racism, antisemitism and anti-LGBT hatred, the Paris public prosecutor's office announced that it was opening "an investigation into various video clips and songs by Freeze Corleone on charges of provocation to racial hatred and racist insult".^[9] On September 18, 2020, Universal Music announced it was ending its collaboration with the rapper.^[10]

In May 2021, LMF was certified platinum. In March 2022, it was certified double platinum.^[11]

A concert scheduled for December 2022 in Montreal was cancelled in November 2022, "presumably following pressure from the B'nai Brith organization", which deemed his lyrics antisemitic, according to the Canadian newspaper La Presse.^[12] Corleone reacted to the cancellation by posting three dragon emojis on Twitter. According to L'Abcdr du son, this was "a cryptic way of blaming Jews for the cancellation, via a roundabout reference to the manga One Piece, where 'celestial dragons' are superior beings".^[13]

In February 2023, The New York Times published an investigation into the secret signing of Freeze Corleone under BMG Rights Management despite the controversy caused by the release of LMF. The agreement involved Freeze Corleone being signed to the label without any explicit mention of it on his records. BMG intended to release Freeze Corleone's album Riyad Sadio before ultimately deciding to backpedal on the contract and cancel it.^[14]

On 28 February 2023, a concert scheduled to take place in Rennes was banned by municipal decree, citing his lyrics as "veritable provocations and incitements to hatred and even violence". Corleone responded by sharing a speech by Louis Farrakhan, in which the leader of the Nation of Islam denied being antisemitic.^[15] On 11 March 2023, Freeze Corleone obtained the suspension of the municipal decree. Municipal authorities announced that they would lodge an appeal with the Conseil d'Etat.^[16]