Karl Wolf

Karl Wolf

Carl Abou Samah (in Arabic كارل أبو سمح) (born April 18, 1979), better known by his stage name Karl Wolf, is a Lebanese Canadian musician based in Montreal, Canada. He has been a singer, songwriter and producer since 2001, releasing his first solo album Face Behind the Face on MapleNationwide / Universal in January 2006, followed by a second album Bite the Bullet in November 2007. His third album Nightlife was released on November 17, 2009.

Earlier Years

Karl was born in Beirut, Lebanon. However, his family moved to Dubai, UAE a few years later due to the civil war in Lebanon.

Wolf's mother was a piano teacher and his father played the guitar, drums and a traditional Eastern musical instrument called oud. Karl began his career "behind the scenes," and has been writing co-producing since 2001. The 2001 hit album from Gabrielle Destroismaisons generated two singles co-written by him that reached No. 1 on the BDS Francophone Charts, and the record earned him a Félix Award at the L'ADISQ Awards for "Best Mix and Sound of the Year".

Wolf's work with Gabrielle brought Karl Wolf to the attention of Antoine Sicotte, of the top-selling Canadian pop band Sky, where he was recruited as a singer-songwriter becoming Sky's new lead singer in 2002. Wolf co-wrote and co-produced the third Sky album, Picture Perfect (on Sextant/EMI), with strong airplay across Canada. Sicotte and Wolf cooperated on the hugely successful Star Académie reality TV show in Quebec. The subsequent album was the biggest-selling album in Canada in 2003, notching a phenomenal sales in Canadian terms and earning Karl Wolf a SOCAN Award for Most Popular Song. A Star Académie II sequel in 2004 was another big success, the album going double-platinum.

Solo Years (since 2005)

In 2005 Karl Wolf ventured into a solo career. He released his debut solo album Face Behind the Face" in January 2006. Since its release, the album broke in the Canadian Top 100 sales chart and spawned three singles, "Butterflies" and "Desensitize", with the latter track (featuring hip hop star Choclair) reaching the BDS Top 40 charts and "Referee".

He followed with a second studio album Bite the Bullet in November 2007. The first single release from the album was "Africa", a remake of the worldwide hit Africa by Toto. The Karl Wolf remake features Canadian artist Culture. In early March 2009, with the release of the single on iTunes for digital downloads, it surged up #32 to #2 on the issue of March 14, 2009 based on huge amounts of downloads over the previous week. It also stayed at #2 for four further week on the chart of March 21 and 28 and April 4 and 11, 2009. Prior to iTunes download, it had topped at #20 in the same chart. This is so far Karl Wolf's most successful single to date. The song also topped the MuchMusic Top 30 Countdown charts and has also found success in Japan, peaking at #20 on the Japan Hot 100 chart. His follow up single this year titled Carrera climbed to peak at #39 on the Bilboard Canadian Hot 100.

He was the opening act for launching of MTV Arabia alongside Akon, Ludacris and UAE's Desert Heat. Furthermore Karl Wolf single Africa became the first ever video clip broadcast on the new music station.

Karl Wolf announced on Sunday June 21 2009 at the MuchMusic Video Awards, that he has in fact been recording a new album due to be out by the end of this year (2009) or by early 2010 and that he we will be releasing another remake of a worldwide hit.

LW Entertainment / LW Records

In addition to his solo career, Wolf has established "LW Entertainment" and his own record label "LW Records" and recording studio (with LW standing for Lone Wolf). These are the producing wing of Karl Wolf's operations. Before becoming a solo artist, Karl Wolf had his break as a songwriter / producer and at 22, won "Best Mix and Sound of the Year" at L'ADISQ. Karl Wolf has also produced for Quebec singers Mitsou, Emily, Jérôme-Philippe (aka Disoul) also becoming for a time, part of the latter's band Dubmatique.

Collaborations

Karl Wolf has collaborated with a number of artists, mainly from Canada:

• He was featured in Quebec rapper and VJ Malik Shaheed's song Get Down / Respire
• His song Hollow Girl features Quebec artist Striger
• His song Desensitize features Canadian rapper Choclair
• He is featured in Choclair's song and music video of "Weekend" from Choclair's Flagship album
• He released with Eve a bilingual (English / French version) of his single Butterflies (Co-written by Jordan Kaahn)
• He was featured in Taio Cruz recording Crazy Girl
• His song Like This features Sandman
• His song Africa features Canadian rapper Culture
• His special track Triple R features international rap artist Snoop Dogg
• His single Yalla Habibi features Rime and Kaz Money
• He is featured in Diana Haddad's single "Enta Ma'ai / Kol Hayati"

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Chart positions		Certifications (sales thresholds)
		US	CAN
2006	Face Behind the Face Released: February 14, 2006 Label: LW Format: CD	—	—	—
2007	Bite the Bullet Released: July 11, 2007 Label: EMI Format: CD	—	100	—
2009	Nightlife Released: November 17, 2009 Label: EMI Format: CD		—	—

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions			Album
		CAN	U.S.	JAP
2005	"Butterflies"	—	—	—	Face Behind the Face
2006	"Desensitize"(feat. Choclair)	—	—	—
	"Referee"	—	—	—
	"Triple R" (feat. Snoop Dogg)	—	—	—
2007	"She Wants to Know"	—	—	—	Bite the Bullet
2008	"Africa" (feat. Culture)	2	—	20
2009	"Carrera"	39	—	—
	"Yalla Habibi" (feat. Rime Salmi & Kaz Money)	22	—	51	Nightlife
2010	"Hurting" ((feat. Sway)	—	—	—

Awards and Nominations

• 2007 Nominated for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year in Juno Awards
• In November 2008, he won MTV Arabia's "Best Arabia New Act".
• On 6 November 2008 he performed Butterflies in the MTV Europe Music Video Awards show in Liverpool and received his MTV prize.
• In May 2009, Wolf was nominated for "Favourite New Artist/Group" People's choice and for "Pop Video of the Year" for his video "Africa" at 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards
• In January 2010, Karl Wolf was nominated for "Best Anglophone Artist or Group of the Year" in the Sounds of Blackness Gala in Montreal and his single "Africa" for the "Anglophone Song of the Year.
  • On Fenruary 28, 2010, Karl Wolf's "Africa" went on to win the "Anglophone Song of the Year" award at the Sounds of Blackness Gala in Montreal..
• In January 2010, Wolf was nominated to three possible awards: "Fan's Choice Award" for top act heard on Canadian Radio in 2009 and his single Africa for "Mainstream AC" and "Hot AC" awards. Awards to be announced on 12 March 2010 during the 13th Canadian Radio Music Awards organized by the The Canadian Association of Broadcasters.

External links

• Karl Wolf Official site
• Karl Wolf MySpace Page
• Karl Wolf Fan Page on Facebook