Karl Wolf

Karl Wolf

Carl Abou Samah (in Arabic كارل أبو سمح; born in Beirut, Lebanon on April 18, 1979) is a Lebanese-born Canadian musician based in Montreal (QC), Canada. He is better known by his stage name Karl Wolf. 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. After 9 years with EMI Music, in March 2010 he signed a new recording contract in the United States with Universal Republic.

Early years

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

In an interview with Shave Magazine, Karl explained that in Arabic, his family name (Abou Samah) means 'father of forgiveness.'. His stage name 'wolf' derives from a nickname he received on his high school basketball team as he was the smallest but yet the quickest in his team. He also says his mother and father drove him to a career in music. Wolf's mother was a piano teacher and his father played the guitar, drums and a traditional Middle 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 #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 peeked at #1 on the itunes charts and 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. The album Nightlife, his third album was released on 17 November 2009. He has had two singles emanating from the album, "Yalla Habibi" and "Hurting".

In February 2010, he signed a record deal with Universal Republic Records for United States distribution. After great success in Canada, "Africa" will become the first single released in the United States through the Universal Republic record deal.

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"
• He is featured in Jacob Guay's bilingual French/English single "Si Jeune" (Written by Jordan Kaahn and produced by Karl Wolf)
• The Jay Sean single "Yalla Asia" dedicated to 2011 AFC Asian Cup held in Qatar features Karl Wolf and Radhika Vekaria

Discography

Studio albums

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

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions		Album
		CAN	JPN
2005	"Butterflies"	—	—	Face Behind the Face
2006	"Desensitize" (feat. Choclair)	—	—
	"Referee"	—	—
	"Triple R" (feat. Snoop Dogg)	—	—	non-album single
2007	"She Wants to Know"	—	—	Bite the Bullet
2008	"Africa" (feat. Culture)	2	20
2009	"Carrera"	39	—
	"Yalla Habibi" (feat. Rime Salmi & Kaz Money)	24	51	Nightlife
2010	"Hurting" (feat. Sway)	55	—
	"80's Baby"	—	—

=Featured artist

Karl Worlf is featured in a number of releases by other artists

Date	Song title	Performing credits	Album title
	"Get Down / Respire"	VJ Malik Shaheed feat. Karl Wolf
	"Weekend"	Choclair feat. Karl Wolf	Flagship by Choclair
	"Crazy Girl"	Taio Cruz feat. Karl Wolf
	"Enta Ma'ai" / "Kol Hayati"	Diana Haddad feat. Karl Wolf
2010	"Si jeune"	Jacob Guay feat. Karl Wolf
2011	"Yalla Asia"	Jay Sean feat. Karl Wolf and Radhika Vekaria

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations for Karl Wolf
Year	Award	Category	Nominated Work	Result
2007	Juno Awards	RR&B/Soul Recording of the Year	Face Behind the Face	Nominated
2008	MTV Europe Music Awards	Best Arabia Act	Himself	Won
2009	MuchMusic Video Awards	Favourite New Artist/Group	Himself	Nominated
		Pop Video of the Year	"Africa"	Nominated
2010	Sounds of Blackness Awards	Best Anglophone Artist or Group of the Year	Himself	Nominated
		Anglophone Song of the Year	"Africa"	Won
	Canadian Radio Music Awards	Fan's Choice Award	Himself	Nominated
		Best New Group or Solo Mainstream A/C Artist of the Year	Himself (for "Africa")	Nominated
		Best New Group or Solo Hot A/C Artist of the Year	Himself (for "Africa")	Won

External links

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