Lunatic, formed by Booba and Ali in 1995, is certainly one of the pivotal groups
in French hardcore rap. Lunatic bridged the gap between rap's big brothers and
the younger generation, and came just at the right moment to reawaken a movement
in the process of gentrification. Their only real album, Mauvais Oeil in 2000,
was a real punch in the gut, eagerly awaited and acclaimed, and reached No. 10
in the sales charts. The band split up in 2002, but released Black Album in
2006, featuring previously unreleased material, live recordings and demos.