Who is Werenoi, the artist who sold the most albums in France in 2024, ahead of Indochine and Taylor Swift?

It’s a barely believable success for someone whose first songs only date back to February 2021. According to the national phonographic publishing union, the rapper Werenoi (pronounced ouairenoi) is for the second year in a row the artist who sold the most records in France. 276,968 copies of his album Pyramid were sold in stores or digitally. He is ahead of rapper PLK, Indochine, Billie Eilish, Pierre Garnier and Zaho de Sagazan. If the story of the boy born to Cameroonian parents follows the broad outlines of those of other rappers from Île-de-France (Booba, Ninho, Niska), he truly stands out for the dazzling speed with which he reached the summits of sales.

A little over a year after launching into independent rap with his own label, the artist from Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis) surrounds himself in 2022 with the label Believe and Playtwo Live (Lara Fabian, Slimane, Vitaa, etc.) for his concerts. Enough to propel him to the top very quickly. His music has already recorded several million listens. In May 2023, during the first Flames ceremony, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, which crowned Aya Nakamura and Gazo artists of the year, Werenoi won the Flame for Male Revelation.

After leaving Carré et Telegram 2 in 2023, the rapper continues to win everything in his path with his album Pyramid. In October 2024, he unveils Pyramid 2his latest album, which sold more than 27,000 copies during the first week in France and rose to first place in the Top Albums.

Like many rappers, the young man whose stage name “Werenoi” echoes the nickname his friends gave him, grew up in an environment where rap is more than music. The artist remains mysterious about his identity. He refuses to reveal his first name, last name and age. His Wikipedia page indicates that his name is Jérémy Bana-Owona and that he was born on January 30, 1994.

Since the release of his first title, Guadalajaraon streaming platforms in February 2021, he did not give any interviews for almost two years. « The fact that he does not give interviews and does not speak out on his networks is not a calculation. It’s his nature »entrusts one of his colleagues to Parisian . The only clues to his private life are those present in his punchlines. « I say enough about myself in my texts »he declares.

Money and luxury cars

But if Werenoi cultivates an image that goes against the grain of rappers like Nekfeu, who flee social networks, he does not escape the usual clichés of French rap. His texts aspire to the same dreams as the majority of his peers: to accumulate « sorrel » and ride in a luxury car « at 200 on the counter ». His clips also struggle to stand out for their originality: sparkling luxury cars, short-dressed women, drugs and weapons exhibited to reinforce an imagery of power and danger. Clichés that resonate with the public and particularly among 15 to 25 year olds.

Its titles strongly marked by Auto-tune (software which allows you to adjust the voice, Editor’s note), each time record several millions, even tens of millions of plays on streaming platforms and ensure him real credit among other rappers.

For her second album, the artist u verb percustant collaborates with the Belgian Damso, SDM, Hamza, SCH, Maes and one of the most listened to French-speaking female artists in the world, Aya Nakamura. More surprisingly, Werenoi admits to Parisian listen to the songs of Pascal Obispo. « I like him because he is humble, like me »he says. The rapper also invited him in September 2023 during his first Zénith de Paris to accompany him on the piano on Golden Path.

On October 17, 2024, he reached his Holy Grail: performing at the Accor Arena in Bercy. The now unavoidable phenomenon in rap is courted by the most prolific rappers. The specialized media also announced on Friday January 3 that a collaboration between Ninho, Damso and the prodigy has just been recorded. Werenoi should have no trouble filling the 40,000 seats for his concert scheduled for January 30, 2026 at Paris la Défense Arena.