Aya Nakamura and Gazo crowned artists of the year at the Flames, rap trophies

Aya Nakamura and Gazo were crowned female and male artists of the year, during the first edition of the Flamestrophies dedicated to rap and its currents, on the night of Friday May 12 in Paris, at the Théâtre du Châtelet.

It’s a nice revenge for the Franco Malian, the most listened to French-speaking singer in the world, never rewarded with a major prize at the Victoires de la Musique. This last ceremony had only granted him a trophy for the most streamed artist in 2022, a purely statistical distinction not resulting from a decision of a jury. This time, this Flames award stems from the choice of jurors, music industry professionals in the rap/r’n’b/new pop sphere.

900 million views on YouTube

In January, the 28-year-old singer released ‘DNK’, her 4th album. His life changed with the release of “Djadja”, piece of 2018 to the planetary echo. This hit has more than 900 million views on YouTube and even got Madonna’s kids dancing, as seen on social media.

Gazo was crowned male artist, at the expense of favorites Dinos and Tiakola. “KMT”, his latest album, released in 2022, ranked 4th best seller in France last year. At 28 too, he is the worthy French representative of drill, this dark current of rap from Chicago. His first album in 2021 was also called “Drill FR”.

Other categories mixed jury and public vote. The Flames are intended as an alternative to the Victoires de la Musique, which under-represent rap and its currents in the awards.