Stromae, "genius of staging" and sacred monster of his generation

• Stromae is making a comeback this Friday with

  Multitude

  .

• The Belgian artist had not released a new album since

  Racine Carrée 

  in 2013.

• After six years of absence, Stromae has created the event and already seems to have regained the place he left in 2016: that of a unifying artist and overflowing with creativity.

In a documentary mini-series available since Wednesday on YouTube and entitled

, Orelsan remembers the first time he was told about Stromae.

“At the time I was told: “There is a guy, he is very strong, he will do better than you.

There is really a guy from the music industry who said to me: "There, there is a guy who arrives he will rinse you"!

“, he laughs.

If the Belgian did not finally "rinse" the Norman - the trajectory of the rapper being just as glorious - the prediction was not without relevance.

In just a handful of years, from around 2009 to 2016, Stromae has become one of the most influential artists on the French-speaking scene, radiating both in France and across the Atlantic.

And then nothing, or almost nothing.

After

, his four-time diamond album, which sold more than 2 million copies, Stromae moved away from the spotlight and withdrew to take care of himself and preserve himself.

Therefore, he rarely hinted at a possible return.

Until that day in October 2021 when he reappeared almost unexpectedly with an unreleased single,

.

Then there was her music video, tour announcement, and the long-awaited release of her new album,

, this Friday.

After six years of absence, Stromae has created the event and already seems to have regained the place he left in 2016: that of a unifying artist and overflowing with creativity.

“He manages to bring together a very large audience”

It was shortly after

that Thomas Maindron, director and programmer of the Festival de Poupet, was able to formalize the presence of Stromae in the programming of its 2022 edition. tremors, he explains to

.

All eyes turned to us and for a week questions arose to find out "if we had it or not".

It had become a dream for many.

When it was announced it was almost a relief for festival-goers and partners, they were just too happy to imagine that they were going to have the opportunity to see it this summer.

»

It must be said that six years of absence is a long time.

Learning in quick succession of the return of the artist and his return to the stage is what we call a nice surprise.

“His disappearance from the radar created expectation, he left when he was at the top of the bill with a conquered audience, there was almost a taste of too little, believes Thomas Maindron.

Everyone had become a little addicted to his music, on his last album there were only hits!

»

Songs that regularly air on the air, like on Virgin Radio where Stromae has a special place.

“It has an impressive love rating with our listeners,” remarks Mickael Bois, director of musical programming.

A craze that emerges in particular from the frequent polls that the radio submits to its audience.

And on the study concerning the older songs – excluding songs of the moment therefore –, Stromae “is the French-speaking artist who stands out the best and the most loved by our listeners”, he notes.

"He's a fairly unique artist in France," underlines Mickael Bois.

It could be labeled a bit "special" in terms of music but it manages to bring everyone together.

And despite his absence, when he returns, people are still there and the concerts fill up.

"He manages to bring together a very large, family audience and at the same time those who love electro find themselves there, world music too... These artists are at the top of the bill for us because everyone find it there, it's a chance to have it", adds for his part the director of Poupet.

“He becomes a heavyweight in music in France”

From the start, the artist stood out for his original concepts (his “lessons”), his gestures, his polysemous texts and his puzzling happenings (the video of

in particular).

“For me, he is above all a director of genius, considers the musical programmer of Virgin Radio.

A director of his texts in his music, of the image in his clips and in his speeches in promotion in particular.

»

In 2013, the singer split on the set of the

on Canal + to perform

there .

In January, he caused a sensation on the TF1 Sunday evening news set.

Asked by Anne-Claire Coudray about his discomfort, he suddenly began to sing, thus revealing his unreleased title

.

“I was frozen.

I tried not to move, almost not to breathe because I was afraid of disturbing him in this intense moment.

I was like a little girl, fascinated by what was happening,” the journalist confided to us the day after this highly commented event in the media and on social networks.

An undeniable sense of spectacle on TV sets, but also on stage where Stromae deeply marks the spirits.

“In 2009 at the festival, everyone was stunned by his live performance which was already something very original, with screens and decor with video.

At the time, there weren't many shows that already included that level.

Receiving Stromae is therefore a guaranteed show for the public.

For Mickael Bois, Stromae is “one of the most creative artists in a sanitized world where everything is somewhat cataloged, he stands out while remaining popular.

Not many artists manage to do this

[to be present in all these registers], and in the long term.

He becomes a heavyweight of music in France.

Stromae, a consensual artist?

If he is undeniably unifying, some are annoyed by his desires at a press conference and his need to control everything.

The likely need to preserve and protect one's privacy.

If he doesn't fall into the trap of being a distant and inaccessible artist, Stromae has everything to become a sacred monster of music.

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