Grand Corps Malade

Grand Corps Malade
Grand Corps Malade in June 2006
Background information
Birth name	Fabien Marsaud
Born	(1977-07-31) 31 July 1977 Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France
Genres	Slam
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2003 – present
Labels	AZ
Website	www.grandcorpsmalade.com

Fabien Marsaud (born 31 July 1977 in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis), better known by his stage name Grand Corps Malade (also abbreviated GCM), is a French slam poet.

Biography

His father Jacques Marsaud was a communist activist, and a regional functionary and general secretary of the commune in Noisy-le-Sec and Saint-Denis and later on director general of services at Conseil général du Val-de-Marne and later in la Communauté d'agglomération Plaine-Commune.^[1] His mother was a librarian. They lived in Noisy-le-Sec.

Fabien excelled in his classes, particularly in literary courses and in sports, with sports becoming a passion of his, particularly playing basketball.^[2] He received offers to be on the youth development team of Toulouse, but preferred to stay in Saint-Denis. After playing in basketball teams in Nanterre and Saint Denis, he signed with a basketball team based in Aubervilliers, a northeastern suburb of Paris that had a team playing in Division 3 French basketball.^[3]

After his secondary education and baccalauréat, he got his Diplôme d'études universitaires générales (DEUG) in "Sciences et techniques des activités physiques et sportives" (Staps).

On 16 July 1997, during a sports camp where he was a supervisor, a diving accident in a swimming pool caused him to displace his spine; he was later told he would never walk again.^[4] However, in 1999, after a year of intensive treatment, he regained the ability to walk, inspiring his alias of Grand Corps Malade (meaning "Tall Sick Body" in French) in reference to his condition as well as his height (nearly 6'4" which is 1.95m).

Career

L'Olympia in Paris highlighting a Grand Corps Malade concert

Young Fabien started writing poetry at the age of 15. He made his first appearance as a slam artist in a bar at place de Clichy in Paris on October 23, 2003, where he recited "Cassiopée" his first artistic piece.^[5] Choosing the alias Grand Corps Malade, he took part in many slam events with Collectif 129H, and with John Pucc'Chocolat. In 2004, he conducted "Slam'Alikoum", a monthly feature at the "Café Culturel de Saint-Denis" with his friend John Pucc' He co-founded « "Le Cercle des Poètes sans Instru" that included 7 slam artists including John Pucc’, Droopy, Techa, the 129H members and himself.^[6]

He gained more fame in slam circles in 2005 through appearances at Reservoir, a club that featured upcoming artists like Jamel Comedy Club. He opened for Cheb Mami at Stade de France and for Mouss and Hakim at the "Boule Noire". Also in 2005, S Petit Nico, a friend of his, offered to make a musical track to accompany Marsaud's poetry.

Fabien Marsaud signed with AZ, the French label on which his debut album, Midi 20, was released on March 26, 2006 becoming a top 10 selling album for the year in France. He also started a grand tour with 120 dates to promote the album, including two sold-out concerts in La Cigale in Paris. Based largely on this success, on March 10, 2007, he won two Victoires de la Musique awards. He also appeared in many television shows and in Edouard Baer's Grand Cabaret.

In 2008, he released his second album Enfant de la ville. The same year he performed in the Festival d'été international de Québec, that signified his recognition and appeal throughout the French-language speaking world (the Francophony).

He also conducted many workshops to introduce youngsters in his community to slam poetry in Saint Denis and elsewhere. The result was a release of Génération Slam, a 9-track album in November 2008 by a diversified set of amateur slam artists.^[7]

2010 saw the release of his third studio album, 3ème temps with the song "Roméo kiffe Juliette", an adaptation from Shakespeare, with the two adolescent lovers transposed into a suburb of Paris, and the family divide transformed into a religious divide between a Jewish Juliette and the Muslim Roméo. In 2011, he released his single "Inch'Allah" featuring Reda Taliani, becoming his biggest successful single.

In 2013, he released his fourth, 13-track studio album Funambule after quitting his former label AZ and working with the independent label Believe Recording and Anouche Productions.^[8]

Discography

Albums

Others

• 2009: Midi 20 / Enfant de la ville (A rerelease - 2 CDs) (#189 FRA)

Singles

Non-charting singles

• 2006: "6e sens"
• 2008: "Les voyages en train"
• 2009: "Enfant de la ville"
• 2009: "Je viens de là"
• 2010: "Education nationale
• 2010: "Roméo kiffe Juliette"
• 2010: "Définitivement"

Songs featured in

• 2006: Song "Les trompettes de la renommée" as cover of Georges Brassens in the album Putain de toi
• 2007: Song "Juste une période de ma vie" as duo with Rouda in the album Musique des Lettres
• 2007: In two songs "Le Retour de Joe" and "Thème de Joe" on French band Dionysos album La mécanique du cœur
• 2008: In "Je m'écris" by Kery James featuring Grand Corps Malade & Zaho in Kery James' album À l'ombre du show business
• 2009: Co-wrote "L'ombre et la lumière" with Alana Fillipi on Calogero's album L'Embellie and appeared on a duet of the song with Calogero on the album
• 2010: In "Una Terranova" in duo with I Muvrini in the latter's album Gioia

Awards

• 2007: Victoires de la musique^[10]
  • Won "Album revelation of the year"
  • Won "Artist stage revelation of the year"
  • Nominated: "Artist revelation of the public"
• 2007: Nominated for Félix Award for "Francophone artist most illustrious in Quebec" at the ADISQ gala (Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo)
• 2008: Named "chevalier" at the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France^[11]
• 2009: Won Felix Award for "Francophone artist most illustrious in Quebec" at the gala of ADISQ

In popular culture

• In 2003, he took part in the Manuel Schapira short film Décroche where Grand Corps Malade does the introductory music and appears as himself.^[12]
• In 2007, in voiceover of an episode in the TV series Moot-Moot
• In 2007, French hip hop / jazz band Hocus Pocus mentioned him in the track "Place 54" on their similarly titled album Place 54.
• In 2007, French parody rap group Fatal Bazooka mentioned him in their album T'As Vu ? in a slam or in the track "Crêpes au froment" (a version of "Fous ta cagoule") in which they parody his name by saying "Vas-y dis leur toi aussi Grand Cul Malade!"
• In 2010, made voice of the character Rictus in the film Toy Story 3
• In 2010, French singer Dorothée in her show at l'Olympia in Paris introduced her song "Valise 2010", a slam, by giving her songwriter and friend Jean-Luc Azoulay the nickname "Grand Cerveau Malade" in reference to Grand Corps Malade
• His adopted name is used in parodies of paronymes and antonymes, like what happened in the program Groland in its parody "Petit Corps Normal", or by Fabrice Eboué in Jamel Comedy Club talking about Amelle Chahbi calling her "P'tit corps salade". He is also parodied in les Guignols de l'Info broadcast on Canal+

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grand Corps Malade.

• Official website (in French)
• YouTube
• Fansite (also in French)