French rapper Naps must face trial for rape, an investigating magistrate has ruled, after allegedly assaulting a woman in her sleep in 2021.
The rapper from the Mediterranean city Marseille, whose best-known track "La kiffance" has racked up over 186 million views on YouTube, contests all of the charges "as firmly as possible", his lawyer Nabil Boudi told AFP on Wednesday.
Boudi added that he had appealed the order for a trial in Paris, which prosecutors said was filed on May 15.
A young woman filed a criminal complaint in October 2021 against Naps, saying she and friends shared a table with the rapper on a night out at a bar in the capital, prosecutors said.
The group moved on to a hotel room where the singer's friends gradually left.
"The young women had fallen asleep when one of them says she was woken up by a sexual act she did not consent to," prosecutors added.
Naps was charged later that month and placed under judicial observation.
Prosecutors took until February this year to request a trial, which has now been granted.
Naps' first album "Ma ville et ma vie" ("My city and my life") was released in 2015, but he shot to fame in 2021 with the release of "La kiffance", a track from "Les mains faites pour l'or" ("Hands made for gold").
He has collaborated with other major French artists including global star Maitre Gims.