| Karl Wolf | |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Name: | Carl Abou Samah |
| Alias: | KW, Karl Wolf |
| Birth Date: | 18 April 1979 |
| Birth Place: | Beirut, Lebanon |
| Origin: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Instrument: | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Genre: | Pop, R&B, soul, fusion |
| Occupation: | Singer, songwriter, record producer, musician |
| Years Active: | 2001–present |
| Label: | LW Records LW Entertainment EMI (2001–2010) Universal Republic (2010) Universal Music Canada (2011–present) |
| Associated Acts: | Sky, Choclair, Culture, Striger |
Carl Abou Samah (Arabic: كارل أبو سمح; born April 18, 1979),[1] better known by his stage name Karl Wolf, is a Lebanese-Canadian musician based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
He has been a singer, songwriter, and producer since 2001, releasing his first solo album Face Behind the Face on MapleNationwide/Universal in 2006, followed by a second album Bite the Bullet in 2007. His third album Nightlife was released in 2009 followed by Finally Free in 2012, Stereotype in 2014 and WOW in 2015. His biggest hit has been a remake of Toto's "Africa" sampling from the song and providing new lyrics and arrangements.
Through his company, Lone Wolf Management, Wolf also manages a number of new artists. In 2015, he announced a new collaboration under the name BAE (Be All Equal) with Show Stephens, Brenda Mullen and producer MasterTrak. Wolf signed a new solo contract in Canada with British Columbia-based Cordova Bay Records as well as two new worldwide deals in Los Angeles, one for a publishing contract with BMG and another Digital "YouTube" deal with Collective Digital Studios. He co-wrote the OMI hit "Hula Hoop".
Wolf was born as Carl Abou Samah in Beirut, Lebanon. He came from a musical household. His mother was a piano instructor and his father played the oud, derbake and guitar. He moved on with his family to Sharjah, UAE when he was three years old due to the civil war in Lebanon. He studied in the UAE. In an interview with Shave Magazine, Karl explained that in Arabic, his family name (Abou Samah) means 'father of forgiveness'.[2] His stage name 'wolf' comes from a nickname he received on his high school basketball team because he was the smallest and 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 guitar, drums, and the traditional Middle Eastern oud.
At 16, Wolf immigrated to Canada in 1995, residing in Montreal, Quebec. He studied Film Studies at Montreal's Concordia University. He began his career "behind the scenes," and has been writing co-producing since 2001. Initially he was a backup singer for some hits by the Quebec band Dubmatique. 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 him 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.[3] 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.
In 2005, Wolf ventured into a solo career. He released his debut solo album Face Behind the Face"[4] in January 2006. Since its release, the album broke in the Canadian Top 100 sales chart and spawned three singles, "Butterflies".[5] and "Desensitize",[6]
Wolf followed with a second studio album Bite the Bullet in November 2007. The first single release from the album was "Africa",[7] 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 from No. 32 to No. 2[8] on the issue of March 14, 2009 based on huge numbers of downloads over the previous week. It peaked at No. 1 on the iTunes charts and It also stayed at No. 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 No. 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 No. 20 on the Japan Hot 100 chart. His follow-up single this year titled "Carrera" climbed to peak at No. 39 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.
Nightlife, his third album was released on November 17, 2009.
After nine years with EMI Music, in March 2010 he signed a new recording contract in the United States with Universal Republic followed by a worldwide deal with Universal Music Canada in 2011. EMI Japan and EMI Middle East who still had exclusive license to Karl Wolf's upcoming album released Finally Free, his fourth album on July 10, 2012. Through his company, Lone Wolf Management, Karl Wolf also manages a number of new artists.
In September 2014, he released the album Stereotype followed in 2015 with the album WOW.
In April 2021, he released his tenth album 2AM Vibes with a number of collaborations.[9]
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).
Through his company, Lone Wolf Management, Karl Wolf also manages a number of new artists with his long time manager Pascal Malkoun.
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.
In 2015, Karl Wolf announced a collaboration under the name BAE (Be All Equal) that includes Karl Wolf and hip-hop artist Show Stephens and singer-songwriter Brenda Mullen. Co-produced by Wolf and DJ producer MasterTrak, the act is signed to Armin Van Buuren's Armada Music label. The formation's first single is "I'm Lonely".[10] Karl Wolf and BAE were included as one of the opening acts for renowned singer Akon's 2015 Canada-wide tour which also included acts like Peter Jackson and Afrocen3
Karl Wolf has collaborated with a number of artists, mainly from Canada. Choclair was featured in one of his earliest hits titled "Desensitize" and Canadian rapper Culture is featured in his biggest hit "Africa", whereas Rime and Kaz Money are featured in "Yalla Habibi". Sway was featured in "Hurting" and Kardinal Offishall was featured in "Ghetto Love". His single "Fuck Shit Up / Mash It Up" produced by Greg Stainer & Dany Neville featured Three 6 Mafia, Timbaland and B K Brasco in "Magic Hotel" and Fatman Scoop in "Let's Get Rowdy".
Also in 2015, Karl Wolf co-wrote with Omar Pasley (OMI), Jenson Vaughan and Matthew Humphrey OMI's international single "Hula Hoop", a follow-up to OMI's hit "Cheerleader".
Making a comeback in 2020, Karl Wolf collaborated with up and coming artist Raeshaun and was featured on the track "Dubai" in July, paying homage to the city and country that took him and his family in during the Civil War in Lebanon.
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | JPN [14] | ||
| Face Behind the Face |
| — | — |
| Bite the Bullet |
| 100 | — |
| Karl Wolf |
| — | 23 |
| Nightlife |
| — | 29 |
| Ghetto Love |
| — | 54 |
| Finally Free |
| — | — |
| Stereotype |
| — | — |
| WOW |
| — | — |
| Blacklight (The Export, Vol. 2) |
| — | — |
| 2AM Vibes |
| — | — |
| Year | Single | Chart positions[15] | Certifications | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | JPN | ||||
| 2005 | "Butterflies" | — | — | Face Behind the Face | |
| 2006 | "Desensitize" (feat. Choclair) | — | — | ||
| "Referee" | — | — | |||
| 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" | — | — | |||
| 2011 | "Ghetto Love" (feat. Kardinal Offishall) | 20 | — |
| Finally Free |
| "Mash It Up" / "Fuck Shit Up" (feat. Three 6 Mafia) | 28 | — |
| ||
| 2012 | "DJ Gonna Save Us" (feat. Mr. OxXx) | 58 | — | ||
| 2013 | "Peace Out" (feat. P Reign) | — | — | ||
| "Go Your Own Way" | — | — | Stereotype | ||
| 2014 | "Magic Hotel" (feat. Timbaland & BK Brasco) | 75 | — | ||
| "Summertime" / "Let's Get Rowdy (feat. Fatman Scoop) | 48 | — | |||
| 2015 | "Not Over Me Yet" (feat. MasterTrak) | 46 | — | WOW | |
| "Toronto Love" | — | — | |||
| 2016 | "Amateur at Love" | 100 | — |
| The Export Vol. 1 |
| 2017 | "Wherever You Go" | — | — | The Best of | |
| 2019 | "Yes" (feat. Super Sako, Deena, Fito Blanko) | — | — | ||
| 2020 | "City of Lies" (feat. Julius Wilson) | — | — | 2AM Vibes | |
| "Get Away" | — | — | |||
| 2021 | "Not Too Late" | — | — | ||
| "Ya Hilwe (Dance with Me Now)" (with Sandy) | — | — | |||
| Date | Song title | Performing credits | Album title | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Get Down / Respire" | VJ Malik Shaheed feat. Karl Wolf | Franglais by Malik Shaheed | |||
| 2006 | "Weekend" | Choclair feat. Karl Wolf | Flagship by Choclair | |||
| 2006 | "Makes Me Wonder" | Chopovski feat. Karl Wolf | Bite the Bullet by Chopovski | |||
| 2008 | "Crazy Girl" | Taio Cruz feat. Karl Wolf | ||||
| 2010 | "Si jeune" | Jacob Guay feat. Karl Wolf | Si Jeune by Jacob Guay | |||
| 2011 | "Enta Ma'ai" | Diana Haddad feat. Karl Wolf | Bent Osol by Diana Haddad | |||
| 2011 | "Yalla Asia" | Jay Sean and Karl Wolf featuring Radhika Vekaria[17] | non-album single | |||
| 2011 | "Everything Is All Wrong" | non-album single | ||||
| 2012 | "Awel Mara Atgara" | Sandy feat. Karl Wolf | ||||
| 2012 | "Turn It Up" | Kardinal Offishall feat. Karl Wolf | ||||
| 2012 | "Frente A Frente" | DJ Ricky Campanelli feat. Karl Wolf | Modestia Aparte | |||
| 2013 | "Unbreakable" | DJ Antoine feat. Karl Wolf | Sky Is The Limit by DJ Antoine | |||
| 2013 | "Fire" | David Obeji feat. Karl Wolf | ||||
| 2013 | "Stick Up" | Shawn Desman feat. Karl Wolf | ||||
| 2014 | "Incredible" | Jaden Chase feat. Karl Wolf | ||||
| 2015 | "Beat Again" | Project 46 feat. Karl Wolf | Beautiful by Project 46 | |||
| 2018 | "Ole Ole" | DJ Antoine feat. Karl Wolf & Fito Blanko | ||||
| 2020 | "Dubai" | Raeshaun feat. Karl Wolf | ||||
| 2023 | "Firealarm" | Dani Doucette feat. Karl Wolf |
| Awards and nominations for Karl Wolf | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result | |
| 2001 | ADISQ (Felix Award) | Best Mix and Sound of the Year | "Gabrielle Destroismaisons" | ||
| 2004 | SOCAN | Best popular song | "Je vais changer le monde" (Star Académie) in Quebec | ||
| 2007 | Juno Awards | R&B/Soul Recording of the Year | Face Behind the Face | ||
| 2008 | MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Arabia Act[18] | Himself | ||
| 2009 | MuchMusic Video Awards | Favourite New Artist/Group | Himself | ||
| Pop Video of the Year | "Africa" | ||||
| 2010 | Sounds of Blackness Awards | Best Anglophone R&B Artist or Group of the Year | Himself | ||
| Anglophone Single of the Year | "Africa" | [19] | |||
| Canadian Radio Music Awards[20] [21] | Fan's Choice Award | Himself | |||
| Best New Group or Solo Mainstream A/C Artist of the Year | Himself (for "Africa") | ||||
| Best New Group or Solo Hot A/C Artist of the Year | Himself (for "Africa") | ||||
| SOCAN | Urban Music Award | "Africa" | |||
| SOCAN | Anglophone Song of the Year | "Africa" | |||
| 2011 | Juno Awards | R&B/Soul Recording of the Year | Nightlife | ||
| 2012 | Juno Awards | R&B/Soul Recording of the Year | "Ghetto Love" | ||
| 2012 | SOCAN | Anglophone Song of the Year | "Hurting" | ||
| 2013 | Canadian Urban Music Awards | Urban Artist of The Year | Himself | ||
| 2013 | SOCAN | Anglophone Song of the Year | "Mash It Up" | ||
| 2017 | CUT Hip Hop Awards | R&B Album of the Year | "The Export Vol 1" | ||
| 2022 | Juno Awards | Dance Recording of the Year | "Get Away (Radio Edit)" | ||
