Born in Spain in 1988, French rapper Falcko made the transition from the underground hip-hop scene to the mainstream after clocking up several million hits with various YouTube videos. The bilingual MC had released the 2009 street albums Avant Conte 2 Tess and Conte 2 Tess before his online presence established him as an exciting new talent in the thriving French urban genre. After releasing the 2010 mixtapes Les Freres Avant les Grammes and Tiene Voz el Miedo, and 2011's El Gato Negro, Clandestino, and L'Echauffement Avant l'Album, he signed to HLM Boy Records and released his debut studio record, Première Mi-Temps (the first installment of a double album), featuring appearances from Alain 2 l'Ombre and T-Nola and the singles "Certifie Classique" and "16 Soupapes." ~ Jon O'Brien