Vald (rapper)

Valentin Le Du (French pronunciation: [valɑ̃tɛ̃ lə dy]; born 15 July 1992), better known by his stage name Vald (French: [vald]; sometimes stylized as VALD), is a French rapper.

Born in Aulnay-sous-Bois, in Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, he studied at Lycée privé catholique l'Espérance where he received a Baccalauréat S (Sciences). He then studied medicine for a semester before moving to Mathematics/computer science, graduating with a bachelor's degree, known in France as a licence. He also studied sound engineering.

He started rapping at age 17. He released a mixtape, NQNTMQMQMB (Ni Queue Ni Tête Mais Qui Met Quand Même Bien) in 2012, followed by another mixtape Cours de rattrapage the same year. Both were re-edited in 2016 as a double CD released through his website. On 27 October 2014, he released his debut EP NQNT (Ni Queue Ni Tête) with a music video, Bonjour, finding success. It was followed by the release of EP NQNT 2 on 25 September 2015. On 20 January 2017, he released his debut album Agartha on Mezoued Records & Suther Kane Films, and on Millenium, Capitol, Universal; the album earned a platinum certification in France. A leak of song material resulted in the release of the EP project NQNT 3. On 2 February 2018, Vald released his second album XEU featuring collaborations with rappers Sirius, Suik'on Blaz AD and Sofiane; the album received a double platinum certification. This was followed by the mixtape NQNT33 in September 2018. In October 2019, he released a third album, Ce monde est cruel (This world is cruel).