Frank T.

Franklin Tshimini Nsombolay, (Kinshasa, April 10, 1973), artistically known as Frank T, is a Spanish rapper.

Biography

Born on April 10, 1973 in Kinshasa (Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), he immigrated to Spain at the age of 2. He is the older brother of fellow rappers Kultama, Mr. T.Cee and Shogun XL.

His father worked as a translator in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the mythical fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. They asked him to work in the United States, but he had to travel at his own expense. Frank T's entire family traveled to Spain to travel from there to their destination in the United States, but they never received a visa and finally settled in Madrid.

Professional career

At the end of the eighties he began to write his first rap lyrics, having as his only reference hip hop groups from the United States, so for those first raps he used a strange mixture of Spanish and English. Some of these lyrics were part of the first demo of his group Top Productions.

Together with other rappers (Jota Mayúscula, Kamikaze, El Meswy, PacoKing and Supernafamacho) from the outskirts of Madrid (Alcorcón, Torrejón de Ardoz...) he founded the group El Club de los Poetas Violentos, with which he recorded in 1994 Madrid Zona Bruta, an album that had a decisive influence on the consolidation of rap in Spanish.^{[citation required]} For some critics, among them, Frank T himself, this was "the first rap record to be made seriously in Spain".^{[citation required]}

He later left the group to continue his solo career. In the first album of this new stage, Konfusional (1996) (which had a reissue with new musical bases), you can already appreciate the peculiar sound that would evolve until it gave fruit to Los pájaros they cannot live in the water because they are not fish (1998), their second album. The lyrics were written by him working at Cedasa. This album was the one that definitively established him as one of the great MC's of the scene. Despite this, Frank T considers that most of the third paragraphs in the songs are redundant. The song The great masterpiece , included in the album, was a turning point in his career, since it was played on many radio stations and people outside hip hop liked it.:

I remember almost all the details of that time. I emphasized my social concern, and the tone of commitment is the one that marked the lyric trend of that album. The bases, except for one made by Jota Mayuscula, I did them; but J. C. Moreno is the one who made it sound with important arrangements in some bases. His work was decisive. At that time there were just over half a dozen rap albums published and models were still considered important. It was the golden days of CPV, 7 Notes 7 Colors and the Puta Opepé.(...) But what marked that album was a song, The great masterpiecewhich became as a milestone and caused many more unskilled media to become even more interested in my work and also what was happening with rap in Spain. Musically that time coincided with one of the most uplifting moments of the French hip hop and that made me a little influenced by the musical style that was done there. I appealed enough to classical music, something that was already in the new first album edition and worked, hence the success of The great masterpiece(...) In short, this album opened many doors. In fact, I started producing albums and loose songs to other artists like El Chojín, Arianna Puello or SFDK. I was the first rap artist to perform at festivals where they had not yet participated rappers, cover in musical newspapers, interviewed on important televisions, etc. Maybe for all that, for the moment it was done and what was achieved with it, this album was and is so important. Many say it's my best album, but for me, and despite all the praises to him... not far away." Frank T

Later on would come " Frankattack (1999), 90 Kilos (2001) and Smile Please (2006). In 2010 he released a new album, titled & # 34; I'm a toaster. In this last work a clear influence is perceived in the instrumentals of electro music and especially old school.

It is also worth noting his participation as a presenter in El rimadero together with Jota Mayúscula, the radio program on hip hop on Radio 3 (belonging to the public entity Radiotelevisión Española). This job allowed him to come into contact with numerous professionals and beginners of Spanish hip hop.

In 2004, Frank T returned to present a radio program, called La cuarto parte, where until September 2008 you could listen to rap, R&B, funk or soul, now the program is specialized solely and exclusively to rap music. During the first months of the program, El Langui, one of the members of the rap group La Excepción, collaborated with Miguel Sutil, a journalist, DJ and expert in funky music.

His collaborations were not only referred to the radio field, but also to the journalistic one, since he spent several months collaborating in the newspaper 20 minutos with a section called Hip-hop in writing. His articles were poetically expressed political and social opinions, but finally due to lack of time he abandoned this project.

He has also been a producer for various groups such as SFDK, Zenit, Shuga Wuga, El Chojin, La Excepción or Arianna Puello. He is currently producing new MCs like Guerra, Artes or Shogun XL.

In his songs we find numerous references to science fiction movies, of which he declares himself a great fan. In fact, he has once used the alias Skynet, in reference to Terminator . His passion for cinema has led him to participate as an actor in the film Orígenes secretos by David Galán Galindo playing Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifröst. He returned to work with the director on Gora Automatikoa where he plays Vatmann, a character who parodies Batman.

He currently hosts The Fourth Part on Radio 3 and is part of the podcast There are no blacks in Tibet on Podium Podcast.

Discography

Frank-T in 2005, with Meko behind.

With the Violent Poets Club

• Model (Maqueta) (1993)
• Madrid zone bruta (LP) (I win, 1994)

Solo

• Konfusional (LP) (Yo Gano, 1996)
• Birds cannot live in the water because they are not fish (LP) (Zona Bruta, 1998)
• The great masterpiece (Maxi) (Zona Bruta, 1998)
• Frankattack (LP) (Zona Bruta, 1999)
• 90 kilos (LP) (Zona Bruta, 2001)
• Smile please. (LP) (Zona Bruta, 2006)
• Frank t (mixtape) (Universal Music, 2008)
• I'm a toaster. (LP) (Zona Bruta, 2010)
• Blacks will also go to the moon (LP) (Warner Music) (2016)
• Arroz (LP) (Zona Bruta, Warner Music, 2021)

Collaborations

• Dave Bee.Comunicologia vol.1" (1997)
• SFDK "Charisma" (Always strong, 1999)
• Khosmaker "Klonik" (1999)
• The Chojin "My Turn" (1999)
• Zeta."Guateque" (1999)
• Arianna PuelloPerfect hook" (1999)
• Verse violators "Line 4" (2001)
• Speaking in silverIn cold blood" (2001)
• Poison.Ak-Rap-Erro" (2001)
• The Chojin "Adult only" (2001)
• Shuga WugaMalizzia" (2001)
• Falsalarma"La Misiva" (2002)
• Cool All Stars."Guateque all stars" (2002)
• Dnoe.That women think 1: Personal" (2003)
• Zenit "Infinite product" (2003)
• Arianna PuelloI'm sorry." (2003)
• Tote King One against 20 mc's"Music for the sick" (2004)
• Two brothers."Even if things get ugly" (Format C:, 2003)
• R de Rumba "Don't go." (R de Rumba, 2004)
• 995."K2: Kompettion II" (2004)
• Elphomega"Homogeddon" (2005)
• Baghdad RapOriginal soundtrack" (2005)
• Several "Time of kambio" (2006)
• Carlos Jean "Your rap is sad" (2006)
• Korazón CrudoThe last romantic" (2006)
• Primizia "First Page" (2006)
• The SicarioThe law of Ohm" (2007)
• Baghdad Rap For the one who composed the song, "The word as a weapon"
• Shogun XL "2099" (2009)
• WarDishes" (2009)
• Dr. Libido."The Beginning of Utopia" (2009)
• Mechanical RoomHappy without your chimera" (2010)
• One Stigmah "Halloween" (2010)
• Toteking & Shotta "Sanse" (2012)
• Spot San Miguel " Everyting you didn't do " (2012)
• Passport "Wraith" Equality (with Verse Violators) (2013)