Willy William
Willy William (born 14 April 1981) is a French-Mauritian DJ, record producer and singer, famous for his club remixes and vocal collaborations with a number of dance music artists. He is most famous for his French hit "Ego" and his Latin hit "Mi Gente", the latter with J Balvin.
Willy William | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | [1] Fréjus, France | 14 April 1981
Genres | Electronic[2] |
Occupation(s) |
|
Years active | 2003–present |
Labels | Scorpio Music, Roton[3] |
Beginnings
Born to immigrant parents in 1981, in Fréjus, Var, France,[4] he was brought up in the small town of Champagné, Pays de la Loire, in northwestern France.
Career
He came to prominence in 2003 with his work with DJ Flex in the dancefloor hit "B Boyz Shake da Body" and in 2004 as producer of "Tragedie" using the pseudonym "Lord William".[5] He later joined the French music collective Collectif Métissé,[6] also continuing to produce his own materials.
He collaborated with a great number of artists producing their songs and taking part in vocals as featured artists. He charted with collaborative songs with DJ Assad with "Li tourner", Les Jumo with "C Show" and "L'Italienne", and with Keen'V in "On s'endort?", Ridsa in "Je n'ai pas eu le temps" that also featured Ryan Stevenson on drums and many others.[7]
In 2016, Willy got his major French hit with "Ego" which was produced and sung by himself. It was the main single from his 2016 album Une seule vie and his biggest French hit as a solo artist. "Ego" charted in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Poland amongst many others.[7]
In 2017, he became an international sensation after the release of "Mi Gente" a collaboration with the superstar Colombian artist J Balvin. The huge international success of the song led to a version that also featured Beyoncé in a new remix. The song received a Latin Billboard Music Award and the music video amassed over 2 billion views and received in 2018 an MTV Video Music Award for Best Latin Video, maintained #1 Spotify Global for 12 consecutive weeks, while topping charts across the world as #1 in a great number of countries.
In 2018, Willy produced and released a dance track called "La La La" and he appeared on "Goodbye", a David Guetta and Jason Derulo song that featured William and Nicki Minaj.
Willy William is a "Latin Grammy" nominated DJ / Producer mainly for "Mi Gente". His song "Ego" made him the #1 most Shazamed French Artist.
Discography
Albums
Year | Album | Peak positions | Track listing | |
---|---|---|---|---|
FRA [8] |
BEL (Wa) | |||
2016 | Une seule vie | 12 | 20 |
|
As lead artist
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FRA [8] |
AUS [9] |
BEL (Wa) [10] |
GER [11] |
ITA [12] |
NL | SPA [13] |
SWE [14] |
SWI [15] |
UK [16] |
US [17] | |||||
"Te quiero" | 2015 | 24 | — | 20* (Ultratip) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Une seule vie | ||
"Ego" | 12 | — | 3 | 39 | 18 | 4 | — | — | 75 | — | — | ||||
"On s'endort?" (feat. Keen'V) |
2016 | 36 | — | 10* (Ultratip) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Mi Gente" (with J Balvin) |
2017 | 6 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 1 [21] |
1 | 1 [22] | 4 [23] | 4 | 5 | 19 |
|
Vibras (J Balvin album) | |
"Mi Gente (Remix)" (with J Balvin feat. Beyoncé) |
— | 111 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 32 | 16 | 51 | 31 [25] |
N/A | |||
"La La La" | 2018 | — | — | Tip** | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Mambo"[27] (with Steve Aoki featuring El Alfa, Sean Paul, Sfera Ebbasta and Play-N-Skillz) |
2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
- Notes
- Note 1: Uses combined chart entries for "Mi Gente" and "Mi Gente (remix)"1
*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.
**Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Tipparade charts.
Featured in
Internationally
Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FRA [8] |
AUS |
BEL (Fl) |
BEL (Wa) |
GER |
ITA |
NED |
SPA |
SWE |
SWI | |||
2018 | "Goodbye" (Jason Derulo and David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj and Willy William) |
93 | 33 | 20 | 15 | 47 | 92 | 16 | 33 | 16 | 50 | David Guetta album 7 |
2019 | "Highway"[28] (Cheat Codes featuring Sofía Reyes and Willy William) |
— | — | — | Tip** | — | — | — | — | —[upper-alpha 1] | — | Non-album single |
Francophone markets
Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|
FRA [8] |
BEL (Wa) | |||
2010 | "C'Show" (Les Jumo feat. Willy William) |
— | — | |
2013 | "Je n'ai pas eu le temps" (Ridsa feat. Willy William & Ryan Stevenson) |
76 | — | Ridsa EP Es tu fiesta (EP) |
"Es tu fiesta" (Ridsa feat. Willy William) |
12 | 2* (Ultratip) | ||
"Li tourner" (DJ Assad feat. Alain Ramanisum & Willy William) |
12 | 2* (Ultratip) |
||
2014 | "Alalila (Le Sega)" (DJ Assad feat. Denis Azor, Mario Ramsamy & Willy William) |
76 | 14* (Ultratip) |
|
"A l'Italienne" (Les Jumo featuring Willy William & Frédéric François) |
— | — | ||
"Me Gusta" (Dj R'AN featuring José de Rico, Willy William & Anna Torres) |
— | — | ||
"La demoiselle" (Miky Uno featuring Willy William) |
— | — | ||
2015 | "Englishman in New York" (Cris Cab feat. Tefa & Moox, Willy William) |
16 | 26 | Non-album single |
2016 | "Keep My Cool" (Madcon feat. Willy William) |
— | 8* (Ultratip) |
Non-album single |
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. |
*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.
**Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Tipparade charts.
Other songs
Year | Title | Peak positions | Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|
FRA [8] |
BEL (Wa) | |||
2016 | "Tes mots" | — | — | Une seule vie |
"Paris" (feat. Cris Cab) |
106 | — | ||
"R.Q.T" | — | — | ||
"Qui tu est" | — | Tip** | ||
2017 | "Voodoo Song" (remake based on "Ego") |
— | 13* (Ultratip) |
|
2020 | "Bollywood" (with Sandro Silva) |
— | — |
*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.
**Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Tipparade charts.
References
Notes
- "Highway" did not enter the Swedish Singellista Chart, but peaked at number five on the Swedish Heatseeker Chart.[29]
Sources
- "Willy William". All Music. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- "J Balvin's Fast-Rising "Mi Gente" Is A Challenge To The US-Centric Pop World". BuzzFeed. 10 August 2017.
- Willy William ne aduce primul hit din 2016
- Buchanan, John D. "Willy William – Biography". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
- South Indies Crew: Willy William biography
- Skyrock website: Collectif Metissé page
- Booking Stars: Willy Wiliam
- Peak chart positions in France:
- All except noted: "Willy William discography". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- "Voodoo Song": "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés – SNEP (Week 18, 2017)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
- "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- "Willy William discography". ultratop.be/fr/. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- "Discographie von Willy William". offiziellecharts.de. GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- "Willy William discography". italiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- "Discography Willy William". spanishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- "Discography Willy William". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- "Discographie Willy William". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
- "J Balvin/Willy William". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- "J Balvin & Willy William – Chart history: The Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank". Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- "Willy William - Certificazioni" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- "Polish single certifications – Willy William – Ego". Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- "Classifica settimanale WK 38" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
- "Top 100 Canciones — Semana 29: del 14.07.2017 al 20.07.2017" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- "Sverigetopplistan – Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- "J Balvin & Willy William – Mi Gente". elportaldemusica.es. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- Trust, Gary (9 October 2017). "J Balvin, Willy William & Beyonce Blast to No. 3 on Hot 100 With 'Mi Gente,' Cardi B No. 1 for Third Week". Billboard. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
- "Mambo (feat. El Alfa, Sean Paul, Sfera Ebbasta & Play-N-Skillz) - Single by Steve Aoki & Willy William". Apple Music. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- Roiz, Jessica (23 August 2019). "Cheat Codes team up With Sofia Reyes & Willy William for bilingual track 'Highway': Listen". Billboard. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
- "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 35". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
External links
- Willy William discography at Discogs