Biography

Kamini Zantoko is a Black French musician and screenwriter.

Kamini's father—Seyolo Zantoko—and his family moved from Zaire to Marly-Gomont, France in 1975. They had difficulty assimilating as the first Black people in town. Kamini grew up there, and by the summer of 2006, was working part-time as a nurse. Seyolo died sometime prior to 2012.

Aspiring to make hip hop music, in 2006 he wrote about Marly-Gomont ("Marly-Gomont"). In his music video, made in late June on a budget of €100 (equivalent to €125 in 2022), he raps about farming and games with his friends and fellow villagers. On 30 August, Kamini uploaded the video and cold-emailed promotions to record companies; instead, a t-shirt retailer shared the link online, and by the end of the day, "Marly-Gomont" was a hit. Off the merits of his amateur viral video, Kamini signed with RCA Records on 2 November to publish "Marly-Gomont" and two more albums.

In 2012, Kamini wrote and narrated the autobiographical film The African Doctor (French: Bienvenue à Marly-Gomont, lit. 'Welcome to Marly-Gomont') to pay tribute to his father. It was released in 2016, directed by Julien Rambaldi.

Source: Article "Kamini (rapper)" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.