Who's paying?

Photo: Joëlle Niang

Gurejele is the most famous band of Kaneka, a blend of traditional kanak (native people) music, blues and reggae. They are from New Caledonia, an oversea French territory located in the southwest Pacific. The band is led by Dick Buama and has released four LPs.

I've uploaded their biggest hit, Who's Paying ? released in 2001. I have translated the lyrics which have an interesting political meaning.
Gujerele - C'est Qui Qui Paye?

Lyrics of C'est Qui Qui Paye -Who's Paying

Our politicians are going to Paris
To plan with the Motherland
The agreements for the wealth of the country
Agreements to agreements, and it's not over

Chorus:
Who's paying, paying?
It's France which is paying
Who's paying, paying?
It's France which is Paying
And yes, that's also this

If you're broke, you just have to ask
One condition, you've got to join
In the party, we are supported financially
Dogs can bark, we are legalized

Chorus

We are not enthusiast anymore
Of political meetings
Here, under the tropics, we prefer music
The one of Jamaica, the on of States of America
In civil service, they just work for dough

Chorus

All the subsidies of all political parties
It's France which is paying
Consumption of all political refugees
It's France which is paying
The salary of the civil servants working for dough
It's France which is paying
Ecologist bombed in the Kiwi country*
It's France which is paying

Chorus

(*refer to the sinking of the Greenpeace's boat in New Zealand by the French foreign intelligence services, who killed one man)

links: New Caledonia, sinking of the Greenpeace boat, biography (in French)

Music is so sample

Two new samples of French music used by open-minded American DJs.




Bruno Coulais - Vois sur ton Chemin (OST The Chorus, 2004). Listen to the piano!

The LP has been the best seller in France in 2004, which is unique for a soundtrack. The song Vois Sur Ton Chemin was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar

Christina Aguilera - Oh Mother (Back To Basics, 2006)

Charles Aznavour - A Ma Fille (1964)

The Firm - Firm Fiasco (1997).

The song is produced by Dr. Dre who has already used an Aznavour's sample on What's The Difference.

Sources : The video sampleur-samplé part 3 and the French blog sampleur samplé

Some Covers Of Jacques Brel

Le Moribond, not among the French Hits of Brel, became an international hit with the cover of Terry Jacks, Seasons in The Sun. His interpretation is naive and disappointing. Brel was more bitter and ironic. For example, he sang:

"But I leave for the flowers peace in my soul, seeing that you were her lover, I know you will take care of my wife"

Terry Jacks - Seasons In The Sun

One of the best known song of Brel, Ne Me Quittes Pas. Sung by the great Nina Simone in French, there are also many covered of an English interpretation (If You Go Away) by the biggest stars, like Frank Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, Ray Charles, David Bowie, Sting, Scott Walker, Julio Iglesias and Tery Jack again.

Scott Walker is the one who covered the most Jacques Brel's songs, and he did it brilliantly: Jackie, Next, The Girls and the Dogs, Mathilde, My Death, Amsterdam, Sons Of, Funeral Tango and If You Go Away.

Scott Walker - Amsterdam

Links: Seasons in the sun , Scott Walker, If You Go Away

Horse Teeth & Angel's Voice

Jacques Brel is one the top Master of French Chanson, and he is... Belgian! Indeed, Belgium is half French-speaking (in Wallonia and Brussels) and half Flemish-speaking (in Flanders).

Brel is highly regarded for his lyrics, romantic but often also ironic and bitter. He wrote beautiful, compassionate, and even funny portraits about all kind of people, prostitutes, alcoholics, but also middle classes and old people. His singing is also special: intense, dark, close to a melodramatic acting.

There are many videos of him with English subtitles, thanks to Lightning49!

Au Suivant (Next)

Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don't Go Away From Me)

Les Vieux (The Old People)

Links: wikipedia, many videos of him with English subtitles

The Most Selling French Rapper

Provoking, arrogant, controversial, caricatural... the MC Booba is criticized in the same time for being both too aggressive, too commercial and too bling-bling. He's not anymore the underground icon he used to be, but has kept his unique flow and he's still hailed as one of the greatest French MC, especially for his first albums Mauvais Oeil, Temps Mort and Panthéon.

To compare him with American rappers, it would be like tupac.

One of his first song (1997), a very dark song of the time he was in the underground crew Lunatic: Le Crime Paie /  Crime pays

Garde la Pêche.

Pitbull. A more sensitive song with a sample of the Renaud's song Mistral Gagnant.

Magnetic singer

Nosfell may be the best voice of today's French music. He can do everything with his voice : ethereal high-pitched like Jeff Buckley or Bjork, heart breaking folk-blues like Ben Harper, but also human beatboxing, and even sometimes avant-garde like Meredith Monk and west-african music... all in the same song!

He has a very personnal and mysterious universe, between Tim Burton and Brothers Grimm's :children's fears and dreams, violence and beauty of fairy tales told in captivating and experimental songs. Nosfell sings in French and English but mostly in Klokobetz, a language he created.

Nosfell with his bass player playing Sladinji the grinning tree


Nosfell alone playing a few songs

Links: myspace, official website

France dancing on Ivory Coast's beats

Some of the biggest hits in France last years were coming from its ex-colony, Ivory Coast. An important community from Ivory Coast is living in France and those bands are singing in French so the spread of their music in France has been easy. There have also been some collaborations between artists from both countries, with for example featuring of 113, Jerry James, remixes of Bob Sinclair...

Magic System - 1er Gaou (1999). It's zouglou music.

The coupé-décalé, a new kind of music and dance created in 2003, during the Ivorian Civil War in the African clubs of Paris. Coupé means drunk, décalé means gone

Douk Saga - Sagacité - Decalé Coupé


An other nice coupé-décalé hit


The hit of summer 2008, Zouglou dance by Magic System

There are also some very popular Ivory Coast's reggae singers, especially Tiken Jah Fakoly and Alpha Blondy but there is enough to say for their own post.

Links: coupé-décalé on wikipedia, myspace of magic system