Fonky Family was born in Marseilles on December 3rd, 1994, the official date the group was formed. The rappers Menzo and The Rat Luciano had already been working together for several months. Sat and Don Choa had been doing the same. All four of them were in contact with Pon and Djel, composer and DJ respectively. The group had a proposition to perform all together in a small hall north of the Phoceean city (Marseilles) opening for the Swiss group Sens Unik. At the end of the concert, the die was cast and Fonky Family was born.

The first shows were done in the small halls where the hip hop excitement was at its height. The rappers had the opportunity to take the mike spontaneously and to embark on the freestyles which enabled them little by little to become famous. They really got noticed in the nebula of hip hop with the powerful number "Bad Boys" on "Métèque et mat", the solo album by Akhenaton which was released in 1995. Two years later, the members of the group helped out on album by Kif Kif productions called "Chroniques de mars" with Imhotep at the controls, another member of IAM.

Strengthened by all of these experiences, the seven members of FF (Fel the dancer joined to beef up the ranks) embarked on the recording of their first original album. "Si Dieu veut" was recorded by Mario Rodriguez, an American sound engineer, who among others worked with big names like Notorious Big, Mary J, Blidge, and LL Cool J.

We find other artists on this album who they met along the road of their career path: Expression Direkt, le Troisième Oeil, and of course Akhenaton. The result was rather successful and "Si Dieu veut" reached the mark of 200,000 copies sold in 1999, two years after its release. After the promotion of the album, FF set off to meet the public and had successful shows in France and in French speaking countries for fifty dates. Fonky Family thus played an integral part in the French hip hop scene. Their members were sought after for diverse and various album featuring (Faf la Rage, Zoxea, KDD, etc).

They also took part on the original soundtrack to the film "Taxi" by Gerard Pires. In 1999, FF released a record on which we find live tracks and three new compositions, just to tide over the aficionados. "Hors série" sold over 100,000 copies. The following year the pre-production of the long-awaited second album began. The Rat Luciano took advantage of this to release a solo album called "Mode de vie-beton style".

Signed to SMALL records, "Art de rue", which was recorded in Toulouse, came out in March 2001. FF had lost none of its rage, its energy, its determination. In the piece that gives its name to the album, the group went back to the hip hop culture and to the players of the movement. In these tracks, the lyrics are extremely realistic and often provocative. Le Troisieme Oeil, Le Venin and Costello came to lend a strong hand for album featurings. If Fonky Family lives and moves for Marseilles, never does one feel the regional idiosyncrasies with this album which tends once again to demonstrate the group's place in the entire French Hip Hop scene.

After the release of this latest opus, FF set off on the roads of France for a series of concerts subtly called "Section Nique Tour" referring to their motto "Nique tout"(fuck everything). They finished the first part of their tour at the Paleo Festival in Nyon, Switzerland in July 2001.

In 2002 it was up to Sat and Don Choa to release their solo albums, respectively entitled "Dans Mon Monde" and "Vapeurs Toxiques". Both of them were met with some success. The following year, the Fonky Family gathered again and put out a collective album, "Live at the Dôme", which had been recorded on November 17th 2001 in Marseilles in front of an audience of 8,000 spectators.

In 2004, Rat Luciano appeared on the rap compilation "Confrontation." But after that it was total silence on the recording front until January 2006 when La Fonky Family made a much publicised comeback with their third album, "Marginale Musique." On this new album, the Marseilles crew impressed critics with their varied tempos and their more mature laidback style. But certain tracks proved that La Fonky Family had lost none of their rage - nor their renowned ability to get club dancefloors heaving! "Marginale Musique" proved to be a surprise hit, in fact, rocketing to the number 1 spot in the French album charts within the first week of its release.

January 2006