Matt Pokora

Matthieu Tota (born 26 September 1985) commonly known as M. Pokora or Matt Pokora, is a French singer and songwriter.

Early life
Matthieu Tota, is the son of professional footballer André Tota and his mother is Brigitte Tota. His parents divorced in 1998 when he was just 13. As a child, he studied at an elementary school in Hohberg, and later at Collège Paul-Émile Victor in Mundolsheim, and Lycée Aristide Briand in Schiltigheim near Strasbourg. As a young man, football (soccer) became his first ambition and he wanted to be a professional player. But he opted for music.

Matthieu Tota explained about the origin of his name Pokora in an interview during the documentary Mis à jour broadcast on 26 August 2010 about him on NRJ 12 television station. He said he was searching for an artistic name and happened to be talking to his grand mother of Polish origin and the importance of humility came up. So he asked her how do we say humility in Polish language and she said "pokora". So Matthieu immediately decided to call himself Pokora. Matt came from his name Matthieu. So he became to be known by his stage name Matt Pokora.

He earned some public attention as a member of French R&B group Mic Unity.

Career

 * Further information: M. Pokora career

Mise À Jour / Updated (2010/2011)
Fourth studio album titled Mise à jour was released on 23 August 2010. The lead single "Juste une photo de toi" was released on 7 June 2010 and was a big hit reaching #4 in the French Albums Chart. It includes collaborations with Wayne Beckford, Gee Futuristic, X-Plosive, Astro Boyz, Tarz, STX and Bionix. Simultaneously a Mis à jour Édition Deluxe was released that in addition to the original 15 tracks of Mis à jour also contained seven new tracks exclusive for the Deluxe edition (including six in English).

The first single from the album was "Juste une photo de toi" released concurrently with the launching of the album. On 22 January 2011, during the NRJ Music Awards, the song was chosen as "Song of the Year" in addition to M. Pokora being chosen "French Male Artist of the Year". He ultamitly chose his dog's name in one of the songs, "On est la " and loved his dog so much, though he did not have a dog.

To consolidate his international drive started with the MP3 album, he announced that an English version was under preparation. Finally the Englishversion titled Updated was launched on 14 March 2011, containing 11 songs, mostly adaptations of the French language hits on Mise à jour. Six of the titles were already known by the French public through the August 2010 Mise à jour Édition Deluxe release.

For promotion of the album, he organized a mini tour and a series of open-air concerts rather than concerts in halls.

In November 2010, a follow-up single "Mirage" was released accompanied with a new music video. The single received a great number of downloads, but not enough physical sales to have an impact on the charts and the single made only up to #64 despite the top position in downloads.

In January 2011, "Oblivion" an English language of "Mirage" was released with same arrangement but with new English lyrics for the international markets. The single was an opener for the reelased of Updated, destined for non-French markets of Mis à jour songs, but was made available for French markets as well.

In March 2011, M. Pokora announced a tour of 15 French cities, venues in Belgium and a final show in the Olympia. As a prelude, he also appeared in French, Belgian and Swiss clubs with dates from April to June 2011.

He also launched in March 2011 Mise à jour Version 2.0 that included extra materials including the Jean-Jacques Goldman, Carole Fredericks and Michael Jones classic "À nos actes manqués" which was destined to be his new single. It immediately became the number one physical single sales and reached the Top 10. The album Mise à jour Version 2.0 was made available on 18 April 2011, containing 17 titles including 14 form the original, the Jean-Jacques Goldman cover single three English language titles from Updated and a new French track "Si on échangeait les rôles", the French version of Updated's "Finally Found Ya".

A la poursuite du bonheur (2012)
The fifth studio album A la poursuite du bonheur by French singer M. Pokora, was released on March 20. The album's leading single "Juste un instant" was released on January 30, 2012 and reached number eighteen on the French singles chart. The album entered the French albums chart at number two. The second single from the album was "On est là" released in April 2012. In order to promote the album, M. Pokora embarked in a national tour in May 2012. The third single from the album was announced in the end of May; "Merci d'etre" was officially released on July 2, 2012. on 4 September 2012, M. Pokora's official website posted the news that the album had sold over 200,000 copies in France, earning double platinum certification. The album is set to be re-issued on November 19, 2012, the new edition is set to include five new tracks, including the ean-Jacques Goldman cover "Envole-moi" with singer Tal.

Own Eurovision Song Contest 16
Matt represented France with his song "Mirage" in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 16, contest held in Moscow, Russia, unfortunately the song didn't manage to qualify from the third semi-final for the Grand Final, receiving 43 points and placying 12th out of 20 songs.

Own Eurovision Song Contest 18
Matt along with Patricia Kazadi replaced Danny Saucedo in Polska Piosenka 3 due to Danny's victory in Aland Sangfestivalen 1. With their song "Wanna feel you now" they won the edition with just two points over the runner up, Margaret Ashton. However in the contest they failed to qualify getting the 10th place. It was the second time Poland failed to qualify.

Own Eurovision Song Contest 19
Matt returned in the contest for France in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 19, which was held in Budapest, Hungary. Together with Tal, their song "Envole-moi" was a succes, qualifying for the Grand Final and placed 2nd, receiving 189 points.

Albums

 * Solo

Solo singles

 * Main article: M. Pokora solo singles

DVDs

 * 2005 Un an avec M. Pokora (One year with M. Pokora)
 * 2007 100% VIP
 * 2006 Player Tour
 * 2012 A La Poursuite Du Bonheur Tour

Guest appearances

 * 2004 "Chanter qu'on les aime", a charity single by Amade
 * 2005 "Protège-toi", a charity single by Collectif Protection Rapprochée
 * 2005 "Et puis la terre...", a charity single by A.S.I.E.
 * 2005 "Oh" (French Remix) by Ciara
 * 2006 "L'Or de nos vies", a charity single from Fight Aids
 * 2006 "rainbfever.com" by Amine featured on "Raï'n'B Fever 2"
 * 2007 "Ne me dis pas", featured on "Mon Hold-Up" by Tyron Carter
 * 2007 "Girls", featured on "Lady Sweety" by Lady Sweety
 * 2007 "Je fais de toi mon essentiel" by Emmanuel Moire featured on the charity album "Le Roi Soleil – De Monaco à Versailles (LIVE) – Fight Aids"
 * 2007 "S'aimer Est Interdit" by Anne-Laure Girbal featured on the charity album "Le Roi Soleil – De Monaco à Versailles (LIVE) – Fight Aids"
 * 2010 "Un Respect mutuel", a charity single by Collectif Kilomaitre
 * 2010 "Talking About a Revolution", featured on the charity album "Message (AIDES)"
 * 2010 "Let's Get It Started", featured on "Setting Standards" by Lazee
 * 2011 "Des ricochets", a charity single by collectif Paris Africa
 * 2012 "Wanna Feel You Now", featured on "Globetrotter" by Patricia Kazadi