Karl Wolf
ARTIST NAME: KARL WOLF
LATEST ALBUM: Nightlife (2009)
LATEST SINGLE: Africa
HIT SINGLE: Africa
COUNTRY: CANADA
WEBSITE: www.karlwolf.com
Karl wolf storms back on the music scene with his hit new album Nightlife! The album includes the hit singles “Yalla Habibi”, Carerra (2009 remix) as well as “Africa” as bonus track.
The Karl Wolf story:
Though Karl was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to avoid the civil war that the country was facing, his family moved to Dubai when Karl was an infant. From very early on music played a large part in his life. His mother taught the piano and his father played the guitar, drums and a traditional Arabic instrument called the Oud.
This interest quickly blossomed, with Karl becoming a multiple threat! Songwriter, producer, singer, Karl can do it all. Karl started as a producer and was involved with many multi-platinum albums in Canada. These include Gabrielle Destroismaisons, Mitsou, Quebec’s Star Académie and Emily Bégin. Karl then began developing as an artist and was a member of Dubmatique and SKY, both platinum-selling groups. He earned a prestigious Felix Award in 2001 for “Best Mix and Sound of the Year” for his work on Gabrielle Destroismaisons’ Etcetera as well as a SOCAN award in 2004 for “Best Pop Song” for his work on Star Académie I.
As more and more industry insiders began hearing about him or working with him word of his talent began to spread. Artists like Christina Milian, Glenn Lewis and Mya all began asking for material. However, at the time, Karl was busy at work on his first solo album, Face Behind the Face.
Released on Valentine’s Day 2006, Face Behind the Face, turned Karl into an instant Mega-Star in the Middle East and Canada. The album’s first hit Butterflies spent XX weeks at 1. The Canadian remix with Quebec pop-princess Eve rose to 3. The second single Summer Days and Summer Nights in Beirut, which recalls the beauty of Beirut before the civil war, was also a huge success on radio. The third release from the debut album Desensitize was a club smash and a remix with Canadian rapper Choclair can still be heard in clubs around the world.
Face Behind the Face, won Karl a Sounds of Blackness Award (SOBA) in 2007 as the “Best R&B/Soul Artist of the Year” and he was nominated for a 2007 Juno Award (Canada’s music awards) for “Best R&B/Soul Recording.”
The success of Face Behind the Face help develop Karl as an international artist. One of his first international performances after the release of the album was with R&B Queen Mary J. Blidge in Dubai. The release of the second album, Bite the Bullet, has solidified as a major international artist. In the last year alone, with the territorial release of the album, he performed with Lauryn Hill, Neyo, Girlicious, T-Pain, Flo-Rida, Pitbull, Kelly Roland, and Akon. He also shared the stage with both Ludacris and Akon at MTV Arabia’s launch event!
In order to maximize each market Karl decided on a territorial release and began releasing the album one territory at a time. The album dropped in stores in the Middle East / North Africa on November 27, 2007, and in many other major markets around the world in 2008 and early 2009.
Karl Wolf was crowned winner of the “MTV Arabia Best New Act” at MTV’s European Music Awards, one of the most prestigious music awards in the world. Fans across the globe voted for the Wolf to represent the Middle East talent at the awards ceremony in Liverpool on November 6th 2008. After returning from a two-week promotional tour to promote his self-titled album in Japan (where Africa went Gold), Karl was very excited about the nomination saying:
His huge success in Japan has catapulted Karl’s musical career into another dimension, having shared the international chart’s top spots with the likes of Madonna and Coldplay. Karl Wolf recently collaborated with rap legend, Snoop Dogg, to release an exclusive online track called “TRIPLE R” which left followers already buzzing about a new album. Fans across the world are hungry for the Wolf!
On February 24th 2009, “Africa” was officially released in Canada, where it became an instant success across the country due to massive radio airplay topped off by TRIPLE PLATINUM status sales with over 130,000 digital downloads in a matter of weeks! The album dropped in stores on April 7th in Canada and has been embraced by thousands of pop and R&B enthusiasts nationwide as well as has allowed him to tour the country alongside heavyweights such as Akon, Flo Rida, Pitbull, Sean Kingston and T-Pain. In summer of 2009, Nightlife was released in the Middle-East and Japan where it had reached the 1 and 2 spots on the International album sales charts, having “Yalla Habibi” as the first single on the album, which instantaneously became an international hit with its crossover appeal. Other than the European and Australian release dates that are to be announced in the very near future, the album is also set to be released on November 17th, 2009 in Canada with very high expectations, as “Yalla Habibi” has already started to make huge noise on all major media channels nationwide. Nightlife has been described by many to be packed with hits so make sure you check it out!
DISCOGRAPHY:
2006: Face Behind the Face (Album)
2006: Butterflies / Summer days/ Desensitize
2007: Bit the Bullet (Album)
2007: Africa
2009: Yalla Habibi (Feat. Rime)
2009: Carrera (2009 Remix)
2009: Nightlife (Album)
Click here to go to Karl Wolf’s official website