Grand Corps Malade

Grand Corps Malade is the stage name of Fabien Marsaud, a French artist born in 1977 in Seine-Saint-Denis, near Paris. His nickname, meaning «tall sick body», refers to a serious accident he suffered as a teenager that left him with lasting physical after-effects. Rather than pursuing the sports career he once dreamed of, he turned to words, becoming one of the central figures who brought slam poetry — spoken word set to minimal rhythm — into the French mainstream in the early 2000s.

He first built his reputation performing a cappella on Paris slam stages and organizing spoken-word nights with fellow poets before releasing his debut album «Midi 20» in 2006, which introduced his warm, conversational delivery to a wide audience. Songs like «Roméo kiffe Juliette» and «Les voyages en train» showed his gift for narrative songwriting — tender, socially observant, and rooted in everyday life in the Paris suburbs.

Over the following albums he continued blending slam's rhythmic recitation with pop and chanson melodies, occasionally touching rap and rock textures, and became known for collaborations with other French singers and rappers. He remains one of the artists most responsible for slam's popularity as a mainstream musical form in France.