Médine

Médine, full name Médine Zaouiche, born on 24 February 1983 in Le Havre (Seine-Maritime), is a French rapper.

He released his first solo album in 2004, followed by a second the next year. From 2006 to 2012, he released a total of six projects, while his third album came out in 2008. The fourth was released in 2013, followed by a new album in 2015, a surprise EP unveiled on streaming platforms and directly ranked in the Top iTunes podium in February 2017, and four more albums in 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2025. Since 2004, Médine has been involved in politically engaged rap alongside artists such as Kery James, Youssoupha, Oxmo Puccino, Abd Al Malik, and Keny Arkana.

He has been the subject of several controversies in the 2010s and 2020s. Certain song lyrics and stances have led to accusations of antisemitism, communitarianism, and even proximity to political Islamism, while his supporters consider these controversies to be initiated by actors defending racist or Islamophobic views.

In 2018, the announcement of a concert at the Bataclan, the theatre of the 13 November 2015 attacks, generated a controversy that ultimately led him to withdraw from the venue “out of respect for the victims' families” and to avoid “political instrumentalisation.” In 2023, his invitation to the summer universities of Europe-Écologie-Les Verts and La France insoumise also drew criticism from various political figures.