Stromae

It seems like Belgian artist Stromae is ready to break all the rules. After several weeks on top of the Billboard’s European Hot 100 singles chart, the writer/rapper/producer is about to conquer the U.K. and maybe the US with his catchy single “Alors On Danse,” meaning “so we just dance” in French.

This song already brought the language barrier down in non-French speaking countries such as Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, but his record company Universal sees a bigger potential in Stromae who could be one of the rare French-speaking artists to successfully enter the Anglo-Saxon market. “His productions are so effective, people tend to forget his songs are in French,” said Universal Music France international exploitation manager David Weiszfeld to Billboard magazine.

Stromae always showed an interest in music as he started to study music history and learnt how to play drums at the age of eleven. His stage name means “Maestro” with the syllables switched, but the artist first started as a rapper and recorded a few mixtapes under the pseudonym Opmaestro. Before focusing on his own music, Sromae wrote for other artists such as French rapper Kery James. Born to a Rwandan father and a Belgium mother, it seems like Stromae has always been destined to cross borders. The fusion between electro and hip-hop in his songs create a new sound prone to global success. “Alors On Danse” deals with the boredom of everyday life, a theme to which anybody can relate to. In addition to smart lyrics that Stromae delivers with a flow close to rapping, his hypnotic clubbing beats perfectly suit world-wide dance floors.

It is then not really surprising that Island Records is currently finalizing a summer U.K. release for the single “Alors On Danse,” paving the way for a rumored U.S. release with Universal Republic. This only sounds like the beginning for this 25-year-old artist who already own his record label Mosaert/Universal through which he just released his debut album “Cheese” in Europe. Check out the video of “Alors On Danse,” this guy is about to make so more noise…

Update: A remix of the song featuring Kanye West and Gilbere Forte hit the internet this week…