Paris (AFP)

Revealed on Tik Tok, followed by hundreds of thousands of fans and even quoted by Jean-Luc Mélenchon: Wejdène, 16, whose first album was released on Friday, has already established itself as a musical phenomenon.

To the point of being compared to Aya Nakamura.

- "You out of my sight" -

April 2020: while France is confined, Wejdène, a young influencer from the Parisian suburbs and unknown to the general public, posts on Tik Tok, the popular social network for teenagers, an excerpt from her song "Anissa" and launches the "#AnissaChallenge ".

"You take your dirty underpants and you're out of my sight";

"You speak with an Anissa, but my name is Wejdène": in a few hours, the videos of Internet users jiggling to this very rhythmic song, with questionable grammar, invade the platform.

Taken thousands of times on all social networks combined, sometimes mocked for her mistakes in French ... The young woman leaves no one indifferent.

Until the leader of rebellious France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who takes advantage of the "buzz" around the young woman to challenge, on Tik Tok, the head of state.

"Wejdène is a pop culture phenomenon," Narjes Bahhar, rap editor for the music streaming platform Deezer, told AFP.

"In record time, she was able to enter a very competitive industry and speak to a generation of teenage girls who recognize themselves through her."

- 61 million views -

Boosted by Tik Tok which had "an accelerating effect on her early career", according to Louis Hallonet of the Export Office, a support structure for the French music industry abroad, the young woman did not stop there and has implemented a professionalization strategy.

Signature of a contract with the independent label "Guette l'ascension", massive presence on social networks ... Nothing is left to chance like his now very elaborate clips, which take up the scenography of R'n 'clips B.

Exit, the Tik Tok page where the young woman was singing in her room.

On YouTube, the video "Anissa", which broke the million views in a few days, is now close to 61 million views.

The same goes for his second track "Coco", seen over 30 million times.

A success that is also confirmed on platforms like Deezer and Spotify which have closely followed the young woman's evolution.

"With more than two million listeners per month on Spotify," she has become one of the most popular French artists of the moment, "explains Mathieu Monin, France director of the platform. A figure close to that of the rap juggernaut French, Booba.

- In Aya's footsteps?

-

In parallel with her professionalization, a real marketing strategy has been set up in order to maintain the mystery around the young woman and to create expectation among her audience.

Like when she knowingly hides her age, 16, while the question ignites social networks.

She will not lift the veil until the end of August when the announcement of the release of her album "16".

Or when she reveals that her father, Badra Zarzis, is also a singer, very well known in Tunisia.

A gradual unveiling strategy that seems, here again, to bear fruit: on Tik Tok, her privileged social network for interacting with her fans, more and more of them are following her every month.

+ 23% in one month, according to figures cited by Louis Hallonet, for whom "this audience will bring it and allow it to move to monetization".

A beginning of "success story" which is not without recalling that of the singer Aya Nakamura, today the French female artist most listened to in the world on Spotify.

Sign that the comparison between the two is not incongruous, they are displayed together in a snapshot published on Wejdène's Instagram account, leaving the door open to a possible collaboration.

© 2020 AFP