Beginnings The youngest of a
Catalan Gitano family, Kendji grew up in
Saint-Astier and was taught to play the guitar and sing by his grandfather. He left school at 16 to follow the family business as an
arborist. He speaks
Catalan with his parents. He gained some fame through publishing materials online. His Romanes version of "Bella" by
Gims filmed by a friend went viral. His video garnered 5.8 million views. Another popular song he uploaded was "
Si j'étais président", a cover of
Gérard Lenorman.
The Voice For
season 3 of
The Voice: la plus belle voix, he auditioned with the song "Bella" by
Maître Gims in the second episode of season 3, broadcast on 18 January, with only judge
Mika turning his chair, whereas the three others,
Florent Pagny,
Jenifer and
Garou refrained. In the Musical Battles Round broadcast on 8 March 2014, Mika put him against Youness both singing "
Tous les mêmes" by
Stromae. Kendji moved to "L'épreuve ultime" round, in which he performed "
Hotel California by
The Eagles in the 29 March 2014 emission. In the live rounds he performed "Ma philosophie" by
Amel Bent (5 April 2014), "
Mad World" from
Tears for Fears (19 April 2014) and "Allumer le feu" by
Johnny Hallyday (19 April 2014). In the semi-final on 3 May 2014, he sang "Belle" by
Garou and
Daniel Lavoie qualified for the finals as Team Mika's finalist.
Career His first official single the bilingual French/Spanish "
Color Gitano", was released in June 2014 from his eponymous EP, followed by his official album release in September. In December 2014, he won two
NRJ Music Awards for Francophone Breakthrough of the Year and "Color Gitano" as Francophone Song of the Year. His album
Kendji sold 600,000 copies by January 2015, and over 1 million copies by October 2015, certifying
Diamond and becoming France's second-highest selling album of 2014 after
Racine carrée by
Stromae. He is currently the biggest-selling
The Voice alumnus worldwide. His follow-up single "
Andalouse" proved even more successful commercially. Other notable singles included "
Conmigo" from the repackaged version of
Kendji released on 4 May 2015. A second album titled
Ensemble was released on 30 October 2015. Notable singles from his second album include "
Me Quemo", "
Les yeux de la mama" and "
No Me Mires Más" (jointly with
Soprano). On 31 August 2018, his third album, titled
Amigo was released. It started at number one on the French sales chart with 48,408 sales. On 22 August 2020, he joined the cast of
The Voice Kids France, becoming the first French former contestant to join the jury of the French franchise of the show, alongside
Jenifer,
Patrick Fiori, and
Soprano.
Charity work In 2017, Kendji joined the
Enfoirés, a team of artists involved in supporting the charity
Restos du Coeur, which hosts yearly concerts to raise money for one of France's main soup kitchen networks. ==Discography==