Kendji Maillé rođen je 3. srpnja 1996. godine u Périgueuxu, gradu na jugozapadu Francuske, u katalonskoj Gitano obitelji. U javnosti koristi prezime svoje majke, Girac. Tijekom njegova djetinjstva, on i njegova obitelj živjeli su polunomadskim načinom života; ljeta su provodili putujući uokolo na svojoj kočiji, a zimi su živjeli u francuskoj regiji Dordogne.

'Gitano' su španjolski Romi koji pripadaju iberskoj Kalé skupini; uglavnom žive u Španjolskoj, ali ih se može pronaći i drugdje, kao na primjer u Portugalu te na jugu Francuske. Procjenjuje se da se preko milijun ljudi identificira kao Gitano.

Kendji Girac je vrlo ponosan na svoje podrijetlo, a ipak želi istaknuti da to nije sve po čemu je poznat. Tijekom intervjua za francuski časopis VSD 2014. godine je rekao: “Je ne suis pas qu’un Gitan, je suis un jeune de 18 ans qui ressemble aux autres”, odnosno „Ja nisam samo Gitano, imam 18 godina kao i drugi.“

Njegovo podrijetlo mu omogućuje da govori nekoliko jezika: francuski, španjolski, katalonski i okcitanski. Katalonski jezik mu je materinji jezik, jer je to jezik kojim se govori u njegovoj obitelji, a odrastanje u Dorgogneu u Francuskoj omogućilo mu je da nauči i okcitanski. Sva četiri jezika kojima govori, na njima i pjeva.

Prestao se školovati sa 16 godina, te je počeo raditi za očevu firmu kao osoba koja se brine o drveću, orezuje ih i sječe. Za to se vrijeme posvećivao i svojoj istinskoj strasti – muzici.

Prvi se put proslavio u kolovozu 2014. godine, kada je njegov ujak na YouTube prenio video na kojem izvodi pjesmu 'Bella' frankofonskog pjevača Maîtrea Gimsa u 'gitano' stilu. Ovaj je video bio vrlo uspješan te je doveo do toga da su ga producenti primijetili i pozvali da sudjeluje u trećoj sezoni francuskog izdanja talent showa 'The Voice'. Na kraju je proglašen pobjednikom tog natjecanja.

Ubrzo nakon toga, njegov prvi album 'Kendji' objavljen je u rujnu 2014. godine; sa 68.000 prodanih primjeraka u prvom tjednu postigao je velik uspjeh, a 12 tjedana je bio i francuski broj jedan. Ukupno je prodano preko milijun primjeraka albuma, što ga čini jednim od samo 19 albuma koji su prodani u preko milijun primjeraka od 2000. godine.

Iste je godine osvojio dvije nagrade na poznatoj francuskoj svečanosti dodjele glazbenih nagrada 'NRJ Music Awards' – osvojio je naslov 'Frankofonsko otkriće', a njegova pjesma 'Color Gitano' je osvojila nagradu za pjesmu godine. Od tada je osvojio nagrade za pjesmu godine na dodjeli nagrada 'NRJ Music Awards' 2015. i 2018. godine s 'Conmigo', odnosno 'Pour Oublier'.

Do danas je objavio tri albuma, kao i jedan album uživo. U listopadu 2020. godine objavit će i četvrti album, 'Mi Vida' ili 'Moj Život', s ciljem da povuče svoj javni potez te zapleše usred ograničenja i tjeskobe koju donosi epidemija COVID-19.

Njegov uspjeh nije bio samo osobni, već i uspjeh koji je odao priznanje gitanskoj manjini u Francuskoj. Kendji Girac vrlo je ponosan na raznolikosti svojih obožavatelja, kako je rekao:

“Ma plus grande fieré, c’est d’avoir un public varié. Ma gosse angoisse, c’était de n’avoir que des fans issus de la communauté. Aujourd’hui, je sais que toute la France m’accepte”, 

„Najponosniji sam što imam raznolike obožavatelje. Moj najveći strah bio je imati samo obožavatelje iz vlastite zajednice. Danas znam da me prihvaća cijela Francuska.“

 

 

In May 2014, Kendji Girac was crowned winner of the third season of French TV singing competition, ‘The Voice: La plus belle voix’ (The Voice: the most beautiful voice). Girac stood out for many reasons, but notably for his Catalan Gitano background.

 

Kendji Maillé was born on the 3rd July 1996 in Périgueux in South-West France into a Catalan Gitano family. In the public eye he uses his mother’s surname, Girac. During his childhood, he and his family lived a half-nomadic lifestyle, spending the summers travelling around in their caravan, and the winters living in the Dordogne region of France.

Gitano are Spanish Roma, belonging to the Iberian Cale Group. They mainly live in Spain, but also have smaller populations in Portugal and Southern France. An estimated total of over 1 million people identify a Gitano.

Kendji Girac is very proud of his origins yet is eager to make sure that isn’t all he is known for. We can quote what he said during an interview with French magazine VSD in 2014 “Je ne suis pas qu’un Gitan, je suis un jeune de 18 ans qui ressemble aux autres”. /  “I am not just Gitano, I am an 18 year old like the others.”

His origins allow him to speak many languages: French, Spanish, Catalan and Occitan. Catalan is his mother tongue, as it is the language spoken within his family. Growing up in the Dordogne in France allowed him to learn Occitan. All four of his languages feature in his songs.

He quit school at the age of 16, starting to work as a pruner for his father’s business. A pruner is a person who looks after trees, trimming and cutting them. During this time, he also dedicated himself to his true passion – music.

He first rose to fame in August, when his uncle uploaded a YouTube video of him performing the song Bella by the francophone singer Maitre Gims in ‘gitano’ style. This video was very successful, and it led to him being spotted by producers and invited to participate in the third season of the French edition of the talent show ‘The Voice’. He was later crowned winner of the competition.

Shortly after, his first album ‘Kendji’ was published in September 2014; It was highly successful with 68,000 copies being sold in the first week and it stayed French number one for 12 weeks. In total, over 1 million copies of the album were sold, making it one of only 19 albums having sold over 1 million copies since the year 2000.

That same year, he won 2 prizes at the famous French awards ceremony ‘NRJ Music Awards’ – he won the title of ‘Francophone revelation’, and his song ‘Color Gitano’ won song of the year. Since, he has won song of the year at the ‘NRJ Music Awards’ in 2015 and 2018 with ‘Conmigo’ and ‘Pour Oublier’ respectively.

To this day, he has released three albums, as well as a live album. In October 2020, a fourth album, ‘Mi Vida’ (My life) will be released with the aim to make his public move and dance amidst the restrictions and anxiety brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic.

His success was not only a personal one, but also one that gave recognition to the Gitan minority in France. Kendji Girac is very proud of the diversity of his fans, we can quote: 

“Ma plus grande fieré, c’est d’avoir un public varié. Ma gosse angoisse, c’était de n’avoir que des fans issus de la communauté. Aujourd’hui, je sais que toute la France m’accepte”

“What I’m proudest of is that I have a varied fanbase. My greatest fear was to only have fans from my own community. Today, I know that the whole of France accepts me.”