Arnaud Antoine Rene Bernard, better known by his stage name Onra, is a French

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

beatmaker based in

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 ...

. His musical style is a "chopped up set of RnB laden beats and electronically produced experiments laced with influences spanning the entire globe".

Biography

Arnaud Bernard was born in 1981 in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to French parents. His father is of Vietnamese descent. He moved with his family to France at the age of three. He discovered a passion for music at the age of ten and started making music at the age of nineteen. In 2000, he moved to

to pursue studies. He graduated from business school in 2006 with a degree in Marketing with the intention to create his own record label. The first album was made in collaboration with producer and friend Quetzal (Al Quetz) in 2006, Tribute, a project inspired by

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

. At the same time, he started collaborating with Byron the Aquarius, a keyboard player from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

; using the name Byron & Onra, the pair released the album ''The Big Payback'' on Japanese label Circulations in 2007. They also appeared on compilations such as ''Beat Dimensions'' and ''New Worlds'' by Jay Scarlett. In 2006, he went to Vietnam for the first time, and brought back over 30 Chinese and Vietnamese records from the 1960s and 1970s. He released the album ''Chinoiseries'' the following year, created using samples from these records; these were followed by ''Chinoiseries Pt. 2'' in 2011 and ''Chinoiseries Pt. 3'' in 2017. In 2008, he was selected to attend the

Red Bull Music Academy The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is a world-traveling series of music workshops and festivals that was founded in 1998 by Red Bull GmbH. The main five-week event is held in a different city each year. The public portion of its program is a festiv ...

in Barcelona and started touring around the world shortly after. In 2010, Onra released the LP ''Long Distance'' on All City Records, which features tracks with Olivier DaySoul, fellow French beatmaker Walter Mecca, and T3 from

Slum Village Slum Village is an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. The group was formerly composed of the rappers Baatin (1974–2009), T3, and rapper / producer J Dilla (1974–2006). J Dilla left in 2001 to pursue a solo career with MCA Record ...

, soul singer Reggie B and keyboard player Buddy Sativa. It received press coverage from outlets such as Pitchfork, which gave the album a rating of 8.0 out of 10, as well as

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

's blog, LifeAndTimes. In 2011, Onra released ''Chinoiseries Pt.2'' on All City Records, built on samples of Chinese music found in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. In 2012, Onra released his newest EP ''Deep In The Night'' on

Fool's Gold Records Fool's Gold Records is an independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The label is known for its annual series of Day Off concerts across the US and Canada. History Fool’s Gold Records was founded in 2007 by DJs A-Tr ...

. Onra began a collaborative project with fellow French producer Buddy Sativa, which they called Yatha Butha Jazz Combo, eventually releasing an album of the same name in 2013. The album consists of 12 spiritual jazz tracks, mostly improvised; it was "created as a therapeutic break from their other constraining aliases, and not originally intended for public release." In 2015, Onra released a hip hop/R&B album ''Fundamentals,'' featuring different vocal guests such as Daz Dillinger, Black Milk and Do Or Die. ''Chinoiseries Pt. 3'' was released in 2017 on All City Records.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Present Tribute'' Bo Bun Records (2006) *''Chinoiseries '' (2xLP) Favorite Recordings (2007) *''Chinoiseries'' (CD) Label Rouge Prod (2007); Bo Bun Records (2008) *''1.0.8'' (LP, CD) Favorite Recordings, Bo Bun Records 2009 *''Long Distance'' (2xLP, CD) All City Records (2010) *''Chinoiseries Pt.2'' (2xLP, CD) All City Records (2011) *''Fundamentals'' (2xLP, CD) All City Dublin (2015) *''Chinoiseries Pt.3'' (2xLP, WEB) All City Records (2017) *''Nobody Has To Know (2xLP, CD, Tape, Web) All City Records (2018) *''Nosthaigia'' All City Records (2024)

Singles and EPs

*''The Big Payback'' (12") Just Like Vibes (2007) *''Tribute EP'' (7", EP, White or Pink vinyl) Bo Bun Records (2007) *''My Comet / Shhhhhhh '' (7", Ltd) All City Records (2008) *''Tribute EP II'' (7") Favorite Recordings (2008) *''Chinoiseries'' (7", Ltd) Favorite Recordings (2009) * ''Deep In The Night'' (12") Fool's Gold (2012) * ''Supreme Sound From Paris'' (feat. Walter Mecca) (12") Skullcandy Supreme Sound (2012) * ''Over & Over'' (feat. Daz Dillinger and Do Or Die & Johnny P) (12") All City Records (2015)

Biography

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and EPs

References

External links