Élie Thitia Yaffa (French pronunciation: [eli jafa]; born 9 December 1976), better known under his stage name Booba, is a French rapper.

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (April 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 6,158 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Booba]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|fr|Booba}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (August 2009)

Quick Facts Background information, Birth name ...

Booba
Booba in 2019 at Vieilles Charrues Festival
Background information
Birth name	Élie Thitia Yaffa[1]
Also known as	B2OBA B2O Kopp Le Duc de Boulogne (The Duke of Boulogne) Saddam Hauts-de-Seine
Born	(1976-12-09) 9 December 1976 (age 47) Sèvres, Île-de-France, France
Genres	French rap gangsta rap trap
Occupation(s)	Rapper
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Tallac Universal Barclay Because 45 Scientific Musicast l'Autreprod

Close

After a brief stint as a break dancer in the early 1990s, Booba partnered with his friend Ali to form Lunatic. The duo released a critically acclaimed album in 2000 but disbanded in 2003. Booba has since embarked on a successful solo career, selling more than 10 million discs over his career^[2] and becoming the most downloaded artist (legally) in France.^[3] Booba is praised for the quality of his flow and beats but often criticized because of the controversial nature of his lyrics. He has also established the rap label Tallac Records, and developed a line of jewellery.

Élie Yaffa was born on 9 December 1976 in the outskirts of Paris in Sèvres. His father is Senegalese and his mother is French of Mosellan and Belgian descent.

With his friend Ali they formed the duo Lunatic in 1994. Unable to secure a record deal from a major label because of their controversial lyrics, they created their own independent record label 45 Scientific in 1999. The following year, Lunatic released its first and only album entitled Mauvais œil.

In 2002, Booba released his debut solo album Temps mort. He followed this up with four further albums: Panthéon, Ouest Side (the most successful),^[4] 0.9 and Lunatic. In late 2012, he released his sixth solo album Futur. In whole, Booba has ten disks certified, six Disques d'Or (Gold album), three Disques de platine (Platinum album) and one Double disque de platine (Double-Platinum album).^[5] In 2011, Booba won the "My Youtube" contest, ahead of popular artists like Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Jay-Z, Sexion D'Assaut, Shakira, Stromae,...^[6]

Booba was influenced by the American hip-hop scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s – Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang Clan, 2Pac, and Biggie Smalls. Dark melodies accompanied with raw lyrics, typical of the rap from New York, are present on every album of his. He is often criticized for being an apologist for easy money and murder. Booba advocates a reduction in the taxes and claims himself in support of individual freedom.^[7] Racism is a recurring topic of his songs (see for example "Couleur ébène", "Pitbull", "Ma Couleur"), although he sometimes deliberately advocates communitarian positions.^[8]

Booba is also the creator of a streetwear brand, Ünkut, one of the most popular brands of this type in France.^[9][10]

• French hip hop
• List of French hip hop artists