After finding early success in his native Rwanda in ’93, Corneille was forced to flee his country. “Comme un fils” (“Like a Son”) is representative of his soul roots and affinity for emotional melodies.

Matthieu Chedid, better known as M, comes from a long line of talented artists. Mathieu is the eldest son of famous French singer Louis Chedid and the grandson of the writer Andrée Chedid.

DJ Gilb’R and I:Cube, a unique duo, are the key ingredients of Château Flight. Their innovative electro-fusion beat, with hints of everything from pop to soul, is demonstrated on their album, The Meal.

Cyril Kamar, who later appeared on the music scene as K-Maro, was born in Lebanon. While still a child, he and his family fled to Paris, but finally settled in Quebec.

Nâdiya, a champion athlete, has switched gears to become a chart-busting R&B/hip-hop artist. She is fast becoming a major urban act featuring a great blend of lyrical and instrumental innovation. In this music video, “Et c’est parti,” Nâdiya pairs up ringside with US rapper Smartzee, demonstrating both her physical and artistic talent. This song will surely get you moving!

Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia are joined together by their love for music and each other. The pair met at the Institute for Young Blind People in Bamako, the capital of Mali.

Amadou and Mariam share singing duties with co-producer Manu Chao on a song with themes of migration and dislocation.

Born and raised in the Pyrenees region of southern France, Cali was an aspiring rugby player before attending a U2 concert at the age of 17.

Babylon Circus, a ska band from Lyon, sings in this song about romantic regrets, missed cues, and lost opportunities. “J’aurais bien voulu” could well be translated as “Woulda, coulda, shoulda.”

Amadou and Mariam reference a number of West African musical instruments, like djembes, dununs, balans, and tamas, in “Beaux dimanches”—a song about Sundays in Bamako.

Dahlia formed in 1999 in the province of Brittany in northwest France as a collaboration between guitarist Guillaume Fresneau and cellist Armel Talarmain.

Celebrated French rapper Disiz La Peste (Dis Is The Plague) began his acting career in Dans tes rêves (In Your Dreams), a film that relates the story of a young rapper trying to make his way in the music industry.

Rock and roll, garage, hard-core, street punk — from Black Flag to Agnostic Front to Crisis, Frustration isn’t just a sentiment, it’s a way of life! With Frustration, “Your life will be sadder, but it’ll be more lucid.”

Annie shows off her skills as a chanteuse, her sharp wit, and her penchant for penning clever lyrics in this rockin’ number from her band Ma blonde est une chanteuse. See if you can count how many of Annie’s personae you catch a glimpse of, and how many of her Annie-mated wordplays you follow in this fun video. Beware: the song is seriously catchy and may leave you wanting more!

From dreams to reality, putting forth “a little bit of energy each day,” Annie Chartrand, a vocalist who debuted singing behind her bathroom door, burst onto the music scene in 2006. Here is an interview with the singer of Ma blonde est une chanteuse [My Girlfriend Is a Singer]—a group that's actually part of a love story…

Mellow musician Bertrand Pierre sets the poignant poetry of French grand écrivain Victor Hugo to slow and soulful musical compositions. A man of many talents, Bertrand Pierre is also quite a performer live and acoustically.

Ina-Ich, singer, songwriter, composer, and instrumentalist: this rockin’ babe has it all! Her song “Âme armée” shows off her many talents, blending elements of screamo, metal, rock, electronica, and even classical music into a passionate, intense ballad about the battle scars of war.

Debout Sur Le Zinc is a seven-member group that plays a unique fusion of rock and traditional French, Irish, and Gypsy folk music. The band’s name (which means “standing on the zinc,” as in the zinc countertop of a bar) comes from the Jacques Prévert poem “Et la fête continue”—and indeed DSLZ is the perfect music for a fête!

The band No One Is Innocent (whose name is also the title of a single by the seminal punk band the Sex Pistols—coincidence?) have described themselves as “electro-rock-blues” and list influences as diverse as Beck, Betty Davis, and Black Sabbath.

“La Peur” was written around the time of France’s most recent presidential election, and if you listen to the lyrics, it’s not hard to hear its influence on the song’s theme. Perhaps now No One will write an ode to the USA’s new president; they could call it “L’Espoir.”

Get lost in the dreamy lyrics and musical styling of Vincent Venet with this song from his 2005 album “Humeur.” Venet, who describes himself as an author, composer, performer, and director, wrote and composed the album in just several weeks in the beautiful Ardennes of Belgium.

This musical adaptation of Marceline Desbordes-Valmore’s poem “La Sincère,” performed by Karin Clercq, is a touching and troubling song — themes the video captures well with its New York setting. You can hear tracks from her brand new album, La Vie Buissonnière, here.

Lunatic Age is a four-member group from France’s Montpellier, a band that makes rock and roll “as though every song could be the last.” The song “À quoi bon?” deals with the heavy subjects of alcoholism and child abuse.

Jeronimo is the musical alias of Belgian singer-songwriter Jérôme Mardaga. “Les mains qui tremblent” is a solemn song about the sadness that comes from a break up.

“Tes lacets sont des fées” is an upbeat tune by rock band Dionysos, accompanied by singer Olivia Ruiz. This animated clip transports us into an inferno of love and innocence.