Stromae, le meilleur

I’ve always been a huge fan of French music; it actually took an Australian film about a debauched Parisian nightclub for me to truly appreciate the language, the people and the culture. With that being said, I never took the time to focus on music from Belgium; a country with its own musical merits and extensively rich cultural history. It wasn’t until maybe a couple of weeks ago whilst I was dashboard surfing on Tumblr when I caught onto a Belgian musician called Stromae. I’m already a huge house fan; so when I heard “Je Cours”, I was instantly hooked. After watching every single one of his music videos, viral “leçons” and interviews, I was sold and it was clear to me that there was something different about Stromae.

I know all you’re all thinking why I’m going in for a guy who sings in a language I don’t understand, but it’s simple – Stromae is the modern maestro, he is the lamenter with a ‘happy’ sound and the explorer of subject matters that aren’t so-often found in the lyrical mainstream.

Stromae is Paul Van Haver, a young man of Belgian-Rwandan decent. Stromae grew up in the suburbs of Brussels where he attended Académie musicale de Jette where a keen interest in music was sparked. Since then, the man has gone from strength to strength gaining success in Belgium, France and the rest of Europe. You may recognise the proclaiming horns from his first single “Alors on Danse” from a very messy night in Ibiza, but it put him on the musical map. Everyone from Anna Wintour to Nicolas Sarkozy shared the track and from then it was over… Stromae had become an overnight success.

His debut album “Cheese” was released back in 2010 reaching number one in the Belgian Albums chart for Ultratop Wallonia (Walloon meaning French speaking Belgians). Subject matter is a clear importance of Stromae’s, whilst many of the tracks on the album want to make you get up and dance, they all have deeper meanings; most of which are quite worrying. “Alors on Danse” actually questions the cost of living and how life is just a chain of events and reactions that, for the most part, culminates in nothingness. So we dance; we dance to forget, we dance to not worry about what life will throw at us next. One of my favourite tracks on the album (besides Je Cours) is “Dodo” which is about paedophilia and child abuse. It’s sung in the way a lullaby would, but it really hammers home the effect that situation can have on a child, a child who is forced to be silent when he/she sees their Mother being beaten by their Father, or a when family member is abusing them sexually. All they want if for someone to help, but the best thing for them to do at that point, is to sleep.

“Racine Carrée” (2013) is the singer’s second album which reached number one all over Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy and even reached number two in the US Billboard World Music Chart. Racine Carrée is French for square root, this album sees Stromae go back to his African roots with instrumentals that take clear influence from a range of African musical styles, in particular the complex and rhythmic guitar riffs of Congolese Rumba (Soukous). The lyrical content covers a range of topics from cancer, the parallels of modern relationships and social networks, absent father figures, race relations, and discrimination – everything really! The album itself is critically acclaimed which has sparked many publications to compare him to the legendary vocalist Patrick Bruel. For me, RC is the voice of a generation – possibly many. The content is so varied that it has no other choice than to speak to many. Whilst listening to it, I found myself looking up the translations and identifying with many of the lyrics. “Papaoutai” is the anthem for those who have grown up without a Father figure, Stromae himself grew up without his Father and you can hear that raw emotion he exudes when he’s asking where his father is. Not only does the track question the absent Father figure, Stromae also asks what kind of Father he will be and how the actions of one generation can influence the other. “Formidable” is sung from the point of view of a drunkard who has recently broken up with his lover. He laments how wonderful they were together and how he now has nothing.

This album has really shown of who Stromae is as an artist, “Tous Les Mêmes” is sung from a female point of view and looks at the typical complaints that women have about men. For the video (and plenty of performances) Stromae plays both parts by literally having one side of his body male, and the other female. Her name is Andrea, and Stromae actually makes a hot girl, just saying. “Quand C’est” personifies cancer, asking it why it consumes to destroy and why it can’t just leave. At one point, he asks cancer why it can’t just go on vacation.

It all sounds a bit pessimistic, but I don’t think that’s what Stromae is going for. It’s pessimistic to us because we don’t want to focus on the bad. As humans, we program ourselves to ignore situations that really require our attention. Stromae helps to us to answer those questions and confront them through the medium of music. In a way, it softens the blow of how harsh reality can be and I think that with that slight softening – we can be more receptive to it, process it a lot better and actually do something; although a slap in the face never does fail to wake someone up.

Musically, the majority of our imports come from the US with very little spotlight for European artists, except for the dance scene. I guess it all comes down to language barriers, but I don’t see why that should be a problem. Music is a language that ideally, should transcend all and bring people together. Musicians are lucky; like myself as a journalist, we have a really special and important platform to use to voice opinions and create things that can change people for the better, however ambitious that might sound.

What I love about Stromae is that he’s very modest. He’s a self-proclaimed “good boy” and it shows in his appearance and over-all mannerisms. He wears cardigans and blazers, buttons his shirt to the very top finishing it off with a bow tie and he rolls his socks up. He’s genuinely coming from a good place and wants to share his music with anyone who’ll listen.

Stromae is an important asset to pop culture because he’s a rare gem, he’s an artist who truly believes in what he does and does it to the maximum without over-doing it. His artistry is something that the whole world needs to see, when you watch him perform you can see that strong sense of conviction and his character is always strong; whether he’s playing the drunkard in “Formidable” or the plastic Father who occasionally dances in “Papaoutai” – every performance is captivating and genuine. He has toured the UK before and he does have a following here, I personally want to see that grow. What I don’t want to see happen is see Stromae having to re-record songs in English, the songs will lose their beauty and their meaning. I’m not just saying that because French is a naturally mysterious and romanticised language, I’m saying that because most times these things shouldn’t be changed – it’s just like going to see a classical Opera like Carmen and changing the words because you don’t understand it. The very heart of the piece becomes distorted.

There are a lot of musicians and musical genres that can learn from Stromae. Just because you make pop music, doesn’t mean you can’t let it have a meaning that can edify a person; just because you make hip-hop doesn’t mean you have to rap about your harem of ‘bitches’ and your many ‘whips’. In fact; Stromae started off in Hip-Hop, a genre which he fascination in because of its rhythm and its (original) messages, he cites Biggie as someone he looks up to because of his way with words and his meanings.

I wouldn’t just take my word for it, get into what Stromae has to offer. Even if deep meaning and thinking isn’t your thing – the music alone will make you want to shuffle and wine something severe.