Difficulty: Newbie
Canada
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.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
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.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
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!
Difficulty: Beginner
Senegal
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.
Difficulty: Beginner
Senegal
Amadou and Mariam share singing duties with co-producer Manu Chao on a song with themes of migration and dislocation.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
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.
Difficulty: Beginner
Senegal
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.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
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.
Difficulty: Newbie
France
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.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
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.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
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!
Difficulty: Beginner
France
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.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
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.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
“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.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
Wallen was born to a family of Moroccan immigrants in Bobigny. In “Donna,” she sings about the life of teenage girls struggling to handle family, love, and school.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
Unique and talented young singer-songwriter Charles-Baptiste brings us “Sale type”: a lighthearted song for the broken-hearted. Sing it from the rooftops, Charles!
Difficulty: Beginner
France
Les Nubians record with the late great father of Bossa Nova, Henri Salvador. “Que le mot soit perle” is a sweet song dedicated to all children orphaned by AIDS.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
Charles-Baptiste returns to us with a new existential song: “Je sais,” or how he moved on to a new stage in life.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
France’s beloved national star, Johnny Hallyday, is still going strong! He lit up the Stade de la Beaujoire recently, playing to a crowd of over 33,000.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
Watch the beautiful Martian Melissa tell those Earthlings a thing or two. It’s nothing a little “so what?!” can’t handle.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
Proust was in search of lost time, but Melissa’s in search of lost love, and she’ll travel anywhere to find it.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
Melissa’s inner “petites fées du coeur” are unleashed and band together to free two soulmates frozen in time. All the mini-Melissas are there: the warrior, the sensitive type, even the one with her head not quite on her shoulders.
Difficulty: Beginner
France
Carmen Maria Vega—a four-member band led by the eponymous singer, born in Guatemala and raised in Lyons—show off their musical and “creative” talents in this video for their popular song “La Menteuse.” What do you think? Any chance Carmen is stretching the truth about all that lying?
Difficulty: Beginner
Burkina Faso
Though Mai Lingani grew up in Côte d’Ivoire, she is one of the most popular singer/songwriters in Burkina Faso, where she was born. In 1998 that country presented her with its highest award for a musician, the “Prix national de la chanson.” In addition to her beautiful French and melodious English, Mai also speaks (and sings in) three African tongues: Moré, Dioula, and Bissa. Please enjoy our interview with this delightful talent!
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