On 4 January 2026, French hip-hop lost one of its most essential voices.
Calbony “Calbo” M’Bani — rapper, writer, storyteller, co-founder of Ärsenik — passed away at the age of 52. With him goes not just a man, but an era. A tone. A way of speaking truth that shaped an entire generation.
Ärsenik were never just a rap group.
They were a statement. A warning. A mirror held up to a France that often refused to look at itself.
From Villiers-le-Bel, in the heart of the banlieues, Calbo and his brother Lino emerged in the early 1990s with a hunger that could not be ignored. At a time when French rap was still finding its language, they came with a vocabulary of pain, pride, anger, and clarity. Their sound was dark, raw, uncompromising — not for effect, but because reality was.
And in that reality, Calbo’s voice was unmistakable.
Where some rappers shouted, Calbo spoke.
Where others performed, he confessed.
His delivery was calm but heavy, reflective but firm — the voice of someone who had lived enough to choose his words carefully. He didn’t need to exaggerate. Life had already done that for him.
Ärsenik – Writing the Code for Realness
With Quelques gouttes suffisent… and Quelque chose a survécu…, Ärsenik didn’t just release albums — they released documents. These records became cornerstones of the late 90s and early 2000s, soundtracking a youth that felt invisible, misunderstood, and tired of being spoken about instead of spoken to.
The production was cold. The imagery was bleak. The writing was dense, introspective, and razor sharp. But within that darkness was intelligence, poetry, and humanity. Ärsenik never glorified misery — they exposed it.
Calbo was essential to that balance.
Where Lino brought fire and intensity, Calbo brought depth, nuance, and emotional gravity. He was the voice of consequence, of memory, of internal struggle. Together, they formed one of the most respected duos in French rap history — not because they chased hits, but because they chased truth.
For many young listeners, Calbo was the first rapper who sounded like someone from their building, their block, their family. He wasn’t playing a role. He was being himself. And that authenticity cut deep.
Secteur Ä – Brotherhood & Movement
As part of Secteur Ä, alongside Passi, Stomy Bugsy, Doc Gyneco and others, Calbo helped build a movement that changed the scale of French rap. This was bigger than music — it was about visibility. About proving that artists from the banlieues could dominate culture without diluting who they were.
Calbo never chased the spotlight.
He was a pillar, not a showman.
A presence, not a performance.
And in hip-hop, that kind of respect is priceless.
Bisso Na Bisso – Reclaiming Roots, Expanding Identity
Then came Bisso Na Bisso — and with it, another dimension of Calbo’s artistry. This project was not just a collective; it was a declaration. By blending hip-hop with Congolese rumba, soukous, zouk and African rhythms, Calbo helped create a bridge between the banlieue and the continent, between diaspora and heritage.
Through Bisso Na Bisso, he showed that you could be fully hip-hop and fully African. That identity did not need to be fragmented. That roots were not a burden, but a source of power.
For countless young people navigating dual cultures, this mattered. Deeply.
It was music, yes — but it was also memory, lineage, and pride.
Solo Work – The Man Behind the Legend
As time passed and trends shifted, Calbo never tried to chase youth. He chose instead to document adulthood.
His solo projects — 6ème Chaudron, C’est là-bas, Quelques gouttes de plus — revealed an artist who had nothing left to prove and everything left to say. These were not records made for charts. They were records made for truth.
He spoke of time passing. Of responsibility. Of mistakes. Of resilience. Of faith. Of fatigue. Of survival. This was the voice of a man looking at his life with honesty and courage.
Even in collaborations like “Trop de peine” with Lynnsha, you could hear his emotional intelligence — the ability to bring vulnerability without weakness, sensitivity without fragility.
Calbo didn’t age out of hip-hop.
He grew inside it.
Writing, Transmission & Mentorship
Calbo was not only a rapper — he was a writer in the deepest sense. Through his books and autobiographical work, he opened windows into his journey: from Villiers-le-Bel to the studio, from doubt to discipline, from anger to understanding.
And he didn’t keep that wisdom to himself.
Through workshops, youth programs, and mentorship, he helped others find their voice. He believed in transmission. In passing the torch. In making sure the culture didn’t just survive, but evolved.
For many young people, Calbo was not just an artist — he was proof that expression could be a way out, a way through, a way up.
Influence & Legacy
Calbo helped define the tone of an entire era of French rap — darker, more conscious, more rooted, more real. You can hear his influence in every artist who values lyricism over image, depth over noise, authenticity over performance.
