You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (April 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Orelsan]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|fr|Orelsan}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Orelsan
Orelsan in 2019
Background information
Also known as	Orel Aurél RaelSan Jimmy Punchline
Born	Aurélien Cotentin (1982-08-01) 1 August 1982 (age 43) Alençon, Normandy, France
Origin	Caen, Normandy, France
Genres	French hip hop
Occupations	Rapper songwriter record producer actor director
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	2002–present
Labels	7th Magnitude Wagram
Member of	Casseurs Flowters
Website	orelsan7th.com

Aurélien Cotentin (French pronunciation: [ɔʁeljɛ̃ kɔtɑ̃tɛ̃]; born 1 August 1982), better known by his stage name Orelsan (French: [ɔʁɛlsan]; sometimes stylized as OrelSan), is a French rapper, songwriter, record producer, actor and director. He has released five studio albums: his debut Perdu d'avance on 16 February 2009, his second album Le chant des sirènes on 26 September 2011, his third album La fête est finie on 20 October 2017 and his fourth album Civilisation on 19 November 2021.

He is also one half of the French hip hop duo Casseurs Flowters, along with Gringe, with whom he has released two studio albums: Orelsan et Gringe sont les Casseurs Flowters in 2013, and the original soundtrack for their 2015 film Comment c'est loin.

Orelsan's artistry and rapping technique has drawn him comparisons to American rap legend Eminem on several occasions during the earlier stage of his career, primarily because both are prominent white rappers and both are known for their ability to switch between or combine violent and comical rapping techniques.^[1][2][3] Over the years, Orelsan has been recognized as one of the most iconic and important French songwriters and lyricists of his generation. He has a particular style of mixing humor and irony with heavy subjects and manages to reach and appeal to multigenerational audience and a much larger crowd of listeners than hardcore rap fans.^[4][5]

His third album La fête est finie has been certified double diamond, selling more than one million copies in France. His latest album Civilisation was the No.1 selling music album in France for two consecutive years of 2021 and 2022.

In 2022, Orelsan was named "chevalier des Arts et des Lettres" (Knight of Arts and Letters) by the Ministry of Culture of France, rewarded for his creation in the artistic field and the contribution he has made to the influence of the arts in France and in the world.^[6]