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Mélanie Georgiades (French pronunciation:[melaniʒɔʁʒjadɛs]; born 25 July 1980, inNicosia), better known by her stage nameDiam's (pronounced[djams]), is a retiredFrenchrapper ofGreek-speaking Cypriot origin.

Mélanie Marie Georgiades was born on 25 July 1980, inNicosia, capital ofCyprus. Her mother is French and her father is Greek-speaking Cypriot. After her parents separated, she arrived in France with her mother at the age of three. She spent her childhood in Paris, then in the department ofEssonne, inBrunoy, until the age of thirteen.^[1][2]

She studied for a while inIgny, in the private Saint-Nicolas college. Later, she moved toMassy then toOrsay in the suburban district of Mondetour,^[3] where she spent most of her adolescence. She discovered rap through the albumThe Chronic (1992) byDr. Dre and the first song by the group NTM, Je rap (1990) (published on Rapattitude, the first French rap compilation). She chose Diam's as her pseudonym in 1995, a choice she explains as "I came across the definition of the word diamond and I learned that a diamond can only be broken by another diamond and that it is only made of natural elements".^[4]

In 1995, at the age of fifteen, she attempted suicide.^[5] In 2003, she rapped about her past and how, aged 17, she was beaten by her partner in a song calledMa souffrance (My suffering).

She formed a group called Mafia Tres. In 1997, the group released a four title EP with Diam's on two tracks. Diam's became better known, thanks to her appearance in 1997 on Mafia Trece's first album, called Cosa Nostra, and thanks to an appearance on Phonograph with the rap group ATK.^[6]

After her separation from Mafia Tres, Diam's released her first album,Premier Mandat in 1999, but it was not a success, selling just 9,000 copies.^[7]

In 2001 the songSuzy broadcast on the compilation Original Bombattack on radio Générations 88.2. The song was picked up on the Internet.Suzy came to the attention ofJamel Debbouze who became her friend and mentor. She then made many appearances and participations on radio shows.^[8] She finally prepared her second album, entitledBrut de femme and the record companyEMI offers her a contract in April 2002. The project was abandoned following a restructuring of EMI while the two titlesPogo and1980 were broadcast by a journalist on the Internet before their official release.^[9]

She signed on the Hostile label after long negotiations. The tracks were reworked and finally integrated into her second album,Brut de femme.^[10]Brut de femme quickly went gold and the singleDJ was certified platinum. Diam's won aVictoire de la Musique for the best rap album of the year 2004.^[11]

She took a stand againstMarine Le Pen and her National Rally party (formerly the National Front), especially in the song "Marine", which was released on her DVDMa Vie/Mon Live in 2004.^[12] She also stands againstNicolas Sarkozy, whom she called ademagogue and afascist inLa Boulette andMa France à moi.^[13][14]

In 2005, she cemented her importance as a songwriter with "Ma philosophie"—a huge number one hit forPop Idol starAmel Bent.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006 she returned with the albumDans ma bulle, debuting at number one on the French album chart selling 50,000 copies in its first week.^[15] Diam's first single fromDans Ma Bulle,La Boulette gained immense popularity and airtime. It stayed at number one on the French music charts for 6 consecutive weeks.^[16] Her second singleJeune Demoiselle debuted at No. 4.^[17]Ma France à moi andConfessions nocturnes withVitaa also proved to popular.Dans Ma Bulle went on to be the biggest-selling French album in France in 2006.^[18]

Diam's won three awards at theNRJ Music Award in 2007 (Francophone female artist of the year, Francophone album forDans ma bulle and Francophone song forLa boulette).Le Figaro newspaper estimated that Diam's achieved revenues of 2.66 million euros for her album.^[19]

After a year away from the media, Diamis returns in 2009 with her fourth and final album,SOS, which ranked first in album sales in France when it was released on 16 November 2009, achieving sales of more than 300,000 copies in France.^[20][21] The first singleEnfants du désert from her new album, whose video takes a scene from the filmForrest Gump where the hero runs across the United States. The disc marks the metamorphosis of the artist.

In July 2012, she published her bookDiam'sAutobiographie.^[22] On 30 September 2012, she announced on the show Sept à huit on TF1 the end of her career as a rapper.

In 2022, she made the documentary on her career, "Salam",^[23] which the former rapper will be presenting at theCannes Film Festival. In a rare message posted to Instagram, Diam's, who had previously retired from social media, explained her motivation, and why she agreed to entrust her story to directorsHouda Benyamina (Divine) and Anne Cissé, after refusing dozens of requests for years:

"I had the feeling that I was being asked to give the keys to my life so that others could make a film of it. A show. My depression, my suffering, my quest, my recognition: a film? An entertainment? I was touched that people were interested in my career, but it was impossible for me to let strangers speak for me… So I took up the pen again. The one thing I have always loved delivered me."

In 2007, she suffered from depression due to personal problems, which she returned to in the songSi c'était le dernier.^[24] Diagnosed asbipolar, she alternated between stays in apsychiatric hospital and her career as an artist.^[25] When she left the hospital, she decided to stop taking the medication, and she attempted suicide by swallowingsleeping pills.^[26]

In December 2008, she converted toIslam,^[24] she said that religion liberated her and helped her through these difficult ordeals. In September 2009, she married her companion Aziz.^[25] On 8 October 2009,Paris Match magazine published pictures of her leaving a mosque inGennevilliers with her husband, wearing an Islamic veil.^[27] In the midst of a debate on the banning of the full veil in public places, these stolen^{[citation needed]} photos caused a scandal.^[24]

In 2010, Diam's won her complaint againstLe Nouvel Observateur magazine for violating her image rights and privacy after publishing a picture of Diam's wearing a headscarf without permission. The picture was placed in an article about French Muslims.^[28]

In the spring of 2012, Mélanie gave birth to a daughter named Maryam.^[29] In 2015, she married again, and gave birth to a boy named Abraham.^[30]

In 2012, Diam's announced her retirement from the music industry. This decision stemmed from her religious convictions and her adoption ofSalafism, a conservative interpretation of Islam. She stated that she believed pursuing a career in rap or hip-hop wasincompatible with her faith. Diam's further indicated that she had stopped listening to music altogether, including her own previously recorded work.

¹ Digital Downloads

• Diam's atIMDb

• Living people
• 1980 births
• French women rappers
• French Muslims
• French people of Cypriot descent
• Cypriot people of French descent
• Musicians from Nicosia
• Converts to Islam from Christianity
• MTV Europe Music Award winners

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