Francky Vincent, the 66-year-old Guadeloupean singer, will be awarded the Order of Arts and Letters. The announcement, made on November 25 by a ministerial decree, went relatively unnoticed until La Première, a media outlet focused on the Overseas Territories, finally relayed the information.
In addition to Francky Vincent, the list of distinguished personalities includes actresses Karine Viard, Chantal Lauby, Louise Bourgoin and Mélanie Laurent, rapper Orelsan and comedian Régis Laspalès. all are recognized as “a person who has contributed to the creation or to the influence of French and world art and literature in the field of art or literature”. In the case of Francky Vincent, the order distinguishes an artist who has sold 3 million records and is best known for his songs with explicit titles, You Want My zizi, Sliding Alice or even Passion Fruit.
The various candidates are studied by the Council of the Order. Because you have to apply to be appointed. According to them, a committee of 15 members then determined a list of deserving distinguished persons. This list is then submitted to the Minister of Culture, the only person with the power of appointment.
My hidden ass
Francky Vincent was born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, into an ordinary family. Two months before graduating from undergraduate school, he dropped out of school to work at the municipal social security registry. At the age of 19, he joined a zouk band called Tabou n° 2, with which he released two albums. But his comedy songs, often with playful lyrics, didn’t make money. He was angered and accused the Guadeloupean public of being “too formal”. So Franck (his real name) moved to Paris and had some success in the Caribbean community, where he was nicknamed “Doctor Porn”, “Zoukeur X” and even ” Francky Malélivé”. After filling Olympia and selling 70,000 copies of his album “Alice”, it slipped, he finally signed a contract with Wagram Music and released his album “Fruit de la passion”. The single of the same name sold over 500,000 copies and went platinum.
After the failure of his album Ça va chaud, in 2004 the musician was transferred to Universal Music and released the single You want my zizi. in 2009 he had another success with the compilation Mon fest’of, which quickly went gold. in June 2015, on the occasion of his 40-year career, he published his autobiography, entitled …… Ma hits with Vents Salés. The translation of more than 170 songs now lives in Picardy.
