French Rapper, Prince Waly, has Passed Away Aged 34
By Théodore Papin
French rapper Moussa Magassa, also known as Prince Waly, passed away on the 4th of October at 34 years old. The name “Prince” comes from the movie Boyz n the Hood where the father of the hero tells him the hero is a prince because he is the king of the house and “Waly” comes from the name of his father, Waly Magassa. He was fighting with a disease he had since he was 8 years old, a rare autoimmune disease called paraneoplastic pemphigus, which causes serious damage to the skin and mucous membrane. He kept creating despite suffering.
I discovered his music by chance while I was listening to another artist called Makala. The song of Prince Waly, Problème featuring Luidji and Makala was in recommendations and it was beautiful, so I then proceeded to listen a bit more of Prince Waly’s music. The French rapper from Montreuil started his career in the group Big Budha Cheez before going solo. He firstly featured on a few songs before publishing 2 EPs, with Junior in 2016, and BOY Z in 2019. He then learned in 2019 he had a thymus cancer which made him lose his voice during some months and stopped him from doing music during this time. He also lost a lot of weight during his treatment and chemotherapy. He announced he was cured in 2021 and started to find ideas for his first album, this time a more personal one. He came back in 2022 with an album called Moussa directly after his win over his cancer and an EP in 2023 called BOY Z 2. Despite all his health problem, Prince Waly still managed to earn his place in the French rap scene and collaborate with famous French artists from this scene such as Dinos, Alpha Wann, Freeze Corleone and more. Outside of rap he collaborated with French pop-rock group Feu! Chatterton, and also his spouse Enchantée Julia.
Walygator, another surname of his, decribing his style as in between the old school rap and today’s rap. He was also passionate about rap and music in general. His solo career under his own label named BOY Z has he is an independent artist. Junior, his first EP, was in collaboration with the French producer Myth Syzer, and features Loveni, Ada and Ichon. In the lyrics Prince Waly presents his everyday life with its social problem with a bit of egotrip clearly influenced by Lunatic like the phrase “Je roulerai pas en Benz ni en Lexus,” meaning “I won’t drive a Benz nor a Lexus”, which is a reference to the song “Les vrais savent” by Lunatic. He will keep using this type of lyrics throughout his career. This first EP has a similar sound to a kind of old-school rap/hip-hop since he was influence by the group Lunatic ,especially by the album Mauvais Oeil. Then in 2019, BOY Z, follows the same style of rap with this time variety of sounds with a more neo soul and pop touch, as well as inspiration from different styles, like the song BOY Z with Feu! Chatterton.
Three years later he released, Moussa, this album his more intimate this time. Prince Waly presents more personal themes like his struggle with his disease. He also explains in an interview how he fought against that disease keeping a positive energy and describing himself as a muslim believer and how spirituality was always part of his life even though he did some mistakes before. There is also a lot of interesting new collaborations on this album with artists like Luidji, Makala, Jazzy Bazz and more. His last EP, BOY Z 2, follows the style of Moussa; it is still rap music but with touches of other sounds and influences as well as songs like Âme sœur featuring Enchantée Julia which is the intro.
He is an example of resilience and perseverance, he kept doing what he loved even though he was suffering. Prince Waly leaves behind him a lot influence on the French rap scene with his mix of rap and other genre collaboration as well as his writing with images and his retro style.
