Stromae

Hello everyone !
(Two articles in a row ? Surely I am sick. Oh, well.)

Today I am going to tell you about a French (actually Belgian, but he does speak French, because that's what people do in Belgium) artist that you probably already know : Stromae.

I am going to skip the whole introduction-thing because you might as well find more information about him on Wikipedia.
What I am going to tell you is my amazing and extremely interesting opinion on him as an artist, because I am sure you all always dreamt of me telling you my amazing and extremely interesting opinion on Stromae as an artist.
There goes my longest sentence.

You might know him for his song Papaoutai, released in 2013 and that was a big hit.
Papaoutai was the kind of song I would hear at parties, fairs and amusement parks during the summer, right between "Quand il pète il troue son slip" and "Bella". For reasons unknown, it made me think, back then, that Papaoutai was a very immature song - much unlike the one I associated it with most, "Quand il pète il troue son slip". I never paid attention to the lyrics, and did not want to.
I wasn't very smart a 13-years old.
To cut myself some slack, it is highly possible that the media, and people in general, never gave this song the credit it deserved. It was just another commercial song, and no one really paid attention to its meaning - or if some did, they were not loud enough.

Stromae does not write just "other commercial songs". He pays extreme attention to his lyrics, probably as much to his music, and maybe even more to his music videos.

When I was in 8th grade, my Music teacher made us listen to, and see the video from Formidable. He then asked us what we thought of it - if we liked it, and why.
I, of course, answered that I did not like it, because... because.
What a moron ! 13 years-old me did not have any taste or brains at all.
(Or actually, 13 years-old me might very well have convinced herself that she did not like the song just so she could answer the same as all her other classmates, because she did not want to look like the special snowflake. Still. What the hell, 13 years-old Dana. What. the. hell.)
Not that I think anyone who does not like this song or its clip actually is a moron, but I am one for not paying enough attention to them to realise that I would love them.
Treating a serious topic, just like other songs from the year 2013 such as "Bella" and "Quand il pète il troue son slip", and making his clip a hidden camera, much like a prank, Stromae is original and really an artist.
The top comment on this clip is :





Stromae managed to give exactly the impression he wanted to give. This was an amazing project, and his good acting made it come to life.

We French people are often scared that what will be internationally known as French music is songs from our talented artists such as Maître Gims or Black M (can you believe my mother met him and did not even ask for an autograph ?). But I was pleasantly surprised, in Canada, to hear Alors On Danse on the radio, and even hear my exchange partner, her mother and her sisters singing along !
When later asked about my tastes in music by their mother, I eventually told her that there were not many French singers or bands that I liked (I mean, except for obviously Zaho, my idol) but there still were a few, such as Stromae. She answered that she did not know him, but then I told her (what the hell ?! Are you kidding me ? Do you think I did not hear you singing Alors On Danse with your Canadian accent ? DID I TRAVEL TO ANOTHER TIMELINE AGAIN ?) that she had actually sung one of his songs in the car, and then she remembered. It means that at least his songs are famous to a degree in Canada, even though they might not really know the singer himself.
Then obviously, it is not to forget that most of his songs are subtitled in English, and English comments overcome French ones on his Youtube videos.

Now if anyone still doubts Stromae's quality as an artist, I would like you to watch this video and listen to its song :

The video in itself is obviously an artistic performance, whether you like it or not. Then onto the lyrics : with beautiful and surprising play-on-words, Stromae treats the serious matter of cancer. Forgetting about the music in itself, his words flow like music in themselves, and convey their message very well.
Plus, this is clearly no commercial song. Just listen to the music; do you hear anything like that at parties, or on the radio in stores or the school cafeteria ? And pay attention to the lyrics; do these attract most 12 to 16 years-olds ?
Obviously they do not, or I do not know where you live or where you go to school, but clearly I would move to your place.

If Stromae is famous it is not because of the way our economy works, or this catchy same tune that all the others use because it works; it is because of what an amazing artist he is, because of his meaningful, beautiful and critical songs and videos.

I hope you liked this short article and are thankful I did not decide to also introduce Stromae as a person. I would be very happy to hear your opinion on him, because of course, as much as I dislike my younger self, I would actually have no problem understanding that some people dislike this kind of music, or art in general, or think that I give Stromae too much credit.
Have a nice day ! (Did you know today was "International Hug Day" ? Being a thug, I decided to write a savage article towards myself !)