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.

Mario Canonge is one of the most exciting pianists tickling today’s plastic ivories, and Yabla was lucky enough to have caught him in person.

Mario has been influenced by Martinique, and he discusses what it means to represent and build upon French Caribbean rhythms on the world stage.

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

Montreal is famous for hockey, but who cares about hockey when you can have chocolat? Edith Gagnon, owner of La Maison Cakao, shows us the magic behind her charmants chocolates.

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.

For more than ten years, Les Héritiers [The Heirs] restaurant in Montreal, which specializes in French cuisine made from Quebecois ingredients, has been concocting dishes like risotto with marinated ginger and rack of lamb with garlic and rosemary sauce. But the food isn’t the only reason for the popularity of Les Héritiers: you can bring your own wine!

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.”

Ever heard of a pleurotte mushroom? Lacking as we are in mushroom expertise, neither had we—until we visited the kitchen of Les Héritiers, that is! What’s better than getting to watch a scrumptious dish of pleurottes, brie, escargots, and garlic, all together in a puffed pastry, be prepared before your eyes? Getting to eat it, of course!

What are the cultural differences between Americans and the French? Hear the opinions of this French family visiting New York. What do you think? Are the French really more attentionnés? Who holds more compelling church services? And most importantly, who has the best hamburgers?

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…

From Scratch is not only the name of Neïmo’s first album, it also sums up their ethos. Original and full of energy, Neïmo is a distinctive part of a rock and roll trend: made in France but sung in English! According to the band, rock and roll is best done in its original language. Hear about how they mix their inspirations and influences with their innovation.

We’re back in Central Park! This time, French teens Barbara and Lorraine discuss politics, including the recent controversial Contrat Première Embauche and President Nicolas Sarkozy. (Love him or leave him? The girls don’t quite agree…)

The lovely singer tells us in franglais about franglais. She discusses her experiences growing up bilingual in Quebec, her international travels, and why it’s not always a good idea to tell someone if you’ve ripped your pants…