French R & B
All Hail K-Reen, the Queen of French R&B  K-Reen is one of the pioneers of French R&B, a genre which really only got its foothold in the 1990's. The singer/songwriter began as a member of a Rap group, but emerged in the mid-90's as more of Mary J. Blige figure, collaborating with seminal French rappers during the birth of French Hip Hop.
As a solo artist, she was in the right place at the right time with the right sound. Ophélie Winter had begun making Dance R&B (think Lisa Stansfield) and Teri Moïse debuted her jazzy Neo…Bow to Shy’m, Your French Pop Queen  Talk about a metamorphosis. This artist went from guesting on Hip Hop tracks to basically doing whatever she wants. Yep. It's her world.
Shy'm is often called the French Rihanna, and she lives up to the comparison with her broad crossover appeal and ever more frequent "break the internet" moments. With a slew of hits and best-selling albums under her belt, she's become one of the biggest names in French music. Every new album and televised performance of hers is a music event.
Follow her journey from…Monsieur Nov: Rebirth of French Neo Soul  Monsieur Nov makes what we would call "Neo Soul" for a hungry French audience. There's a hole in the market for a French Musiq Soulchild-type artist, and Nov is determined to fill that void with his incredible voice, sensual slow jams, and Nu Soul arrangements. He is my absolute favorite French R&B singer.
His bio doesn't read at all like that of a typical Soul singer. The oft-bespectacled R&B singer is ethnic Vietnamese, and was born and raised in Val-d'Oise, northeast of Paris). He began writing songs at…Kenza Farah: French R&B Singer  Kenza Farah is a successful R&B singer known for her deeply personal and socially conscious lyrics. The Marseilles singer creates Hip Hop-infused R&B, often collaborating with French rappers.
She first emerged as a tomboyish, ghetto poetess of sorts, penning lyrics about overcoming obstacles or the struggles of minorities and immigrant youth. Four albums and 10 years later, she enjoys wide appeal and is one of the foremost female French R&B singers of today.
Born Kenza Maouche, the Algerian-born artist first made a name for herself…Grown Up French R&B from Marc Antoine  Marc Antoine is an adult contemporary French R&B singer and songwriter whose universal love songs would appeal to fans of Joe and Brian McKnight.
Antoine is of Haitian descent and is based in Montreal, but it's France where he made a huge splash with his 2008 debut, Comme Il Se Doit.
He grew up listening to the music of Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Boyz II Men, and French singers like Francis Cabrel. Now that I think about it, that list of influenced…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.
. . . → Continue Reading:…Oncle Ben Bares His New Old Soul  Retro Soul -- you know, new Soul music with a vintage veneer -- is all the rage these days, and things are no different in France. Amy Winehouse and the The Dap Kings deserve the credit for popularizing the sound, but now everybody and their grandmother, from Bruno Mars, to R. Kelly, to Adele, to Raphael Saadiq seems to be kickin' it Old School.
But no one has done more to help retro Soul catch on in France than the French R&B singer Ben l'Oncle Soul,…Tri-lingual Folk Soul from Stevy Mahy  Float away on the enchanting French / English / Creole folk music of Stevy Mahy. Her lyrics flow seamlessly between the three languages, over rich acoustic melodies that envelop and warm the soul.
Mahy's childhood was spent between her birthplace of Paris, which shaped her early musical tastes, and Guadeloupe, in the French West Indies.
. . . → Continue Reading: Tri-lingual Folk Soul from Stevy MahyQuinze Scores with Eclectic French R&B  With a fresh sound and a vocal range encompassing both the soulful falsetto of Pharrell Williams and the sultry tenor of Luther Vandross, Quinze is an R&B singer worth following.
Born just outside Paris, the independent artist Quinze was first inspired by the American Soul record collection of his father. He made his first recorded appearance in 1998 (alongside the preeminent R&B songstress K-reen) on an album by French New Jack artist Hasheem.
. . . → Continue Reading: Quinze Scores with…
 Discover French R&B and Soul singers like Zaho, Shy’m, Ayna, Aldrick, K-reen and more.
While a lot of French Pop has its roots in traditional Chanson Française, Soul/R&B music (aka Black music or Urban music) is a uniquely American art form. Even when the artist is French, the arrangement and phrasing is that of an American-style R&B song, with only the lyrics written in their own language.
Because it's a uniquely American art form, it's no surprise that French R&B singers are heavily influenced by U.S. R&B and Neosoul artists. The good thing for English fans is that it doesn't take much of a cultural leap to enjoy R&B music being sung in French.
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