Born Geoffroy Mussard on March 11, 1966, in Marseille, Shurik'n co-founded the superstar French rap group IAM in the late '80s with fellow group members Akhenaton, Freeman, Khéops, Imhotep, and Kephren. After releasing an underground mixtape in 1990 and signing with Virgin Records, IAM issued several albums and a number of hit singles, leading the group members to embark on solo careers. Shurik'n's 1998 solo album debut, Où Je Vis, debuted atop the albums chart and spawned a pair of hit singles. He then collaborated with his brother, rapper Faf Larage, on the 2000 album La Garde, and in subsequent years reunited with IAM for a pair of commercial blockbuster albums and 2005's in-concert recording Live au Dôme de Marseille. ~ Jason Birchmeier