Fresh-faced, innovative and disruptive, WHAT A TUNE presents ten French power players set to make a splash in 2023.
In part one, you’ll find fiery female rappers challenging the status quo, the genre-defying singers ready to take the festival circuit by storm and maybe your new favourite artist. You’ll find the list in alphabetical order (everyone is equal here) and don’t forget you can listen to the full lineup (plus a few extras) on the Spotify playlist at the end. (Read part two HERE.)
Adé
Tipped by Shazam as one-to-watch and with a string of festival performances announced, 2023 will be a big year for 27-year-old Adé. Previously part of the group Therapie TAXI, 2022 saw Adé release her first solo record. Et alors ? (And so?) is a captivating album, knitting the country sound of harmonica, dobro, banjo et mandolin with effervescent pop melodies.
DAVINHOR
DAVINHOR is primed to give reigning kings of French rap a run for their money. The Congolese rapper dropped her debut album Indomptable (Untameable) last year and her biting lyrics over supersized beats have already earned her the seal of approval from one of French rap’s biggest stars, Niska. (Side note: the number 13071965 on her album cover is a reference to the French law of July 1965 allowing women to open their own bank account and work without their spouse’s permission.)
DONAMARIA
Self-described “poetic grunge” singer-songwriter DONAMARIA hails from Bordeaux and her music sits at the crossroads between alt-pop and electronica. Her latest single Je Pars (I’m Leaving) is both lofty and melancholy, ideal for your next melodramatic looking-out-the-train-window-while-it-rains moment.
George Ka
The multi-faceted young artist flows between moody rap and French chanson. Her thoughtfully-crafted lyrics bring to mind the likes of slam poet Grand Corps Malade and Gaël Faye, the latter of whom she supported on tour. Her 2019 debut, Saigon, offers a nuanced snapshot of her Franco-Vietnamese origins growing up as part of the diaspora in Paris.
Leslie Medina
The Lyon-born actor recently turned her hand to making music with exciting results. Starting out with the 2021 single ENCORE HEREUX (STILL HAPPY), the track is a sass-fuelled send-off to a former lover driven by rolling bass lines. Her debut EP, BONNE COURAGE (GOOD LUCK), released the year after, is led by the single AMOURS IMAGINAIRES (IMAGINARY LOVES) which chronicles the struggle of unrequited love and accompanied by a darkly witty video.
