Dubmatique is a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

hip hop group formed in the 1990s in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. Groupmates Dj Choice, OTMC, and Jérôme-Philippe are the first French-language hip-hop group from Canada to have a number one hit single on the francophone pop charts. Dubmatique is often regarded as one of the groups that launched French Canadian Hip Hop, and within this category they are the only group to have an album certified Platinum.

Career

1980s to breakthrough: early career and breakthrough

In the 1980s, Disoul and OTMC became friends in the country of

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. In the early 1990s Disoul moved to

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. He joined a hip-hop radio show named Dubmatique, with co-host Cedric it was eventually decided that it would become a group. In the mid-1990s, OTMC came to Canada and joined the group. Shortly after, they invited Dj Choice. In 1994, they made their first appearance by doing a freestyle on the mix-tape ''Tape 9-Too Leust'' by Cut Killer. By 1995, the group were doing shows in local clubs. They participated at the launch of the album ''Simple et Funky'' by Alliance Ethnik and the soundtrack for the movie ''

La Haine (, ; released in the United States as ''Hate'') is a 1995 French social thriller film written, co-edited, and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé and Saïd Taghmaoui, the film chronicles a day and night in ...

''. They won the award Best Hip Hop Group of the Year at the Gala Mimi. That same summer, they performed at the music festival

Les FrancoFolies de Montréal LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimen ...

. In 1997, on the French Canadian market, they released their first album named ''La force de comprendre''. It was soon certified platinum, selling over 125,000 copies. Because of the singles and music videos for ''Soul Pleureur, La force de comprendre,'' and ''Plus rien n’est pareil'', they reached the top of the charts on commercial radio stations and TV channels for music videos. The reviews were favourable on both lyrics and the production. The album featured French rappers Menelik and 2 Bal. Dubmatique went on to perform 150 shows on stages throughout

. At the

equivalent of the "

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s" called "Le Gala de L'

ADISQ ADISQ (; ) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the independent record labels, independent music industry in Quebec. It was created in 1978. Since 1979, it has also organized an annual awards ceremony for musicians and singer ...

", the band won the Félix Award of "Best Rock Alternative Album" (Their first year at "Le Gala de L'

", there was no Hip Hop section). They were nominated for Group of the year, and Revelation of the year. In 1998 the band won the Félix Award for Group of the year, and two more nominations for Show of the year and Best Seller. On the English side of Canada they were nominated for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for the Best selling Francophone album.

1999 to 2001: subsequent success

Their second album, the self-titled Dubmatique was released in 1999. They launched the singles and music videos of ''La vie est si fragile'' with the violinist

Ashley MacIsaac Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac (born February 24, 1975) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter and actor from Cape Breton Island. He has received three Juno Awards, winning for Best New Solo Artist and Best Roots & Traditional Album – Solo at th ...

and ''Mémoires''. The album was certified gold and sold 35,000 copies in the first week. They collaborated with two members of the group IAM: Shurik’n was featured on the song ''L’avenir'', and Akhenathon remixed the single ''La force de comprendre'' from the first album. Montreal artists were also featured: El Winner of Latitude Nord, D-Shade of Shades of Culture and Mr. Len. The record was well received and Dubmatique continued to perform around Quebec and fill up large venues. Finally at "Le Gala de L'

", they won the Félix Award for "Hip Hop Album of the year", were nominated for Group of the year. Additionally at "Le Gala Soba" they won two Sound of Blackness Awards for Best Group of the year, and Best Francophone Hip Hop Group of the year. Dj Choice did not participate on the production of their third album. Disoul and OTMC worked with Sonny Black, Jaynaz, Ray Ray, and Stéphane Dufour. In 2001 they released the album ''Influences''. ''Ragga Dub'' and ''Sexcite-Moi,'' a collaboration with the rock singer Éric Lapointe, were chosen as the singles and music videos to launch the album. The group continued to do well on the charts. They won the Félix Award for Best Hip Hop Album of the year. This record is also annotated to be the first appearance by best selling R&B singer Corneille on a professional project.

2004 to present day: solo projects and reunions

In 2004, their label Tox released the compilation ''Mémoires'' that contained all of their hits. Shortly after, Disoul and OTMC launched solo projects. In 2005, Disoul decided to use his real name, Jérôme-Philippe and released a self-titled album where he mixed rapping and singing. OTMC followed up in 2006 with a Hip Hop album named ''Sincérité volontaire''. Their respective songs would play on the radios throughout Quebec and sales were respectable. In 2008, a group was created by a fan on

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to urge Dubmatique to reunite, and over 50,000 fans joined. This motivated OTMC and Disoul to make an album. In 2009 they launched ''Trait d’union''. Dj Choice participated and produced the song ''Patience'' a collaboration with Sir Pathetik, Imposs and John John. Singers Barnev Valsaint, Jennifer Silencieux, and Mike Coriolan also participated. Singles and music videos for ''La Vibe'' and ''Cold World'' were released.

music festival organised their first reunion show.

Awards

1995 Meeting Group of the Year 1997 Gala de l'

* Félix Award Win: Best Rock Alternative Album ((at the time the "gala de l'ADISQ" did't have a Hip Hop section)) *Félix Award Nomination: Group of the year *Félix Award Nomination: Revelation of the year 1998 Gala de l'

* Félix Award Win: Group of the year *Félix Award Nomination:Show of the year by writer-composer-performer *Félix Award Nomination: Best selling album 1998

*Juno Award Nomination: Best Selling Francophone Album 1998 Much Music Video Awards *Much Music Video Awards Win: Best French Video 1999 Gala de l'

* Félix Award Win: Best Hip Hop Album *Félix Award Nomination: Group of the year 1999 Soba Gala *Sound of Blackness Award Win: Best Group of the year *Sound of Blackness Award Win: Best Francophone Hip Hop Group of the year 2002 Gala de l'

*Félix Award Win: Best Hip Hop Album

Collaborations

* Cut Killer "Tape 9-Too Leust" (1994) - Freestyle - * Cut Killer "Freestyle Canada" (1999) - Freestyle - *Online "Everest" (2010) - Superstar -

Discography

* 1997: ''La force de comprendre'' * 1998: ''Dubmatique'' * 2001: ''Influences'' * 2009: ''Trait d'union''

References

;Citations {{DEFAULTSORT:Dubmatique Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups from Montreal Canadian hip-hop groups Black Canadian musical groups