Behind a door in the Madeleine district of Paris, Sofiane Pamart waited patiently in the cobbled courtyard of his friend's restaurant, chef Akrame Benallal, for an apéritif that he promised would be groundbreaking: "He's the first Algerian chef to have been awarded several Michelin stars," he said proudly. "What I like about him is that he breaks a lot of rules." A bit like himself, he added, emphasizing the parallel between the cuisine his friend describes as tradinnovante ("trad-innovative") and his classical music, which draws equally from Chopin and the keyboard chords of gangsta rap masters like Scarface and Dr. Dre.
The "Piano King," as the rappers call him, is also an iconoclast. He first made a name for himself in the rap world, composing for most of today's heavyweights, and is the only solo pianist to have packed one of Paris's biggest venues, the Accor Arena. He also performed at two of the most-watched ceremonies of 2024: The opening of the Olympic Games and that of the César Awards, during a tribute to Jane Birkin.
In the restaurant's very dark setting, the musician commented on the appetizers the waiter brought and ordered iced tea with elderflower and a hint of ginger. He almost apologized for not having a glass of wine: "The music world is full of alcohol. If I don't keep some discipline, I'll quickly go under. But I do love wine culture, the rituals around it: Tasting it before drinking, hearing the story behind a bottle and understanding the difficulty of making top-quality wines. Still, as I'm performing, like an athlete, I can't afford to drink much. It's only on very rare occasions."
His third album, Noche, written during a sell-out tour of Latin America, has just been re-released. To celebrate, the pianist will perform on November 15 in the club beneath the Accor Arena, the Phantom – the event is already sold out – and he will be returning to France for the occasion.
With his success, Pamart – who has northern French and Moroccan roots, and is the great-grandson and grandson of miners – moved to Los Angeles to gain perspective on his achievements: three solo albums, including Planet (2019), certified platinum, and Letter (2022), which went gold. He's also composed albums, among others, with Belgian rappers Scylla and YG Pablo, and singer Arno, selling nearly 670,000 copies, according to his label. His tours across France and Europe have sold 100,000 tickets, a feat that's hard to grasp: "In France, I didn’t realize, I was in the heat of the moment. It was in Los Angeles that I really saw how much my life had changed."
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