Gather Round, Class!

Welcome to the second installment of Worldwide Wednesdays! Today, class, we’re going to talk about who? Stromae! 

I genuinely can’t remember how Stromae entered my consciousness, but when he did, I was changed forever in some little way. The artist, born Paul Van Haver, is one of the most accomplished modern performers in Europe, and his music is immaculate. 

Stromae has released only three albums: Cheese in 2010; Racine carrée in 2013; and Multitude in 2022. He has had very public health struggles that has prevented him from touring widely. But he is one of those artists who is wildly underrated, despite his chart and sales success in Europe. His musicality is formidable.

Stromae writes and records music that has a message, and often a very deep one. And, yet, on the surface, his music is not only largely danceable, but experimental in its rhythms, sounds, and production. It’s a very interesting experience to listen to his music as a non-French speaker, and experiencing it one way, and then listening again while reading the lyrics translated into English. His lyrical content is deep, and often intense and personal, but even so, you could still play it on a dance floor. 

To be honest, all three albums are worth listening to all the way through. On Cheese, his debut album, the breakout hit “Alors on danse” is the best song on the album. It might sound familiar, as several other artists have covered or sampled it, including Pitbull, Lumidee, Kanye West, and Joel Corry and Jax Jones (featuring Charli XCX and Saweetie!)

Racine carrée, Stromae’s second album, is a masterpiece and easily one of the best albums of the 2010s. I’m super tempted to do a track-by-track review, but I’d be awake all night and I can’t afford it, because I have to be up early tomorrow. The musical influences are all over the map, from Lords of Acid (a GQ writer once called Stromae the “face of the New Beat generation”), to Avicii, to the opera “Carmen,” to Nu Shooz, to Anohni. 

But this album spawned the second-most-played French-language song of all time on YouTube. It’s called “Papaoutai.” This song is a certified banger, but it’s also about his missing relationship with his father, who was killed in the Rwandan Genocide. Watch the music video. It is haunting. His voice cracks while singing the chorus are one of those things you think about for a long time, like that high note hit by Merry Clayton in the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,” which allegedly caused her to have a miscarriage. If you only listen to one song, listen to this one. Once without the lyrics, and once with. (P.S. I’ll write another time about the first-most-played French-language song of all time on YouTube. It’s fantastic.)

After a struggle with malaria and starting a family, Stromae came back in 2022 with the incredible Multitude. This album also deserves a track-by-track; maybe I will eventually. This album is even more complex than its predecessor, utilizing rare musical structures, time signatures, and influences. The best song on it is “Santé,” an anthem to everyday hardworking people. Another music video worth watching!

I eagerly encourage you to do the deep-dive here. Whether you’re a fan of rap, jazz, pop, choral music, or electronic music, you will find something you like here. And his voice is so beautiful. By the way, “Stromae” is an inverted version of “Maestro,” the French word for “teacher.”