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Hey!

I don't even know Where to start

Ninho! Ninho! Ninho!

Ninho, an inspiring rise.

Ninho, the rapper who's broken every record.

People ask, "Who's that guy?"

I'm that young Black guy Driven since I was a kid

My life is a Gaumont movie

He's blessed.

When God gives you a gift, you take it all the way.

Staggering sales figures.

Ninho has racked up 200 gold-certified singles,

150 platinum singles, and 80 diamond singles.

I must say, you've set unprecedented records.

You've sold 3 million albums,

your videos have over 3 billion views on YouTube,

and you have nearly 5 million followers on Instagram.

Our generation's Johnny Hallyday.

He defined an era.

I'm fed up Let's turn off the lights

Ninho announces he's ending his music career.

He wanted to make music, not be a celebrity.

Sometimes I feel I've said too much

Sometimes I feel like we're cursed

You're a symbol of success, fame and money.

People envy you.

That's when it gets dangerous. It can blow up at any time.

I won't make another album. I don't want to. I'm done

-It's our livelihood. -Why should I? I'm quitting rap.

It's over. Don't film this.

Ninho is the most streamed French artist,

dethroning the all-time champion, Johnny Hallyday.

Who am I rapping for? My fans.

Fame, paranoia

I wanted to quit rap 10 years ago.

But I kept going for the people.

But I lost interest a long time ago.

I'm tired these days I'm praying, they're losing it

I have had enough

William?

William Nzobazola,

aka Ninho.

And NI to my friends. Like "Johnny."

I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Reality with no taboos No drama

One man's loss is another man's gain

NINHO: FAME AIN'T WORTH IT

MY REDEEMER LIVES

What's up, fam.

We're at my mom's.

It's the real deal, right?

Oh yeah, pondu's the real deal.

Yummy, huh?

I've got a suitcase full of photos

from when I was a photographer that I need to sort through.

He was a nice kid.

A nice little guy.

William, look at this picture.

He didn't even want it.

All right! That one hurts.

Check out the kicks.

I'm wearing overalls.

Bro, I can't even…

I'll show you better pictures.

-The tapes… -We need to find the tapes.

Remember, from when we were kids?

-Yeah. -Yeah.

I don't know where they are.

PARIS SUBURBS

Here comes William!

-William, they say you're short. -I'm short.

Where I grew up, in the Tournelles neighborhood in Yerres…

It's a family neighborhood. There's not many of us.

Everyone knows everyone.

I had a wonderful childhood, honestly.

My mom was amazing.

For real.

You have to grow!

See how handsome he was? My son.

NINHO'S MOTHER

He grew up in a tight-knit family.

Very close with his sister, Bény.

What I love about him is that he kept his childlike spirit.

I've always been a kid at heart. I never grew up. Hence "Ninho."

He was that kid with headphones on, listening to music from a very young age.

I would say, "No, you'll ruin your hearing!"

My mom is a very religious woman.

She sees music as a distraction.

I always told myself,

"My kids will never be in the music business."

"Or in the drug business."

The word of God softens the heart. He shows us the way.

So I really wanted my children to be religious.

We went to church every week. We had no choice.

I didn't get the point of going to church every Sunday.

Putting on a shirt and all that.

I mostly prayed to have the same lifestyle as rappers I listened to.

Mom, where are the other photos?

When I was little, I lived with Hös Copperfield.

That's Hös. Already had an attitude. He'd just arrived from Congo.

Who are you in relation to Ninho?

What do you mean?!

NINHO'S COUSIN AND MANAGER

Hös Copperfield. Ninho's manager, and he's my cousin.

I was born in Congo.

Moved to France when I was seven. Ninho was four.

I'm with him all the time.

Hös, the cousin and partner in crime.

Every time they hung out, they'd hole up in Hös' bedroom to listen to music.

I'd say, "Hey, listen to this track, it's dope."

He'd put in a CD.

Yeah, man That's our life

Zip code 94 400 Vitry

We discovered rap in the 2000s. It was so good.

He listened, connected.

Rohff, Booba, La Fouine, Sniper, Salif, 113, Mafia K-1 Fry…

When I was in fifth grade, everyone listened to rap.

Older kids hung out in the hall.

From crooks in lobbies To crooks in town hall

Everyone had their car doors open.

We're all Vitry people Even if it's not easy every day

I want to be prince of my city

We're young and ambitious Sometimes nasty

Don't forget you can be The prince of the city if you want

Wherever you want Whenever you want

Whenever you want

And then MP3s arrived.

We could listen to rap all day long.

MP3 in bed, MP3 outside, MP3 on the bike.

Illegal downloads from eMule.

I was a real music head.

eMule, MP3, eMule, MP3, eMule. I was a rap student.

And one summer, I listened to the tracks over and over again.

To study the delivery of the rhymes, the patterns. To study the flow.

One of my cousins told me,

"If you're making music, you set the pace for the beat."

"Slow it down, speed it up. You in control."

He made me listen to cats like Twista.

I wish the way I was living could stop Serving rocks

Knowing the cops is hot When I'm on the block, and I

The way he'd fire off. "Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta."

Okay, there's guys like that.

There's also guys who are a bit more laid-back. Lots of styles.

That's when I realized rap was awesome.

"I need to do this."

You end up on the floor We'll clean you up

You can't find your KX We've got it

I stay zen, I stay Z Skidding with my YZ

My rhymes disturb you Ninho has you beat

In a face-off You'll end up on the ground

Yo, I'm gonna kill it Call me Terminator

Holy shit!

Sharing the same passion for rap bonded us immediately.

If you stay, you're dead If you leave, you're dead

Watch out You could meet some bad boys

Act smart and you'll end up alone All out of luck

Am I handsome or what? How did Ninho and I meet?

I was already making music on my own.

One day he came up to me, and asked, "Are you a rapper?"

"Me too. Come to my place when my dad's out."

"We'll make some music and cut a track."

That was the first real conversation I had with Ninho.

Back then, we pretty much only talked about rap.

How old were you?

I was 14, he was maybe 11. Yeah, really young.

His look was hoodie,

sky blue Eastpak backpack.

It was bigger than him.

He stayed short for a long time.

That's how he got his name.

That little guy was like, "Yeah, I'm a rapper."

Those who want To see me succeed, said keep going

Those who want money Said, I'll sell you a few bars

I took him seriously right away

because rapping wasn't common back then.

In Yerres, there was a room that was the neighborhood's studio.

Are you filming?

Yeah, guys.

It was 10 euros an hour. He'd hit people up,

"Do you have money for a soda?"

He'd ask everyone and in the end, he wouldn't buy the soda.

That's how he paid for his studio sessions.

Leave me alone, cuz.

Before William got into it, I knew nothing about rap.

We didn't listen to a lot of music at home.

Even though his father was an artist too.

Thank you.

And now, music.

My love of music wasn't random.

My dad was a musician when I was a kid.

Mama, I was made for him

He's in my blood My brothers and sisters

When I met William's father, Mr. Serge Nzobazola Lenvo Kiambukuta…

Have mercy

He was a college friend of my sister, Hös's mom.

So we spent time at my house as friends until he asked me to marry him.

It wasn't easy for our parents, or for me, honestly, because he was a musician.

"Have Mercy." I remember that one.

HAVE MERCY

Ah, the Desert Storm. Of course, 'cause it's unstoppable.

Yeah.

If you're Congolese, you're raised on music from day one.

I feel he really loved it.

I'm from Mali, but I grew up with Congolese music.

Pépé Kallé, Aurlus Mabélé, Koffi.

Growing up that way, you naturally carry it into adulthood.

You can't help it.

In African sociology, the surest way to reach…

NINHO'S FATHER

…as many people as possible, is through songs.

I didn't like it. He was educated.

He had real potential.

He was intelligent so I wanted him to use his brain for something else.

I wanted him to quit. It was hard because he loved music.

He loved me, so we got married in Kinshasa

and we came to France a few months after the wedding

to settle here.

His dream was to make music.

He gave it up for us, had to drop everything,

move to another country and find a job.

We come from a good family.

Our parents are educated. They went to college.

Back home, we had big houses, household staff.

But then we had to move to France because of the war.

Lissouba is gone.

You go from living in a nice home straight to the projects.

Our living conditions sucked.

I'd see my mom crying over the mail and I didn't get it at first.

I opened a letter once and that's when I realized

she hadn't paid rent that month.

They didn't have everything, but we tried our best to make them happy.

And I think they were happy with the little we did have.

My mother had a nursing degree in Congo.

When she got to France,

they told her the degree was worthless so she had to start over.

There was a big table with lots of books.

She'd say, "I'm learning it all over

so I can take the exam and be a nurse again."

"This time in France."

She worked mornings. She worked nights.

Sometimes, juggling two jobs.

She'd sleep from 2 p.m. 'till 5, then she'd be up again.

Go back in at 10 p.m. and work until 6 a.m. Insane.

They're role models because we see them get up

work hard, trying to give us the best.

We wanted to outdo them.

Same as they did, coming from Africa for a better life.

NINHO'S FRIEND

Our parents came from Africa with one goal.

They worked to put food on the table every day

and to put a roof over our heads.

Our parents broke their backs for years.

We grew up with a different mindset, you know?

When I arrived to the Tournelles,

we had to live with his mom, my mom, his sister, my sister, him and me.

But his mom's real strict.

The education they received at home

and the education they got from the outside world were sometimes at odds.

You know, with young people, you always have to keep an eye out.

The Tournelles, near Yerres, in the 91.

It's a nice, quiet city, but we're on the poor side.

There are two main projects, Sablière and Tournelles.

The Tournelles neighborhood is the city's trouble spot.

We had beef with other cities too.

S.D.T stands for?

-Soldier of the Tournelles. -What?

Soldier of the Tournelles.

RAPPER

When we were young, there was a lot of senseless violence.

We would look for fights.

Because we had to be cool like our big brothers.

And they were the legends.

"He did this, he stabbed that guy, and he did that…"

We fed off those myths.

So we had to get into trouble too.

Make a name for ourselves. It was a vicious cycle.

We were like, "You can't come here, it's our territory."

Very tribal.

But it's our reality.

That's how things work in the 91.

It's about honor. Turf wars. For no real reason.

It's sad, because when you're caught in that cycle,

you don't think about your parents,

who are grinding, going to work at the crack of dawn

just to feed you, while you're out there

getting into fights so you can represent Jean-Paul Sartre street or whatever.

Sometimes, you don't even know why you're fighting.

Basically, you do it because

the generation before you, the ones before us, you know,

from around 1985, they started it. We have to finish it.

That's just the life in the projects.

-Two rival gangs. -Two rival gangs.

Tragedy in Évry.

A teenager killed in the middle of a shopping mall,

shot by a young man from a rival gang.

Rival gangs from Corbeil and Évry trade threats.

Tensions rise.

The young Synan is shot in the throat and dies. He was 17.

Do something, kids. Wake up! He died for nothing.

He probably thought,

"I've already stabbed a guy. I might as well stab another one."

You know what I mean?

It's a downward spiral that starts with little things.

Then it snowballs and ends in murder.

Two similar neighborhoods separated by an invisible barrier.

Kids from the Nacelle hood think it's their turf.

The Tarterêts kids think it's theirs, and so on…

Everyone feels like they have to protect their territory and…

It doesn't end well.

More people will die,

and we can't let that happen.

Because I don't want to be the next one dead.

We were young. I was 14.

We had beef with the guys from nearby all the time.

We would show up to their school and grab the first one out the door.

And it became routine, really…

But it backfired…

Big time.

Ninho and his friends had a run-in earlier that day

with some guys from the hood next door.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

So Ninho's friends decided to show up at their high school.

It was crowded.

School was letting out. And suddenly, I see a van.

I tell my buddies, "Hey, see that? It's them."

"What do you mean?"

"See that white van over there? That's them."

Before we even realize, boom, they opened the doors.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

He's alone facing dudes who are way bigger than him.

He was surrounded.

He tells them, "Wait, I'll call my boys. Otherwise, it's unfair."

And the guy says, "You think this is a movie?"

He punched him.

I ran into the forest, because I was outnumbered.

I see them behind me and a girl yells, "Now you're running, bitch!"

That didn't sit well with me.

I turn around. First punch, second, third.

A rock. Then in my brain, everything went black.

He got stabbed with knives, screwdrivers, all kinds of crazy stuff.

They knocked all his teeth out.

You know?

And buried him.

Even though he was already out cold…

Never mind. Anyway.

They did a number on him.

For real.

And by God's grace,

there was a class of kids on a nature walk, and they found him.

Had they not been there, we wouldn't be talking right now.

Yeah, we wouldn't.

First responders arrived.

Realized how serious it was and told his parents

if he stayed out there for another hour, buried like that,

he'd be dead.

Hey!

Everything went black After the burial

Hey!

We drove like maniacs to the ER.

Once we got there…

They told me, "You can't come in. He's in bad shape."

I said, "I'm a nurse, I want to see my son."

I went to his room. And…

I was furious to see my son like that.

We go into his room and we see William lying there.

I was like, "Damn."

I was pissed. You know?

Pissed at those who did this to him.

His nose was broken.

He also had a fracture on his skull.

That was the most worrying.

The doctors told me,

"If you pray, pray, because with the opening he has in the cranial floor,

if any air gets through, he'll become a vegetable."

William?

I woke up, I heard beep-beep.

-William? -Beep-beep.

Tubes everywhere.

"How long have I been here?"

My mom was on the floor.

-He has to wake up! -I was hearing crazy stuff.

No, it can't be, he needs to wake up!

I opened my eyes and I closed them again.

I was so ashamed, I wanted to hide.

How could I explain this? She thought I was at school.

There were more than 71 skull fractures.

They told me, "Your face has changed."

"Lie back down."

"Tomorrow, we'll make you walk a little,

and the day after tomorrow, we'll show you your face."

I started losing it.

I'm in a room with no mirror.

And everyone who comes in freaks out when they see me.

They're like, "Damn!"

He was a good-looking kid,

but now his teeth are completely gone, you know.

He's lying in bed and he's disfigured, bro.

I mean, his face was…

"Hold on. What's wrong with my face?"

I got up, I fell down.

They tell me not to get up again.

I couldn't take it. "Show me my face."

Then I saw it and I was like, "Holy fucking shit. Wow."

It was hard for him.

The first time he looked in the mirror, he told me, "They're cowards."

"They were twelve against one."

As a mother, I was full of hatred.

And I think that…

I sinned in my thoughts and words.

I wanted to kill them.

It changed, man…

my whole life.

Even my rap changed.

As soon as Ninho got out of the hospital, he wanted to make music.

"Let's go to the studio, cut a track." We called it "Rap Little, but Rap Well."

Now I'm 15. I just went through a bizarre time.

I have so much to say.

So it's a different style of rap, more mature.

'Cause I'm going through stuff.

When he goes into the booth, he still has issues with his teeth.

It was hard to understand what he was saying.

But he was determined.

Shooting real bullets In the zoo

If the police chief is a smart ass We'll shoot him

It smells like money Don't worry, we got a nose for it

Y-E-R-R-E-S We're a gang in every sense of the word

He starts his verse with…

You might have a Magnum But you're not a real man

A bad nombo.

It's slang for tough guy.

A weapon doesn't make you tough.

We use metaphors, we're poets.

In our own way.

I make dirty rap It's really filthy

If you run after money No wonder you've got asthma

Friends, there aren't many I got that very early on

Always lots of problems But we keep our heads up

Today

It was hard for us to stay in Yerres.

And to cross the forest, where he'd been beaten up.

We wanted to protect him.

So we moved soon after.

My father said we were not going far.

Brunoy, then Combs-la-Ville.

We drove past Melun. "You said it wasn't far."

"No, just a bit further."

We keep going. Fontainebleau. "Where are we?"

He said, "Even farther."

"In the 77th department."

"At least there, you won't have any problems."

Nemours.

It's just as bad in Nemours.

People don't get killed in Nemours but other than that,

it's the same.

We sell drugs, we fight, we steal.

You can go up, down, east, west.

As long as those towers are up, those bricks, there will be poverty.

Ninho and I met at school.

On the first day, he asked me for some paper

to roll a little joint. I gave him one.

We hit it off straight away.

We did all the stupid things together.

I can't really… My mom's gonna see this.

She has no idea.

We used to sell a lot of hash back then.

At school and in the hood.

It was the only way we could make some money.

We didn't think about the consequences.

We did that for a long time.

From when we were 16 until he made it.

It was nonstop for four years. A full-time job.

He even has a song called "Full-time,"

which sums up our whole life back then.

Our songs reflect our lives.

You think we're playin'? A pump-action cools down the tough guys

I saw and I learned By hanging out in the hall

For just about two grand A so-called friend will backstab you

A million five in the bag and I'm set A million five in the bag and I'm set

Noon to midnight Gotta keep the biz running

Full-time, full-time We're full-time

Noon to midnight We're full-time

Honestly, we lived day to day.

We didn't have any plans for the future.

It could end at any moment. I could go to jail.

Or I could get killed by a hater, you know what I'm saying.

It wasn't a very pleasant time, I'm not gonna lie.

It's not my thing, really.

I'm not cut out for that.

I felt the need to slow things down and focus on my music.

If you make pop music, you make money.

You can pay your rent.

RAPPER

You'll have food every day.

But as a rapper, you start with nothing.

Rap isn't a rich man's game.

It's a poor man's thing.

You're on the stoop, freestyling with your boys.

Then you go to the studio. Then you make a music video.

That's if you're lucky.

Only if the freestyle's good.

Only if your boys believed in you.

Like, maybe you couldn't even pay the cameraman,

but the cameraman just says, "I really dig it."

"You don't need to pay me."

You know what I'm saying?

I hang out in the streets But no, I don't snitch

I work my ass off But it doesn't pay off

The first thing you need when you make music at that age

is good guidance.

A good studio where you can go every day, to work and improve.

And that's when Mal Luné entered the picture.

We were doing our thing in our corner.

There was this guy in our hood called Nice.

He was a sound engineer, and a rapper. He was a big deal.

His brother Quick was a DJ.

They'd been in the game for a while.

As we start getting our names out there,

Quick noticed and took an interest in Ninho.

He wants to produce him in his studio in Saint-Maur.

He had huge speakers.

A mic. A clock.

It's serious business. It's a real studio.

The kind where you take pictures, all chill, you know. Bam.

It was a big relief not having to pay for the studio.

It made things easier.

The studio's free.

Since we're from the same hood, we trust them, obviously.

One day, I called him and asked if he still had his studio.

He said, "Yeah, come."

I told him I'd bring my song,

"This is N.I.N."

I grabbed my bike and my demos.

He listened.

These big fags are real victims

For real I'm not gonna play the victim

The flow, the phrasing, the technique

-Chorus was catchy. -It's N-I-N

Let me hear N-I-N

He said, "Honestly, you need to make an album."

Something classic, with an intro, 15 tracks and an outro.

And from there, I said, "Okay. You take care of everything else."

"You're the manager and producer, I'll just make music."

So then I had to finish my album

and study for my high school diploma at the same time. Wasn't easy.

The day before the finals, Mal Luné offered me

to freestyle on Générations radio.

I was like, "Live on the radio?"

"The day before my finals?"

"You know what? Tomorrow, I'll just wing it."

I took my stuff, got on a train.

Everyone on the train was studying.

I saw people everywhere sitting with books on their laps.

Talking like, "Hey, did you cover that topic?"

I was like, "Shit, what am I doing? I'm insane!"

I get to the station. Wondering,

"What do I do? Study? I know nothing. Or drop a fire freestyle?"

Make one mistake We'll fuck you up, read the protocol

Fuck the BAC, the judge and Fleury Homies need to be free

Listen, follow me If you want a big track

Silent in the slammer OPJ does all the talking

Blood and a rage joint That makes for a hardcore track

Born in the hood At the station, we'll deny it all

My soldiers keep watch My customers take a walk

What a paradox, life didn't spare me

It was our first time on the radio. We felt like kids.

It was incredible. Ninho's no longer that little boy.

Caught red-handed

Dodge the BAC Study for the finals

Work's intense Barely sleep

Swimming without drowning Like Laure Manaudou

You know, in City of God when Dadhino shows up and says,

"Shut up. Call me Zé Pequeno now, motherfucker."

That's what Ninho did.

He's in the house now. He means business.

People heard that and thought, "This shit's sick."

One name to remember, Ninho. He's the future of tomorrow.

Are we breaking through or what?

Ninho starts blowing up. People everywhere are listening.

We release I.S.P.A.C Volume 1.

It flopped, so I decided to make I.S.P.A.C. Volume 2.

People like it.

I'm proud. He's my cousin.

That's my cousin!

The other cousins told our aunts, who told our parents, who told his mother.

One night on a shift, a colleague comes up to me and says,

"I saw William's video." I reply, "William?"

"No, it can't have been my son. You've got the wrong person."

-So she shows me the video. May I? -Sure.

Hey! Yes!

Ooh! Ooh! Binks, binks!

Two bullets in 10 minutes

The bag is shrinking

We're far from a million Dealers, dealers, dealers

Dealers, dealers, dealers

Dealers, dealers, dealers

Dealers, dealers, dealers

Full-time

Full-time

Full-time

Noon to midnight, full-time

I thought he was losing his way.

She was devastated.

I loved her so much, I couldn't tell her.

I lost my son.

She was like, "No way."

She managed to get my dad to quit music,

and then their son followed in his footsteps.

It was the saddest moment of my life.

Yeah.

I felt like I failed at raising my son.

I worked myself to the bone. I struggled.

I took every job so my children could get an education.

We did everything so they'd have a better life than we had.

Then my dad called,

"Your mom said you want to make music now."

I replied, "Yeah." "Who are your managers?"

I said, "Guys who've got my back."

He said, "Let's set a date so I can meet them."

These two producers came over to our house

and talked with us for a bit.

I told them I wasn't on board.

And I think Nice explained it well.

He said…

"You know, ma'am, at this point, the best thing is to support him."

"You can say no, but he'll do it behind your back anyway."

We can't let this go to waste. I had some good tracks.

We recorded "Tell Me You Love Me."

They said, "Give him the chance."

"If it works out, great."

"If not, he has his high school diploma, he can still take another path."

My father understood that I was serious.

He gave me a year.

And still, he told me, "It's good. Keep going."

Then he went back to Congo.

After his father left, it was like he'd been…

set free.

When he left, I said, "I'll go to the studio every day."

I'm not pretending

Eve and Adam, obviously

My mom saw me less and less. And then I was gone.

I lock myself in the studio They said it shaped me

We'll listen to the gossip I sleep in bad conditions

I was very upset when he moved out.

Here we are in the studio. This is the lab where we work.

I'll show you my room.

And so he left Nemours and decided he'd do nothing but that.

It's just rap now. He's living in a box, no shower.

Borderline homeless. All for rap's sake.

I told you to be careful, Ninho.

Always listening to beats.

You can't buy balls We work all day

Lacoste tracksuit to go to the coast The cops…

It's like a training center.

For a rapper, it's all about the studio.

Living there, I learned to work a lot faster.

Mal Luné gave him structure and support.

And Ninho, he's relentless.

-I write two or three songs a day. -Start over.

-Ten songs in four days. -Again.

Finish.

Again. Now that's good.

I made an album.

And it's coming out soon.

M. I. L. S.

We were talking on the train to Paris and he said,

"Leave everything and follow me. I'll take care of the rest."

I dropped everything.

I stopped selling drugs and left Nemours.

From that day on, no going back.

Three grams, three cigs

I might die like Malcolm

Phillipp Plein, René Lacoste

Will lead us into drugs

I don't forget, but I forgive

Suspicious, suspicious A mobster like Al Capone

FOUNDER OF THE REC 118 LABEL

When I launched Rec 118 at Warner,

the first artist I wanted to sign was Ninho.

When I saw him freestyle, what stood out first was his stage presence.

Number ten like Pelé I swear you're no match

Then, his technique.

Half-volley strike

N. I. N at the wheel It's gotta pay off

His incredible flow. And that energy.

I started digging, digging, digging.

And I thought, "Wow, he's special."

So I got in touch with Mal Luné to sign Ninho.

First meeting, all three showed up.

Quick, Nice and Ninho.

The three of them were building something together.

They seemed like hard workers.

At the time, I didn't necessarily see much commercial potential.

I just saw artistic potential.

But I took a leap of faith to let it grow.

It might take a while but eventually, something would click.

Stay cool when you're drunk

You can find Ninho in the stores. M-I-L-S.

Back then, the French rap scene…

I wouldn't say we were going through a crisis 'cause…

French rap is still very present,

but it has little monetary value to it

because the audience is mostly young,

so it naturally became the type of music most hit by piracy.

Physical sales are low,

because the audience for this type of music

are downloading it illegally.

So the consumption is there but no money's being actually made.

Artists are now releasing their albums online

through streaming platforms

meaning their music is digitally available.

How much power do streaming platforms hold today?

The answer is, enormous power.

-Deezer. -Spotify.

Streaming accounts for 60% of the music industry's revenue.

It's become the antidote to the piracy that once crippled the industry.

In the summer of 2016, the French music industry decided

that in order to count the official album sales,

they also had to include audio streaming.

It's a revolution for the whole industry, and in particular for urban music.

Can streaming really save the music industry?

The online listening model is booming.

With its algorithms, this software analyzes our listening habits

to recommend artists that match our tastes.

As a result, the market is quickly dominated by the trendiest sounds.

It's like in the 60s with the arrival of the 45,

except now it's rap music with streaming services.

This is where young people, streaming platforms and trendy music meet.

And suddenly, rap is everywhere, after it's been overlooked

by the media and record labels for 10, 20 years.

And today, rap is flipping off traditional media,

because it doesn't need them anymore.

Streaming is a game-changer

because it's mostly young people who stream.

So it favors the genres that young people listen to.

NINHO'S LAWYER

Her back hurts When I fuck her

Her back hurts when I fuck her

A rap album is going to be streamed multiple times,

not just once.

That's the difference with physical sales

because you usually buy an album that one time.

You can listen to it 500 times and it won't affect the artist's earnings.

But with streaming, every listen is a new stream.

So take a rap audience, for example,

a group that is constantly listening

to music, streaming all day long, everywhere.

This generates a high number of streams and significant earnings.

So suddenly, these artists who make rap and urban music,

they start racking up certifications.

Gold, platinum, diamond records.

Monetizing an audience that was already there.

And Ninho lands right at that time.

We signed the contract with Mal Luné and Ninho in April 2016.

And M. I. L. S took off much faster than expected.

I'd say by November 2016,

we were at almost 50,000 albums from streaming alone.

We sold 100,000 albums of M.I.L.S 2.0 in a few weeks.

300,000 albums of Comme prévu.

That's 500,000 albums in 18 months.

Here's your reward. A little something extra.

He was one of the first artists to benefit from this new counting method.

Ninho, double platinum!

He's also one of the first who seemed to come out of nowhere

and land in the spotlight.

Had that rule been introduced three years later,

he might not have gained so much visibility.

But that's how it played out. Call it grace.

I've dreamed Of a gold record so much

It keeps me up all night

Life's a bitch You can't be bitching to tame it

"Binks to Binks."

It smells of cash Cash

It smells of cash

Maybe I'm so driven That I've left them behind

The hardest part is doing it Not thinking about it

Do you realize what's going on?

For the first time, we experience fame, money, Paris, so many things.

We're just dudes from the Tournelles hood.

That's it.

Cash! Yeah!

It smells of cash Cash

Cash

It smells of cash Cash

Right? Cash Cash

It smells of cash

Cash

The summer of 2018 was a turning point.

He started making hit songs.

Va Binks.

Look at the life we lead

Look

Soon I'll go to heaven To join Rimkus, young Lamine

Look at the life we lead We did this for the fam

We always used to play dirty Our parents would pray

Forgive me if I'm not there I'm chasing thousands

All together!

Nothing easy about easy money Zé Pequeno fascinates me

.357 Magnum, no grappling

The cops showed up, we escaped Midnight, drunk on champagne

Tomorrow I'll be in the Seychelles

Destin was a huge turning point.

It's the album that confirms he's the GOAT.

He proved he could reach a wide audience.

The week Destin came out, I think we broke the record

for the most streamed album.

No album had ever had that many streams in its first week.

On Apple Music,

you've got the top albums and the top most-streamed singles.

It was the first time I'd seen that in France.

Every song in Apple's Top 20 Singles

was nothing but Ninho tracks from that album.

One, two, three, four. I took a screenshot.

I sent it to my team and said,

"We're onto something here."

Ninho's album Destin.

Ninho, numbers so massive they'll make your head spin.

N.I.!

Destin sold over 1 million copies.

Ninho, the rapper who broke every record.

He's the first French artist to reach numbers like these,

beating out Johnny Hallyday for the top spot.

This is Johnny

Destin is the story of a guy who dreams of being a rapper,

who then becomes a rapper,

and who talks about how disappointing success feels.

Mom I know you were right

Success and fame attract demons

But I get it I make it and I stash it

And in a few years I'll cut the ties

M. I. L. S. and Comme prévu

are about the underside of being a drug dealer.

Starting with Destin, he talks about the underside

of being a stream dealer.

It's about the disappointments and melancholy it can bring,

because your life changes.

And how you can't live your life so innocently anymore.

I think it was fate

You lose your innocence.

The crib is filled With gold records

The old man is more than on board

There's a black heart Beneath that jacket

How can we stay cool?

He acknowledges the sadness he felt once he reached the top.

That's what a rapper does.

He owns his emotions.

As rappers, we tell you the real story.

Your hood, your failures, every time you fell.

That is the real beauty of today's music.

It's this ability to describe something so personal, in that way,

that lets him reach something universal and touch so many people.

Knowledge is a weapon And my head was full of ammunition

If you're ready to win It means you're ready to lose

This is about our lives, bro

So I'm always grinding

We give you the good stuff And the next straw is the final one

I think the greatest rap albums come from pain.

How many hardships do I have to endure to be an artist?

In the end, it can destroy you.

You're always caught up in your own problems

and trying to put them into words, to make others feel better.

But if tomorrow, I can't hold it together and I fall apart,

will they still listen to my music?

Reality, no taboos, no drama One man's loss is another man's gain

Paranoia, betrayed by an apostle Paranoia, betrayed by an apostle

Even before Destin was released, he'd say,

"I don't want to do this forever."

Once you reach that kind of level,

you're a symbol of fame, success and money.

People envy you.

It's part of the game.

When you start out, you're part of a group.

Everyone supports you and wants to contribute to the final result

in their own way, with their energy.

And that's when the pitfalls take root.

'Cause you might ask a guy who has a studio nearby,

"Please, can I record?" And he'll say, "No worries, bro."

But that's a future debt right there.

It's hard to be successful and be around people who aren't.

You never know what's in their hearts.

Now people are looking at you like, "Damn! Wait, he's seriously gonna bounce?"

"Oh, hold on, bro! What if he leaves me behind?"

They don't want that.

Jealousy drives people to do irreparable things.

What's unique about the rap world

is that, at its core, music is an art form,

and we naively assume that it's going to be something beautiful.

Except that there's art, but there's also money, and the streets.

At that point, we're doing so many showcases,

there's so much cash changing hands,

that it started attracting the wrong kind of people too.

People who wake up in the morning thinking, "Let's take this kid's money."

"If we rough him up a little, he'll hand over the cash."

And you know how it is in the hood.

Not everyone means well.

Some people think that if you sign for a million,

that million lands straight in your pocket.

Here's their math…

Ninho sold 500,000 albums.

They look at the price of a CD, multiply it by 500,000,

"That's how much money he's got."

It can go wrong at any moment.

And spiral fast.

Because the music business has gotten more profitable.

Advances are bigger.

And the more you earn, the more attention you'll attract.

Once they've made it, artists face threats from people

trying to steal money from them.

Yes, I've seen that several times.

I've seen how guys will follow them, wait for the artist outside the studio,

and beat them up.

Their message is clear:

"Pay up or it'll happen again."

You just don't see that in mainstream pop.

If you rap about the street…

you gotta be street.

We earned our spot the hard way.

It wasn't easy, but we never gave up.

So that causes problems. You get into fights.

It's the truth.

I'm telling you like it is. You have to fight.

But if that's what it takes to hold on to your bags,

what else can you do?

When you're a rapper like him, you're gonna be tested

to see if you will back up what's in your lyrics.

And if you don't live up to that image,

you can't just go to the cops and say, "Sir, they're bothering me."

Because then your rap is fake. It doesn't reflect reality.

And the ones testing you will play on that.

It happened.

He gets out of his car, gets stopped by three men.

They tell him he's earned too much.

"You've stuffed yourself enough. We want some."

Then they punched him and he fell.

He fought back a little, but he ended up in the hospital.

And it got way worse.

I'm talking guns and shootouts and stuff.

People getting close to dying.

And now, I'm in the middle of it, caught in the crossfire.

Who's firing at who?

-I couldn't tell you. -Actual gunfire?

Actual gunfire.

For sure. I'd go home after this and be like,

"Is all this happening because of Ninho? I gotta put an end to this. And fast."

This all hit me at a time when I was going through so much.

That was the final straw.

You have to deal with all these things, including stardom.

You have to change your lifestyle.

The problem with being a celebrity is that you belong to others.

People know your mom's face, what your son looks like.

It's too easy to get to you.

It becomes dangerous.

Danger can come through me and affect my whole family.

Why don't we want people to see our moms, our sisters, our aunts?

It's to protect them. You know?

Nothing can happen to her. Ever.

You become paranoid. Everywhere you go and every move you make,

it's not by yourself. You're never alone.

You live like prey. You know?

People tend to forget you're just here to make music.

What sucks is that most successful French rappers have to deal with this.

And I've found that the moment they have to completely

reorganize their lives to handle this situation,

is often the moment when they become the most successful.

What's supposed the best time of their lives,

ends up being the hardest because of these kinds of challenges.

So, either you move abroad,

or at some point, it just wears you down,

which can mess with your creativity.

As an artist, eventually, you quit.

Ninho! Ninho! Ninho!

Guys, let's go! Everyone on your bus!

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Dictator like Fidel You disappeared like Faudel

Your gear is from Tournelles

We only know How to fuck up faggots' sinuses

Triple platinum isn't bad I hung it up in Nemours

Petrodollars In two days, I'll buy Neymar

There shouldn't be any mosh pits or anything like that.

Con artist like Rocancourt Got no time for beef

Get me a briefcase of purple bills To reinvest back home

Small bills ain't it

Hey! Paris is magic When you've got spare cash

Cash, cash, cash

The Destin tour is the biggest tour we've done.

We played everywhere in France.

The tour went on for a year and a half.

It was madness.

Here, there, there.

We're doing 70 dates with 7 to 10,000 people per venue.

Do the math, 70 times 10,000.

That's a lot of people there with you.

Ninho! Ninho! Ninho! Ninho!

We were having such a blast sharing our songs with our fans,

that it went by in no time. We didn't even realize.

It was at the end when we saw how much money we'd made,

that it really hit us.

"Wait, that's all we made? That's not a lot of money."

"For all that work."

Do big French stars like Johnny Hallyday get paid this little?

For 80 dates?

Something's wrong.

I think I was the first rapper he came to for advice about that.

He asked me, "How much do you make?"

He couldn't believe it.

I asked, "Why, what do you make?"

When he told me, I was like, "No way. You're kidding, right?"

"It's a joke."

So I started digging.

"So, how much did we make?"

He told me it was four or five million.

And how much did I get? 400,000 euros?

That's not good.

So who has all the money then?

Someone had to take it all.

They must have had a good time.

Ninho! Ninho! Ninho! Ninho!

For the shows,

what happened was that William let his producers negotiate.

And under the co-production deal Mal Luné had

with the tour promoter at the time,

there was no payout for William.

Since it matters to me that these relationships stay fair,

I told him to go see a lawyer to review the contracts he signed.

NINHO'S LAWYER

Ninho first came to me

so that I could look over the contract he signed with his producer.

Since 2016, he'd been signing contracts without knowing at all what was in them.

Apparently, nobody told him.

He should have gotten between 50 and 70%.

But in fact, the contract he had signed for his tour

stated that all of the profit went to his promoter

and his record producer, and he got nothing.

Zero. On his own tour.

Ah, you're famous! You're in the spotlight.

But your pockets are empty. That's a real eye-opener.

He's on the radio. He's on TV.

He's becoming a sensation.

But there's a gap between the success he has in the media

and in the charts and the money coming in.

No paycheck.

So at that time, Ninho couldn't have his own place.

He had to couch surf from friend to friend.

Sometimes the girls would say, "Wait, you live at your friend's place?"

"You're Ninho!"

It sucked.

I'm just living my dream. I only wanted to be a rapper.

I didn't care about the paperwork or about the money.

The thing with Ninho is, I didn't just find one problem and fix it,

and that was that.

There was always something else. Every time.

So, we looked over his contracts.

We asked for the royalty statements from the previous years.

And we realized that most of his royalties hadn't been paid.

This wasn't paid, and that wasn't paid.

There was almost half a million euros in unpaid royalties,

which we recovered through legal action.

You were young and you didn't read the contracts.

You tried to play the gangsta, as if you knew what you were signing.

But that document you signed says you'd get 10% for life.

We thought we'd try to renegotiate the terms

to get him more favorable ones than what he'd signed.

But the producers essentially rejected our request.

So we couldn't amend the contract.

Guys, come on, you're taking too much.

You call yourselves my bros?

Everyone's here to make some bread,

feed their family and serve their own interests.

So who's gonna be the one to help me get my share back?

Everybody's eating.

That's why I wrote "Old Man."

"We thought money would put smiles on our faces."

"Now that we have it, we smile less and less."

"I bring the flour. They wanna eat my bread."

"That's not how it works, old man."

Meaning I'm the one getting the flour.

I have to get up at 6 a.m., open the bakery, serve the customers,

put on a smile.

And you're telling me no one gets paid?

Doesn't work like that, old man.

As an artist, you don't think about royalties.

You just want to rap.

I was a teen living his dream.

There was a producer, there was a studio.

Maybe living the dream blinds you.

His producer was 20 years older than him.

And he'd known him since he was, I think, 15.

So he trusted him.

They're like big brothers to me.

When you sign, you sign in complete trust.

Plus, there's money involved.

Don't forget that.

At 17, 18, I was earning more than my friends.

We've come so far with so little that we're grateful for anything.

"Don't worry about your earnings."

"Trust me. Take this and be happy."

That whole "I'm your big bro, you're my little bro" dynamic,

there's definitely a lot of that in rap.

That's how it is in the hood, for sure.

The big bros show up, they take.

You belong to them for life.

Yeah.

All his early albums, all his hits, from M.I.L.S. to Jefe,

belong to the record producer.

That's the bulk of his catalog.

When he says, "I built it all, and he has it all," that sums it up.

Yeah, it's the truth, man.

They told me, "We're not brothers."

Well, okay. I'll go work with my real brothers then.

The resentment he feels, and he has a lot of it,

will always be there. It won't go away.

His catalog is worth tens of millions of euros today.

And the day his former producer sells it, Ninho won't get a cent.

Yep.

Right, uh, let's turn the cameras off.

Oh, man!

-You were pissed. -Of course I'm pissed.

I mean, bro, how can I not be?

It's not about the money.

It's the way they disrespected me.

The real issue is that I'm out of the loop.

I used to be in the loop when we were at rock bottom.

When we had to pay bills.

When I had to stay in the studio alone to write songs for hours on end.

So many songs.

And not see my mom for a month.

I was definitely in the loop.

Then why am I not in the money loop?

In good times?

Those guys were close to him.

They're from our hood, they know our parents,

we know their kids.

We know his wife, his brother.

We never thought

one of our big bros from our hood would do that to us.

Honestly, we had a hard time dealing with it.

From then on, things got complicated with them.

As an artist, being in a dispute with your producer,

who's at the heart of all your music projects,

can't lead to anything good.

Let's continue with the end of the first one. So, let's finish it.

I tell him, "You have the right to ask for bigger advances."

But he was scared a conflict with his producer would derail his career,

so he'd always tell me,

"No worries, no worries."

No worries.

Maybe it's destiny. It's my test.

Maybe I needed to be more mature to earn money.

That's life. That's what you chose.

You wanted to be famous.

And here you are, look at you now.

You're being played. Big time. See?

No money from your merch? Not good.

No money from your tour,

even though you're doing 71 dates straight? Not good.

You're working like a mule.

Christine told me,

"If you want to stop right now and get rid of your producers,

you'll have to stop making music for a year and a half maybe two

because there'll be lawsuits."

William's dad called Hös.

"Open your eyes. They're stealing from William."

"William doesn't have a brother. You're his brother."

"You need to help him. We're family."

Hös was an artist too,

but he was willing to sacrifice his career for Ninho.

We've always been together. We lived together.

He's always given me advice, given me clothes, given me strength.

I thought, "Who could I turn to?"

"I've been screwed over so many times."

My cousin.

Same blood.

Same family circle, same interest.

We'll manage it right. It's better.

We call him yaya. The big brother.

A lot of things changed.

When I say a lot, I mean a lot.

If the vultures have stopped circling us, it's thanks to Gaël.

I kept my promises to my dad, to everyone.

I had to bottle that up and put it into my music.

That means my albums had to get better and better.

That contract will end after 4 albums.

I need them to be my best ever.

Over time Hash has mellowed me out

I'll be Johnny Dressed head to toe in Gucci

After that We'll be fucking bosses, my friend

This album marks the end of that whole screw-over.

And that's why I say in every song, "After that, we'll be jefes."

I'm only getting ten percent of all that?

No worries, I'll get them back.

Pollen, mountains

Zodiac boat all the way to Spain

I've been on edge lately

Smoking joints, no coughing

At the bottom, we used to say

We'd never make it all the way up

All the way up, I'm all alone

Paranoid as fuck

Ibiza or Dubai?

Three holes cut in the ski mask

The motorbike has got two pipes

The silent partner is laughing

Don't confuse desire with duty

Don't confuse desire with duty

There are two kinds of laughter

Good people's and thugs'

Premium gas in the tank We floored it all the way to Belgium

I had nothing at the pre-party I had designer fits at the after-party

Huge numbers on the checks Listened to from Fleury to Choco

NINHO LEAVES HIS LABEL MAL LUNE MUSIC TO PURSUE BUSINESS VENTURES

Hey, what's up?

-You good? -Yeah.

Yes, sir.

I'm a lot poorer, but I'm okay.

Nah, come on, stop it, man.

-A deal like that, it's… -First time?

-Second time, actually. -With another…

-With another legend. -Another Johnny.

A different Johnny.

When his contract with his producer ended in 2021,

he realized how much he was worth in the music industry.

Whether it's publishing rights, touring, or record sales.

All of a sudden, people are telling him how much he's worth.

And that changed everything.

The math is simple.

I went from 10% to 85%.

It's a whole new world.

-William, thank you for your trust. -Cheers. Big up.

-Thank you. -Hös, thank you.

-Thank you, Adrien. -Thank you.

When Ninho signed a contract with Warner,

as far as upfront payments go,

his advances went from receiving a few thousand euros,

all the way… to a few million.

It's in that ballpark.

I swear, Clooney's here, bro.

What else?

My greatest satisfaction is being able to provide for my family.

And also…

-Ah ouais! -Yes, thank you.

It's being able to travel the world with people you grew up with.

Look, thanks to him… I got a Rolex.

Speak Italian, Tito.

Scusi, per favore.

We saw incredible places, hotels, countries.

This doesn't suck.

I was like, "Finally!"

If you knew how much I love my life. I love life so much.

We're good.

And that's destiny, my friend.

That's right!

A footballer's life, a rapper's life.

The pasta had caviar.

We're playing golf in the desert.

NINHO AND LETO ARE KIDS

-Money rules. -Money rules. Yeah. Stop.

He's Congolese.

He loves to dress well.

It's part of who we are.

Our dads were rocking Versace shirts 15 years ago already.

We made money, clearly.

Careful!

THIS SNAP WILL BE LEGENDARY

Go, go, go!

He helped his friends start businesses.

My cousin and I developed a brand, Jefe.

The first collab we did was with Adidas.

The Paris FC soccer club.

The video game FIFA.

We used to want the game. Now, we're in the game.

I started a burger chain, Jefe Burger.

In two years, we opened 14 locations.

With two friends, I started a barbershop.

-We produce movies. -Cut!

We're in real estate.

N Tower. That's what we had in mind.

He set his mom up for life.

My mom comes first. She needs a good life.

She doesn't need to work.

I'm more comfortable.

His mom is officially a partner in Jefe Productions.

The Lord gave me more than I could hope for.

She's pulling serious paper.

Serious royalties.

Of course, she gets her cut.

He didn't have to give me shares in his company. But he did.

Even if she doesn't want it, she gets her cut.

-Three coconut flans. -His treat.

Ninho is like a tree.

And everyone he helps is a branch.

He's a blessing.

They were always good to me.

So my biggest satisfaction is changing how we all live.

When he loves you,

he does everything he can to help you succeed.

In one of his songs, he says,

"When I'm at the top, I'll take my crew with me."

He means it.

The Bible says,

"Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."

But God knows.

And he'll reward you.

Religion is at the core of everything.

It's about moral values,

human relationships, behavior, kindness…

When you give, you receive.

And that means you're blessed.

He's an incredible human being. He thinks of others before himself.

I'm the perfect example. He saved my life.

I would've ended up six feet under or behind bars for a long time.

What's happening right now is legendary.

Come over here. Come on.

We call it the "congolization" of flying private. Here.

Look, my mom made me pondu.

Made with heart, with love.

With rice, Basmati, you know.

Grilled ntaba.

Even back then, we'd talk about rappers still living in France.

All they wanted to do was leave.

It's too difficult to stay.

All good? That was fast, right?

Welcome.

You must be wondering where we are.

Especially for him.

When you're famous like him, you can't live the way you used to.

It's better to leave.

Now I can breathe.

No one knows me here.

They don't ask for selfies.

No more photos, no Ninho.

Even he doesn't know me.

That's the idea.

It's peaceful there. It's great.

His gold records are nicely arranged on the wall.

He's got a pool.

He's got an elevator.

From the ground floor up to his bedroom.

Man, it's so nice. It's classy.

And he'd say, "Dude, you can have a house there.

"You'll have your kids, your stuff."

He always thinks about everyone. Always.

He'd ask, "Don't you love it? You live here. He lives there."

"We've got a car."

He just wants everyone to be comfortable.

Barbecue, chill.

Same vibe as the hood but with houses.

Medium rare.

He gets to live a much quieter life with his family.

What's up?

How was your nap? Huh?

Come here.

Come.

Why did I choose this place? Listen.

Peace. And quiet.

We were made to listen to birds, my brother.

I love the silence.

I moved far away to live a quiet life.

Focus on my kids and my wife.

Ah! Ah!

Ti-di!

I have a healthy lifestyle. I work out more,

'cause I finally have time for myself.

I laugh more.

Way more.

That's the difference.

Fiji water.

We're at the car dealership.

For the little one.

He should get a Ferrari before I do. Straight up.

Ferrari or Range Rover? Be honest.

Ferrari or Range? Which one?

In the future, I see a peaceful life with my kids.

My son drinking juice in some crazy-ass villa.

I've gotta go sing now.

MATERNITY UNIT AMERICAN HOSPITAL OF PARIS

It's insane. I'm gonna miss the birth of my daughter.

Damn it. It's crazy, bro.

Alright, alright. I gotta go.

Bro.

8:15 P.M. KYMIA'S BIRTH

-You okay? -Well, yeah.

You good? Congrats.

Thanks, bro. Perfect, let's get it to her right now.

Are you happy?

-Honestly, yeah. I'm so happy. -You were anxious.

-Cheers, brother. -Cheers, brother.

God willing, we'll make it.

8:50 P.M. RUNWAY OF LE BOURGET AIRPORT

9:30 P.M. SWISS AIRSPACE

9:55 P.M. LANDING IN GENEVA

10:10 P.M. GENEVA ARENA

Congrats, bro.

-Were you in the room? -I was, and I left right after.

-No way. -For real.

-First child? -No, second one.

-First one's a boy? -A boy, he's one and a half.

-Congratulations. -And now a girl. You feel me?

10:30 P.M. GENEVA ARENA

12 A.M. GENEVA ARENA

Now back to the hospital.

3:00 A.M. AMERICAN HOSPITAL OF PARIS

As Niska says, you have to reconnect with your inner self. Mental health.

He and I talk about it a lot.

Sometimes, we're on the phone for one or two hours.

Once we broke our record.

We talked for four hours.

We talk about mental health often, yeah.

He became a star despite himself.

He wanted to be a working rapper, not a celebrity.

If he could buy back anonymity,

he'd do it in a heartbeat, just to be his old self again.

We saw some guys who came before us who poured too much of themselves

into the game and it drove them crazy.

That teaches you to avoid that path.

You need to slow down eventually.

At one point, he said, "That's it. I'm done."

Well, actually, it was more than once.

I heard him say it multiple times,

"I quit. That's it. I've had enough."

I agree with you. We should cut back on promos.

But I think we should still do some. It's hard, but still.

The whole point is to promote our music.

-We worked for it. -I don't want to, I'm done.

-It's our livelihood. -Why should I?

-If we make this album… -I don't care if it sells.

-We'll see. -It's the last one.

You tell them it's the last album.

I'm quitting rap. That's it. I'm done.

Don't film this.

My dad used to say, "Be there without being there."

"Don't put your heart and soul into it."

It could destroy you.

Something comes up and you lose everything.

The hardest part is dealing with your emotions.

Not giving in, not breaking down. Know what I'm saying?

Holding it all in, that's the hardest thing for a man.

Staying strong.

Even if it hurts your heart.

I asked him if he was happy.

His reply was something that man, it broke my heart.

I cried in the car.

The only thing that makes him happy is helping us, his friends.

He was borderline depressed.

William was really…

in a weird place, mentally.

He wasn't himself.

He was different, weary, burnt out.

Sick of music.

I'm really glad that he made it.

He has his own life. But it's not an easy life.

Far from it.

People like us aren't used to that kind of life.

Which really pains me. A lot.

If that's the price to pay,

I would've rather stayed a nurse and not have everything I have today.

But still have that peace.

The price you pay is the lost family time.

If you have kids, you won't see them grow up.

Because you have shows all year round.

On tour all year long.

You have to work on an album.

Wads, wads, wads!

Go to the studio.

Your quality of life?

Honestly, apart from the money? It's not that good.

Then my father got sick.

There was something wrong with his throat.

At first, we thought it was asthma.

He decided to come back to France to run some more thorough tests.

And they told him he had cancer.

It was hard.

We fought through chemo and radiation.

I had to stop working

so I could take care of my husband at home.

He felt powerless.

"I'm Ninho, my dad's sick, and there's nothing I can do."

"I can make sure he's in the best hands. But that's it."

It's a lot to deal with all at once.

I wanted him to get some kind of change of scenery.

Get him a house. He would ask me,

"Can you handle it? If I'm gone, can you manage?"

"Are you strong enough?"

We were coming back from a concert in Montpellier.

It's late at night on the tour bus.

And I could tell something was off, no one was talking.

Then word comes that his dad had passed.

Hello?

They called me first to tell me his father had died.

My cousin tells me my father's dead. That we needed to stop.

Where were you?

On the road.

Tell me about it.

I was on the tour bus.

William is someone who keeps a lot inside.

He doesn't show his pain. He buries it.

Let's go to Paris,

go to the hospital, and take care of everything.

We went to the funeral a few days later.

He was as dark as the clothes he was wearing.

Full of darkness.

He looked somber, sad.

Everything was… dark.

Not being there when his father passed, made him question everything.

-Of course. -His life, his career, his choices.

It takes sacrifices. No time for family, non-stop work.

Just work, work, work, work until the very end.

Done. That's it. Party's over.

-And for Cécile. -Nothing's left.

William…

The man who, one day,

will dry our tears.

He had a hard life.

But he managed to rise above it,

when he decided to control everything.

Thank you.

Thank you for coming.

Thank you for your support.

And, you know, family ties can never be broken.

He felt responsible for everything overnight.

Lord, keep him united with You…

It took a toll on him.

In Your love and in the fear of God.

As he puts it, "I took my father's place."

-Amen. God bless. -Amen. God bless.

He became the head of the family sooner than he'd have liked.

He had to take on that responsibility and take care of his family.

Not just financially but as a father figure, too.

He's a father now. He's a leader.

As we say in Congolese, "mokonzi."

"Chief." He's a chief.

Mokonzi.

Paying tribute to my old man

I know he's smiling up in heaven

Hey, hey

Letter to a son Letter to a son

The road is long, life is short

Especially if you don't cherish it

Your health is what matters most Yeah

God is great You'll see it when things get tough

As for me, I'll worry about Making a man out of you

Give me one last kiss

Dad didn't only do bad things He works hard, far from home

Late at night, one last bottle I stash one last million

It all starts with education

I know you'll mess up But you gotta get back up quick

That's my way of telling you That's my way of saying

Thanks to the one Who taught me everything

-What's up? -Hey.

-Feeling good? -Yeah, I'm good, bro.

I never thought I'd be playing the Stade de France.

Come here.

-You can stand behind. -Check this out!

We're opening up the stadium as much as it's allowed.

That's wild. It's next level.

We could imagine you making your way to the edge of the stage,

whatever its shape, going down, security clears a path through the crowd,

and you come out over there.

-It could be very long. -So sick.

Go here and you come in there.

Don't forget, the pit's gonna be packed.

How are the acoustics?

-Well, right now… -What's planned for…

A lot of money. A lot…

Right, right. Got it. There you go!

When I was a kid, we'd say, "Let's go to the Stade de France."

I thought, "This is nuts."

We'd go see shows. Johnny Hallyday…

It's not for us.

I was 11 the first time I went to the Stade de France,

it was with a local charity.

With my homies from the hood. Now we're performing there.

No way!

It's real. Fuck!

Sonia, you see this?

It's crazy. Check it out!

Just look at that!

For real.

Come on, warm up, warm up.

You're going in. Next play, you're in.

We used to perform in a square next to the church.

For 13 people max. We'd rap with a wired mic.

Some people were laughing, others were like, meh.

And now, the Stade de France. It's crazy.

It was our passion that brought us here.

To announce the Stade de France,

I figured we needed to release a track specifically for it.

So I started writing.

And on May 3rd, 2025… Well, well, well, well

And on May 3rd, 2025

There will be 80,000 of us More than your whole town

More people than your whole town

I've met lots of bastards

Who just wanted To get into my business

The pit and the stands, sold out

We drop the video and the track at the same time.

The track went straight to number one. The video's a hit, so is the announcement.

When tickets went on sale, the website crashed.

Tickets for the Stade de France sold out, get this, in six hours.

They went so fast. 80,000 people, sold out. Woah!

They said, "Let's announce a second date right away."

He calls me again, "Yaro, we're doing a second show."

Sheesh.

"Pick out an outfit!"

Sold out too.

This time, it didn't sell out in six hours, but in two.

80,000 tickets sold.

I couldn't believe it.

I thought, "Who are all those people?"

"They all bought tickets? I gotta see them."

The first show was on the anniversary of his father's death.

We went to the cemetery and I'd told William

on the phone the day before,

"You don't need to come, son. Your big concert's tomorrow."

He said, "Okay."

But at 1p.m., he called me and said,

"I'm outside the cemetery, can you come?"

He had a handwritten note for his dad.

TO A WONDERFUL FATHER

"You were gone too soon, but I'll remember you as a wonderful dad."

We stayed there, we prayed,

and then he shed a tear

and asked if we could leave.

You coming to the show? Right.

Yeah, now's not the time to moisturize.

It's the cream.

Ya! Ya!

Give daddy a kiss.

The stressful part is those last few minutes before you go on stage.

Okay, let's go.

You're like, "Well, there's no turning back now."

"Forget it. It's too late."

"Now, you gotta go."

He inspired me to keep dreaming.

I thought I'd run out of dreams and when I got there…

I had goosebumps.

I saw my brother, we started all of this together.

80,000 people are there for you,

who know all the albums, from the first to the last.

Minorities have become the majority.

They fill the Stade de France. It's huge.

We're mainstream now.

Behind my glasses, I would often look and think,

"Wow, there are all kinds of people here."

Lots of young people, families, girls, boys,

Whites, Blacks, Arabs, Asians.

There's everyone. 160,000 different faces.

What struck me most was that the audience,

they looked nothing like us.

They don't have the same life.

They don't have our codes, our principles, our childhoods.

And that's incredible.

Make some noise, real quick!

Fam!

I'd like us to have a brief moment of silence,

because my dad is up there,

and I think he's very proud of me.

It's crazy for him to play in that venue.

Everyone who isn't in the mosh pit,

please watch out.

We love you, but we're about to go crazy.

For a die-hard rapper like him…

Die-hard.

The biggest mosh pit in the Stade de France!

Spread out!

Spread out!

Go!

Bags of cocaine

Bags of cocaine

Bags of cocaine

-Bags of cocaine -Three, two, one. Everyone!

Dribbling bags of cocaine Like Ronaldinho

On the spot at 11:30 Not noon, asshole

You missed some customers

Balls for 150, bars for 280 euros

I was nice, kinda cursed

Now I'm mean I took everything from them

Double bang On the pavement in TNs

Pavement in TNs, Nike Air Damn, yeah

Mask on, police brutality

The bike Ankle monitor, gotta be home by 4 p.m.

Iniesta making passes to the scorer The sound of the guitar scared them

Ra-ra-ra-ra

Got the same guitar as Tony

Got the same machine gun as him

I'm paranoid, I shower with it

Imagine if they came back

She mixed it all up, puked everywhere

What an idiot, she's so dumb

My right index finger on the trigger

Oh

N.I.! N.I.! N.I.! N.I.!

Who would've thought that he'd play the Stade de France?

It's the peak of his career,

but it's also a defining moment for what he represents and our culture.

-You good? -Yeah. You're killing it.

SOCCER PLAYER

-Thank you. -No, thank you.

-I wanna thank you. -Nah, man. You motivate me.

On my mother's life. You fire!

-No, thank you, man. -No, film him. It's him!

No, today, it's him. Today, it's him.

Oh, yeah. Dembouz. Dembouz! Damn.

-You good? -I'm good. I'm good.

-Cheers, brother. -To two Stade de France shows.

William's success is his destiny. It's his path.

I had pictured him becoming something

like a banker, a doctor, a lawyer.

You know, every parent's dream for their son.

I wanted a different path for him,

but he chose this one.

He made it all the way to the top so that was his destiny.

God bless you all!

We'll see each other very soon. Or maybe not.

NINHO: END OF CYCLE?

At the top of the charts, at 30 years old,

rapper Ninho announces he's ending his music career.

NINHO ENDS HIS CAREER: TRUE OR FALSE?

I put up with it for a long time.

I tried to make my audience and my family happy,

so I told them I could handle it.

Then I had a son. I had a daughter.

And I thought, "Enough." I don't really need anything.

Just for them to be healthy and have enough to travel.

The rest, for real, I don't give two fucks.

That's the truth, bro.

End of transmission My heart's not in it

It started as a plan Gotta make millions, not lose my mind

No, no, no

End of transmission Because my mom is safe

My brothers and sisters too

And that's the only good thing About fame

My work is done.

If my mom's good,

my friends are good,

my brothers are good,

my sisters are good…

Then I'm good.

That was my mission from the start.

End of transmission I wanna watch my son grow up

He has no vices

And his smile is worth More than profit

Money can be earned again Time can only be lost

At the end All that's left is regret and hope

Regret and hope

When the sun rises I put my smile back on

Too much faith to end it Sometimes, I go for a run

I remember tears taste salty

It took me time to see reason

In the near future, I have to go

I can't just bounce

Right when I'm about to drown Binks

I had a plan. I.S.P.A.C.

M.I.L.S.

Comme prévu.

Destin.

Jefe.

N.I.

I set everything up to get us to this moment.

And that

is the end of the sequence.

From 15 to 29, I thought life was about money.

So I fought hard to make money.

I made some. At the end of the day…

I prefer peace.

No, no more work.

-You don't want me to work? -No.

No more work?

-No. -Why not? I can't go to work?

-No. -It's over?

Yeah.

-No more albums? -No.

THIS DOCUMENTARY TRACES NINHO'S JOURNEY THROUGH HIS AND HIS CIRCLE'S EYES.

IT PRESENTS THEIR EXPERIENCES AND VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON THE EVENTS.

Time, money pass me by I'm always running after it

A tear running down To sign the letter

A tear running down To sign the letter

Handcuffed, my neighbor Through the window

Ten o'clock Downstairs cutting product

The whistle blows at eleven Got our boots on

Bro, you know I had a lot of doubts

Tired, another stamp on my passport

In the fast lane As if there was no tomorrow

I could count my bros on one hand

I had so many friends as a kid

But we got lost on the way I haven't been 20 for a while

I put an end to it for my fam With experience, we'd only waste time

I didn't have many people To show me the way

NINHO: FAME AIN'T WORTH IT

Time, money pass me by I'm always running after it

A tear running down To sign the letter

A tear running down To sign the letter

Handcuffed, my neighbor Through the window

Ten o'clock Downstairs cutting product

The whistle blows at eleven Got our boots on

Bro, you know I had a lot of doubts

Tired, another stamp on my passport

In the fast lane As if there was no tomorrow

I could count my bros on one hand

I had so many friends as a kid

But we got lost on the way I haven't been 20 for a while

I put an end to it for my fam With experience, we'd only waste time

I didn't have many people To show me the way

Burned out and tied to this cash We come home late at night

Even easy money becomes hard to make But

I was exhausted You know what that's like

The judge gave us years And we're still smiling

Even when that shit stinks, I know

I'm not there anymore, I left the hood But

I think about it often

Because I put my heart in it

And I feel like a thug Over there still

I give everyone the same piece Even when I'm hungry

I won't forget who was with me At the bottom

I won't forget who I went to war with You know what that's like

Tell me if I stray away, bro

Tell me if I changed for them

I'll need to be brave and strong

Never listened To the devil on my shoulder

I'm like if you poured gas into a fire

I won it all, I never celebrated

Engulfed in problems, engulfed in weed

I tried everything before I ended it

Burned out and tied to this cash We come home late at night

Even easy money becomes hard to make But

I was exhausted You know what that's like

The judge gave us years And we're still smiling

Even when that shit stinks, I know

Don't let me down, fatal mistake

I can't endure no more heartbreak

Don't treat it like my love's a waste

Don't push me when I'm under yet

Burned out And tied to this cash

We come home late at night

Even easy money becomes hard to make But

I was exhausted You know what that's like

The judge gave us years And we're still smiling

Even when that shit stinks, I know

Don't let me down, fatal mistake

I can't endure no more heartbreak

Don't treat it like my love's a waste

Don't push me when I'm under yet