Island Influenced French R&B from Gage

Pierre Gage (he records as just “Gage”) is a fantastic Montreal-based French R&B singer of Haitian and Jamaican descent.

In the late 1990s, Gage was a member of the French R&B group O.N.E., which scored a major hit called “Zoukin.” Another member of O.N.E. was Corneille, who went on to become a hugely popular French singer, and who produced and wrote most of Gage’s debut album, Soul Rebel.

Soul Rebel reflects Gage’s Caribbean heritage as well as the sounds of contemporary R&B. You’ll hear Reggae and Zouk flourishes in different songs, but at it’s core, Soul Rebel is a French R&B album, and a very impressive one at that. Check out the music video for Gage’s single, “Demain.”

For his second album, Changer Le Monde, Gage took a cue from Amy Winehouse and drew upon the Motown sound and the Soul music of the 60s. “Tu Peux Choisir” (You can choose) is a duet with the female French R&B singer Vitaa, done in the style of the legendary Motown duets of Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell. The video itself is a send-up of “The War of the Roses.” First we see Vitaa and Gage in couples’ counseling, and then we see hilarious flashbacks of them torturing each other seven ways to Sunday. What a great song (and video)!