Moroccan-Born Rapper Djalito Rises from Homelessness to French Hip-Hop Success

Djalito arrived in France at the age of 13, with his mother and sister to live with their father who lived in Cergy, in the Val-d’Oise. "At first, I had trouble expressing myself. I asked a friend to put music on my MP3 player and he put rap that I listened to all day long. I learned expressions, I learned to speak thanks to that," he tells StreetPress.

After a few years, his parents returned to Morocco, and a difficult life began for him. At the end of his master’s degree, his study visa expired and his application to renew his residence permit was rejected. "The day I took it seriously is when they told me: You’re deportable," adds Djalito who became homeless by force of circumstances. "In addition to being undocumented, I was homeless. Sometimes I slept at friends’ places or on the street," he confides.

At one point, he couldn’t stand living like this anymore and had decided to go back to Morocco. But he was dissuaded by a friend who stayed in the country. "It’s better that you struggle there than here," the friend advised him, reminding him that there were very few opportunities for young people in Morocco.

Persevering, he made the "Expulsable" freestyle series on Daymolition which was a huge success. Two years later, he signed a contract with the Because Music label. His visa application was finally accepted.

Djalito - Calciné