Come and Get Your Soul Food

The independent French R&B singer Freddy blends Soul, Hip Hop, and Jazz into his own smooth groove.

The Paris-based singer is influenced by American R&B, Neo Soul, Hip Hop, and Chanson Française. He has a pure, organic sound that puts a heavy emphasis on the instrumentals. He sprinkles in lots of horns and keyboard solos that make you feel like you’re watching him with a live band on stage at a Jazz club.

Freddy (né Freddy Chellaoui) was bred on New Jack Swing and Neo Soul. In the late 90’s, he was part of an R&B group called Washa. He was signed to a boutique label in 2007, and released his debut album the following year.

Mes Couleurs

Some of the songs on Mes Couleurs remind me of the debut albums of the “second-wave” Neo Soul artists of the early aughts: Musiq Soulchild, Bilal, Eric Benet, Glenn Lewis or even Jon B. Other compositions lean toward the Contemporary / Smooth Jazz style of Kem, Will Downing, or Gregory Porter.

Whether slow or mid-tempo, the jazzy melodies are always front and center. Songwriting is his specialty, and it’s evident in the effortless marriage of lyrics to measure.

Mes Couleurs is a must-have French R&B album, right up there with Princesses Nubiennes (Les Nubians’ debut). It’s breezy and refreshing, not at all overproduced or needlessly souped up. It’s jazzy Soul stripped down to its pure essence.

The track “Sucre ebène” is an homage D’Angelo’s “Brown Sugar.” He borrows its conversational lyrical phrasing, he mimics its generous use of a Fender Rhodes keyboard, and of course, he eludes to it by name. (It translates as “Ebony Sugar.”)

In addition to D’Angelo, other artists Freddy credits as influences are Curtis Mayfield, Sam Cook, A Tribe Called Quest, Raphael Saadiq, The Roots, Common, Teri Moise (the late French Neo Soul singer), and Michel Jonasz (traditional French singer).

Freddy co-wrote six songs on the album of his much more famous friend Ben l’Oncle Soul (who has the full backing and promotional budget of Motown France). But the singer received many positive reviews himself, he’s a beloved underground R&B singer in his own right.

Here are the two buddies performing Freddy’s song, “J’T’aime.” (I know it seems as if Freddy is joining in on Ben’s song, but it’s actually the other way around — it just happened at Ben’s concert.) You can find the song on Mes Couleurs.

There’s more to him than peaceful tranquility. Dude can blow, too. Watch him go to church in the first 35 seconds of the promo clip below. It’s in French, but there are enough performances sprinkled in that you can get his flavor even if you don’t understand a word — music being the universal language and all. FYI, the song he’s singing at the beginning is “Faut qu’ca m’vienne,” which you can also find on the album.

Freddy’s been busy writing songs for Ben l’Oncle Soul’s second album, and also working on his own follow-up, due out in 2015. So far, it sounds like it will be in the same jazzy style as his debut. Check out “Comme un enfoiré”: