If Akhenaton did not experience discrimination during his childhood and adolescence, this was then the case when he converted to Islam before marrying his partner. The rapper returned to a situation that shocked him a lot in The Katche Face on yahoo this Monday, January 24, 2022.
30 years of love. It was in 1993 that Akhenaton married Aïcha Fragione. “My wife is black, Arab and Muslim, it’s a kind of all star game” , he confided in front of Manu Katché on the show The Katche Face on yahoo this Monday, January 24, 2022. For love, the rapper whose real name is Philippe Fragione also converted to Islam before his marriage. And while he claims not to have been discriminated against during his childhood and adolescence, things have unfortunately changed over the years, especially since he got married. “In my generation, we have not suffered the racism that blacks and Arabs in France suffer. I cannot consider myself a victim, because discrimination, I experienced it more as an adult by marrying my wife, looking for an apartment, converting to Islam“, he says.
“It is not possible”
Indeed, the one who changed his name to Abdel Hakim is still shocked by certain situations of which he has been the victim. “When you’re newlywed and you go to an apartment, and that the notice of the owner specifies ‘No dog, no Black, no Arab’… It’s hot. And there, you see your wife, your children, and you say to yourself: it is not possible, we are still there”, he recalls. Indeed, Akhenaton is the father of three children: Yanis (26), also a rapper under the name of JMK$, Inaya (23) and Reyan (21). And if the 53-year-old artist has experienced little discrimination, this was not the case for his children, mixed race and Muslim too.
“I saw the pain in my son’s eyes, who says to me: ‘Dad, I am checked three times a day’. He does not see it well, especially in his dealings with the police and the forces of order. He ended up in police custody several times for no reason. I didn’t go through what he went through. But you want to intervene, because it’s your child” , he says. A tough situation for Akhenaten’s family.