Joel Ungeli (born 6 October 2008), known professionally as Jungeli, is a Congolese-French singer, songwriter and television personality. Raised in

Sevran Sevran () is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Seine-Saint-Denis, northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. History The current Hôtel d ...

, he began his recording career in mid-2023 and later introduced his debut single, "À moi" on 12 July of that year, which went relatively unnoticed. Ungeli received widespread mainstream recognition following the release of his second single, "Petit Génie" (featuring

Imen Es Imen Essrhir better known as Imen Es (born 3 June 1998 in Sevran) is a French singer. In 2020 she released her debut album ''Nos vies''. She has many collaborations and singles most notably " 1ère fois" certified diamond. Career She was born to ...

Alonzo Alonzo is both a given name and a Spanish language, Spanish surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Alonzo de Barcena, 16th-century Spanish Jesuit missionary and linguist *Alonzo de Santa Cruz (–1567), Spanish cartographer, ...

, Abou Debeing, and Lossa), which debuted on 4 August 2023 and achieved commercial success in France, topping

SNEP SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...

's Top Singles chart for 18 non-consecutive weeks. It became the fastest song of the year in France to achieve triple diamond certification and earned the Best African or African-inspired Music award at Les Flammes, as well as a nomination for Best New International Artist at the

BET Awards The BET Awards are an American award show that was established in 2001 by the BET, Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate Black person, Black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which ...

. The song later appeared on his 2024 debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''En attendant pour le peuple''.

Early years

Jungeli was born Joel Ungeli on 6 October 2008, in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, and moved to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at the age of nine. He was raised in

, a commune located in the

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobi ...

department, part of the northeastern suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

. During his childhood, he listened to music from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and considers

Fally Ipupa Fally Ipupa N'simba (born 14 December 1977), known professionally as Fally Ipupa, is a Congolese musician and dancer. Often referred to as the "Prince of Rumba", he is known for his tenor vocals and his fusion of contemporary and traditional ...

one of his influences. In an interview with the French weekly television magazine ''Télé-Loisirs'', Jungeli revealed that he is currently a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

working toward his ''

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

'' while balancing his studies with his music career.

Career

Mid to late 2023: "À moi", breakthrough with "Petit Génie" and standalone releases

In the early summer of 2023, Jungeli introduced his debut single, "À moi", through

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

platforms, though it initially garnered limited attention. The song was officially released on multiple music platforms on 12 July, and its accompanying music video on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

accumulated over 620,000 views. Jungeli commenced work on his second single "Petit Génie" shortly after "À moi" debut. Excerpts of the single were prematurely leaked and extensively shared on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, leading to a surge in popularity even before its official release on 4 August 2023. In an interview with the Ivorian Life TV on the ''WAM'' show, hosted by Willy Dumbo, he revealed that "Petit Génie" was meant to "make people happy", and did not anticipate its overwhelming success. The song was composed by DJ Wiils, with the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

directed by Bastos and produced by Mania Film, featuring guest appearances from

, Abou Debeing, and Lossa. Jungeli's refrain "Mwana natikaka moke sima ekoli oya oye" pays tribute to the famed Congolese atalaku Brigade Sabarti, who popularized this phrase in their 2009 smash hit "Techno Malewa Automatique" by

Werrason Noël Ngiama Makanda ( 25 December 1965), known professionally as Werrason, is a Congolese singer-songwriter, composer, producer, philanthropist, and the bandleader of Wenge Musica Maison Mère. He was a co-founding member of Wenge Music ...

and Wenge Musica Maison Mère. Alonzo's rap verse makes a nod to the legendary

Pépé Kallé Pépé Kallé, sometimes written as Pepe Kalle (November 30, 1951 – November 29, 1998) was a Congolese soukous singer, musician and bandleader. Biography Pépé Kallé was born Kabasele Yampanya in Kinshasa (then Léopoldville) in the Belgia ...

. "Petit Génie" quickly attained commercial success in France, dominating the

Top Singles chart for 18 non-consecutive weeks and surpassing the previous record set by

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

's "

Shape of You "Shape of You" is a song by English singer Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the lead single, double lead singles from his third studio album ''÷ (album), ÷'' (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The Dancehall pop, ...

", which held the top spot for 15 non-consecutive weeks. The song broke records as the fastest to reach triple diamond in France that year. It also won the Best African or African-inspired Music award at Les Flammes and earned Jungeli a nomination for Best New International Artist at the

. On 24 November 2023, Jungeli was featured as a guest artist on Emma'a's single "Katana", from her self-titled album. The following month, he made an appearance on Big Ben's track "C'est qui?" and released the single "Rashel" in collaboration with Moroccan-Belgian singer

Dystinct Iliass Mansouri (Arabic: إلياس المنصوري), known professionally as Dystinct (stylized in all caps), is a Belgian- Moroccan singer-songwriter and music producer. Early life Iliass Mansouri, known professionally as Dystinct, was bor ...

2024–present: Collaborations and ''En attendant pour le peuple''

On 19 January 2024, Jungeli made another appearance on Emma'a's single "Biso Mibale", preceding the release of his singles "Bijou" and "Yebisa Bango" on 23 January 2024. "Yebisa Bango", produced by Gabriel and Zafy, explored the theme of love, a motif that is also central to "Bijou", which was composed by YAM and Unleaded. On 2 February 2024, Jungeli teamed up with Vegedream, Alonzo, and

Zaho Zahera Darabid ( ; born May 10, 1980), known by her stage name Zaho (), is an Algerian-Canadian R&B singer. Biography Zahera Darabid was born on May 10, 1980, in Bab Ezzouar, a suburb of the Algerian capital Algiers. At the age of 18, sh ...

for the platinum-certified hit "T'étais où?", which was produced by DJ Wiils, directed by Styck, and co-produced under Daylight Productions and Ma Nia Film. On 22 March, Jungeli appeared on fellow Congolese-French singer

Singuila Bedaya Singuila N'Garo (born 19 September 1977 in Suresnes), better known by his stage name Singuila (), is a French singer of Congolese and Central African origins. Singuila means "thank you" in Sango, a main language spoken in Central Africa ...

's song "Tricheur" before featuring on Bolémvn's "On y va" from his four-track

Extended Play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP), ''Canada Goose''. On 7 June, he made a guest appearance on Youka's single "Allo", followed by a showing on the final day of the Somarôho Festival at Ambodivoanio Stadium in Andoany, Nosy-Be, on 11 August. On 1 November 2024, he made a guest appearance on

Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band formed in 2008, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band currently consists of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, and bassist Ben McKee. They first gained exposure with the release of ...

' third remix of "Take Me to the Beach" off their album ''

Loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...

''. Jungeli released his debut studio album ''En attendant pour le peuple'' on 8 November 2024 under the labels Next Génération, Fulgu Prod, and 2054 Records. The two-disc album features 15 tracks on the first disc and six previously released hits on the second, including "Petit Génie", "Rashel", "Briller", "Bijou", "Yebisa Bango", and "T'étais où?". He shared with

CNews CNews (; stylised as CNEWS, formerly i>Télé) is a French free-to-air opinion channel launched on 4 November 1999 by Canal+. It provides 24-hour national and global news coverage. It is the second most watched news network in France, after ...

that the album aims to appeal to "both younger and older generations" with the art cover depicting his student life by showing him sitting on a school desk, holding a microphone, and surrounded by scattered classroom supplies. The standout track, "Évidemment", featuring

Dadju Dadju Alimasi Nsungula (; born 2 May 1991), better known by the mononym Dadju or at times Prince Dadj, is a French-Congolese singer. He was signed to the label Wati B and in 2017 signed with Polydor Records of Universal Music Group. He was a m ...

, quickly rose on

trends. Later that month, on 22 November, he opened for

at the Zénith de Lille.

Television career

On 14 February 2025, Jungeli joined ''

Danse avec les stars ''Danse avec les stars'' (''DALS''; ) is the French version of the British reality TV competition ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and is part of the ''Dancing with the Stars'' franchise. The show was first broadcast on TF1 on 12 February 2011, the parti ...

'' for its 14th season on

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

, hosted by Camille Combal.

Discography

Singles

Albums

* ''En attendant pour le peuple'' (2024)

Awards and nominations

References

21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo male singers Living people People from Seine-Saint-Denis French people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent 21st-century French singers 21st-century French male singers Black French musicians Musicians from Seine-Saint-Denis {{DEFAULTSORT:Jungeli Year of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Kinshasa French-language singers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo