Stromae: Dance Floor Provocateur

If there’s an artist of the moment, it’s definitely Stromae. (Pronounced STROH-MAI, it’s “maestro” with the syllables reversed.) The enigmatic performer is often compared to another Franco-Belgian singer-songwriter, Jacques Brel, for his realist subject matter — even if it is delivered over a killer dance beat.

A study in contradictions, both visual and musical, this artist is currently the toast of Europe. He’s struck a nerve with recession anthems and disillusioned Pop songs that make you want to both shake your booty and slit your wrists.

With his timely arrival on the music scene, he managed to crystallize the frustrations of an entire continent (not to mention an entire generation) in one ubiquitous song. But we’ll get to that.

First, there are a few things to note about him. Though heavily influenced by both Hip Hop and Electronic music, his music isn’t strictly confined to those genres. His songs are not necessarily autobiographical. He often plays different characters to tell stories. Lastly, the lyrics to his songs are often much more serious than his wacky videos and uptempo music let on. You could be moving your butt to the most depressing thing ever if you don’t pay close attention. 🙂

Born Paul Van Haver, the artist was raised by a multilingual single mother in a poor suburb outside Brussels. At 11, he began studying music theory and drums. At 15, his mother sent him to boarding school. There, he befriended a fellow Hip Hop enthusiast (J.E.D.I.) and formed a locally known Rap duo called Suspicion in 2005.

He later studied film and sound engineering, and released his first EP, Juste un cerveau, un flow, un fond et un mic…, in 2007. In 2008, he began working as a producer for other French-language acts like R&B singer Melissa M, international Pop star Angunn, and rapper Kery James.

With his film background, he launched the internet series “Les leçons de Stromae,” which helped to boost his profile.

His big break came in 2009, when the radio station he was interning at decided to play his song “Alors on danse” on air.

Nothing about him screams Pop appeal, and everything about him is a contradiction. He’s incredibly lanky with big ears and racially ambiguous features — his green eyes and wavy hair result from his Flemish/Rwandan parentage. He’s a Dance artist and former rapper, yet he typically dresses with a Dandy vibe in bright, preppy suits, vests, bow ties, and knee socks. And his music is social commentary cleverly parading as club songs.

The Debut: Cheese and “Alors on Danse”

Cheese

Stromae’s wrist-slitter “Alors on danse” dropped during the malaise of Europe’s economic crisis back in late 2009. In a near-monotone cadence over a catchy House/EDM beat, the singer basically proclaimed, “Life sucks, so we dance.”

In the video, he portrays a poor schmuck having the day from hell, but everything’s gets better once he gets drunk and dances.

The song went to number one in some 19 countries across Europe, and became the most played French song that year. (Kanye West even released a remix of it.)

On the heels of “Alors'” runaway success, his debut album Cheese was released in summer 2010, featuring the follow-up singles, “Te Quiero” (great!) and “House Leluyah” (meh). Stromae went on to win Best Electronic/Dance Artist of the year and Best Album of the Year for Cheese at the Victoires de la Musique (French Grammys) in 2011.

Download: “Alors on danse,” “Te Quiero,” “Dodo,” “Je Cours”

Sophomore Album

Racine Carée

While his first album was a Dance lover’s dream and very much captured the spirit of its time, Racine Carée is far more melodic, musically diverse, and really quite masterful. Best of all, you don’t have to be a Electronic music fan to like it.

Stromae has completely dominated the charts (and pretty much won the internet in 2013) with hits from his follow-up album. The catchy singles “Formidable,” “Papaoutai” and “Tous Les Mêmes” all reached number 1 in France, and there are even more unreleased gems on the album. I highly, HIGHLY recommend it.

Once again, the artist creatively tackles serious matters. As entertaining as the video for “Papaoutai” is, the catchy Congolese Rumba song (“Papa où t’ai/Daddy where are you”) is actually about absentee fathers. In the video, a boy uses a mannequin as a stand-in for his father. Stromae’s own father was largely absent, and was eventually killed during the Rwandan genocide.

The song “Formidable” and its video are inspired by a forlorn, drunk bum he and his girlfriend encountered while walking one day. The video was filmed with hidden cameras at a tram stop in Brussels, and it won the Victoire de la Musique for Best Music Video in 2014:

Stromae also took home the Victories de la Musique for Best Male Artist and Album of the Year for this effort.

In addition to the current singles, I also like “Ave Cesaria,” the tribute to the late Morna (Cape Verdean music) diva Cesária Évora, “Moules Frites,” (as in the famous Belgian bistro meal), and the tango-tinged “Carmen.”

“Tous Les Mêmes” is probably my favorite of all, and not just for the eye-catching visuals (though it’s notable that the artist directs all of his own music videos). It’s the touch of Salsa music that makes it so irresistible.

Download: Who are you kidding? Get the whole album.

His track “Ta fête” was chosen as Belgium’s World Cup song.

In 2015, he released an animated video to accompany his song, Carmen. From the director behind The Triplets of Belleville, this new video uses a cartoon Stromae to teach us an important lesson about overdoing it on Twitter / Social Media :

What do you think of this artist? Do you have the album yet? Leave a comment below.