Will Angèle Take Over American Media?

Who is Angele?

Angele is a Belgian pop singer who I’ve personally listened to for the past 3 years. The first time I heard her music was a level 2 French class in high school. There was some kind of program in which American students learning French would listen to French music, and vote which songs they thought were the best. This would go on for weeks, and eventually one song would be chosen as the best. Angele got in on this contest with the song Flou. I’m not sure if she won, but this was certainly my favorite song from the contest.

And just look at her numbers…

Angele has a wide range of slow, intimate, and sad songs, all the way to pop hits like Flou. She’s even done a song with Dua Lipa. I believe she’s even toured with Dua Lipa before. Some of her songs have English lyrics. These pieces lead you to ask: is she a Belgian pop-star, or an American pop-star?

Right now, she’s a French/ Belgian star. But I see no reason why she wouldn’t be able to garner mass appeal from American culture.

Do Americans like French Music?

I certainly do. But then again, I come from a French family. But I don’t think that really matters all that much. French is a love-language, they say. This means that is sounds very nice. The only downfall for the non-French speaking American listener is that most of Angele’s songs can’t really be understood lyric-for-lyric. But then again, there’s really great translations for many of her songs.

First, you enjoy Angele’s Flou because it’s catchy, and fun. At a certain point, you seek to find the deeper meaning though. When that time comes, you can easily read the translation of the lyrics and understand the jist of Angele’s point. Let’s imagine for a moment that you are Angele’s record label. America is a fabled market, there is SO much money to be made there as opposed to Belgium.

So naturally, you find ways to make Angele more pallatable by an American audience. You start creating really good translations of Angele’s music, and disseminating these translations along with the music.

I think this makes French music a very rich experience for any American listener. Most people don’t even listen to the lyrics of the songs they enjoy. They just kind of parrot what the artist says. So for those people, reciting Angele’s music in a French accent might be enough. But for those looking for a deeper meaning, the translations would provide that.

Americans should and definetly could like French music. And Angele is on of the best French pop singers.

So, will she take over American media?

Yes. I think she will. I could elaborate for a whole post about this. And I might.