GIMS: On The Record premiered on 17th September 2020 on Netflix. Streaming giant Netflix is expanding its spectrum in terms of documentaries. Recently, Netflix released various documentaries surrounding the lives of French players and people like Anelka: Misunderstood and We are One. In the near future, we can expect more related documentaries on Netflix.

GIMS And His Life

GIMS: On The Record revolves around the life of a French singer, rapper, and composer Maître Gims (Gandhi Bilel Djuna). In 2018, he gained the 7th position in most played artists worldwide on Deezer. The documentary takes us through his showbiz life and also introduces us to his humble background. On 23 March 2018, Maître Gims released his third album, Ceinture Noire, that reached #1 in French charts SNEP for eleven weeks and sold around 5 million copies. The documentary shows us the backstage action before his 2019 Stade De France performance. His career has been a rollercoaster ride, but luckily, a good one.

Produced by Black Dynamite and ​Chahawat, the documentary was shot while he was preparing for his Fuego Tour. Other than talking about his life and Record, the documentary also aims at showing his journey from Paris to Marrakech, Morocco, via the USA.

The documentary will make you realize that being in the showbiz is not an easy deal, being a star is a 24×7 commitment. Gims is a great artist not only with respect to singing but he is good at art too and this side of him is lesser-known. The most difficult part about stardom is not releasing albums and being all out but there is constant pressure on the star to maintain his image. For Gims, his character and public staging are in his glasses – when he is wearing them he is Gims, the rockstar, but when he takes them off he is an ordinary, humble person like everyone. However, the public somewhere or the other doesn’t allow him to take his stage personality off – probably a shared experience among artists around the world.

His connection and appreciation towards his birthplace is another point of showcase in the documentary. We also get to know that singing is in his genes as his father was a famous singer back in his days in Congo. However, things took a turn and they had to move to France where they were hit by poverty. His journey might seem ordinary on the face of it but taking a closer look, you realize that his journey is inspiring and worthy of being known. Gims rose from sheer poverty to a shining star.

Other than his struggle and the journey, one thing worth taking away from this documentary is to be yourself no matter what. Throughout the documentary, one thing I noticed was that Gims is true to his roots and to himself. He is a rockstar, yes, but he is real with his art and the way he brings it forward.

Stream It or Skip It

STREAM IT! Before watching GIMS: On The Record, I was not really aware of Gims and his art or his life. But, this documentary made me want to listen to his tracks to refer back to his story, struggles, and pride. The documentary shows you both showbiz and his humble background with an equal amount of grace and there are no saddening or dull moments here.
Truly, Gims is a star inside out, with all his flaws and dedication!

GIMS: On The Record is now streaming on Netflix.

Read our other reviews here.