Image from WikiMedia Commons.
Stromae, originally born in Brussels, Belgium, is arguably the most loved French singer right now.
He has not only won the Victoires de la Musique (basically the French Grammys), but is such a respected musician in many, many francophone countries.
Although many do love him, he did not release any song for around seven years, as this year, his latest album called ‘Multitude’ came out, including a single called ‘L’enfer’.
The big question, which was revealed in his single ‘L’enfer’, was “why was he ‘extinct’ for seven years?”
First up, L’enfer means “Hell” in French. He implied in the song that he was seriously considering taking his life after living in depression for quite some years.
“People often define my songs as ones with joyful music and themes that are a little darker, a little sadder,” he said before performing. “It’s how I see life… There is no high without low, there is no low without high. That’s life.”
The Belgian singer was asked to perform the song during a televised news program interview. He performed the song in front of many people watching online while he held back tears.
He mainly specializes in electronic music; hits like Alors on Danse and Tous les Mêmes, but in some hits, he introduces some soft piano, like in Papaoutai and Formidable, showing that he can implement many different genres in his songs.
Despite being a french singer, Stromae is very, very popular in both the United States and in Canada.
His concerts average around 10-15,000 people, his favorite venues to perform being Madison Square Garden and Bell Centre.
Surprisingly, his favorite venue doesn’t consist of his hometown, Brussels, the capital of Belgium.
Image from WikiMedia Commons.
Now, there’s something about the Belgian that makes him so special and much more different than your average musician, French or American.
Stromae has a brilliant taste of music; he’s able to perform a song in any way possible. Whether it consists of mandolins in Sante or piano in Papaoutai and Formidable, Stromae can match the music with the time.
He even appeared in Billie Eilish’s song Hostage, which many people labeled as “The combo we never knew we needed.”
Billie Eilish had something to say about the Belgian sensation.
“It was a dream for me to get to work with everyone involved. I was a big fan of Stromae and I was blown away with the treatment and vision he, his brother, Luc Junior Tam (collectively known as Mosaert) and Henry had for this song, which perfectly matched the thoughts behind the lyrics.”
She also mentioned in a different interview that Stromae had “wonderful music knowledge”, and that she would ‘look forward’ to working with him again.
Stromae is also one of the few singers who doesn;t need auto tune; he just does it perfectly with his voice.
In his Racine Carrée concert in 2015, he performed two hours of greatness, and had some wonderful moments throughout the fun-filled concert as well. Papaoutai was the main song that everybody recognized. Thus, the whole audience sang every lyric, with one part that Stromae didn’t even have to sing; the Belgian just stood there smiling at the officials.
He also ended with an a cappella of Tous les Mêmes, no auto tune, no instruments, just him along with his companions, singing the whole song with sound effects being made from the inner voice.
The concert was a huge success, hence, many different artists wanted to collaborate with the Belgian sensation.
Image from WikiMedia Commons.
Stromae still has one mission that he hasn’t accomplished yet – the United States.
The Belgian sensation has mentioned many times about performing in the big country, and he wanted to be one of the few artists in history to be foreign and to still be a sensation all over the US.
For that, he’ll need to surpass artists like Ed Sheeran, Eminem, Taylor Swift, and many others.
He’s already received the plea from Billie Eilish, what about other worldwide music sensations?
Only time will tell.