Paul van Haver (born 12 March 1985), better known by his stage name Stromae is a Belgian singer, rapper, songwriter and producer. He is mostly known for his music blending hip hop and electronic music.
Paul van Haver was born in Brussles and raised in the city’s Laken district, to a Rwandan Tutsi father, Pierre Rutare, and a Flemish mother, Miranda van Haver. He said in an interview that he also has Somali heritage from his father’s side. He and his siblings were raised by their mother, as his father, an architect, was killed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, while visiting his family. He attended the Sacre-coeur de jette, a Jesuit school in Jette. He formed a small rap group with his friends while still in school. His early influences included Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel, Son Cubano and Congolese Rumba. On 12 December 2015, Van Haver was secretly married to Coralie Barbier by well-known Catholic priest Guy Gilbert, in a private ceremony held in Mechelen. His first son was born on 22 September 2018.
Four – Up Saw Liz
“Up Saw Liz” is a song by Belgian singer, Stromae released in 2009 as a non-album single. In 2010, the song and a remix were featured on Stromae’s second EP, called Mixture Elecstro. The official videoclip garnered over 4.4M views on YouTube. According to the singer, the title, “Up Saw Liz” has no significant meaning and he stated in one of his YouTube videos that the concept of the song was to point out that when it comes to a song, people care more about the beat than the lyrics.
Three – Papaoutai
“Papaoutai” (French for “Dad, where are you?”) is a song written and performed by Belgian singer Stromae. The song was released as a digital download in Belgium on 13 May 2013 as the lead single from his second studio album “Racine Cerree” (2013). It garnered over 959M views on its official music video on YouTube. The song peaked at number one in Belgium and France and became the bestselling single of 2013 in Belgium. The song was performed live at the 2013 NRJ Music Awards, where it featured American rapper will.i.am. In 2013, the song “Papaoutai” won the award for Competition Clip at the Best Clip Award. In 2014, the song was also nominated at the European Festival Award for Festival Anthem of the Year.
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
In total, Stromae has been nominated 89 times and has won 54 awards off these nominations. To name a few;
- The song “Alors on danse” won the award at the Danish Music Award for Foreign Hit of the Year in 2010.
- In 2013, the song “Papaoutai” won the award for Competition Clip at the Best Clip Award.
- In 2014, Stromae won the awards for Best selling Benelux Artist and Best Selling European Sole Artist at the World Music Award.
- The song “Fils de Joie” won the Award for Best Art Direction at the Berlin Music Video Awards.
- In 2014, Stromae won the award for Best Newcomer Act at the European Festival Award.
Two – Mon Amour feat. Camilla Cabello
Garnering over 10M views on its official video on YouTube features Camilla Cabello on the single “Mon Amour” which was released as a single on the 27th of July, 2022.
DISCOGRAPHY
The discography of Belgian singer-songwriter Stromae consists of three studio albums, one extended play, 21 singles and five promotional singles.
- Cheese (2010)
- Racine Cerree (2013)
- Multitude (2022)”
One – Alors on danse
“Alors on danse” (French for “And so we dance”) is a song by Belgian rapper Stromae. It was released in September 2009 in Belgium and in February 2010 in the rest of Europe. The song garnered over 370M views on its official music video on YouTube, making it his biggest hit so far in his career. The song reached number one in Belgium, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and so many more. It also reached number one on the European Hot 100 Singles. Four months after the European release, almost one million copies worldwide were sold. The song spent 57 weeks on the German Singles Chart making it the 40th song to spend one year or longer on that chart and the song with the 31st longest run. According to Francophone Diffusion “Alors on danse” was the most-played Francophone single worldwide of 2010. As of July 2014, it was the 83rd best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 334,000 units sold. The song won the award at the Danish Music Award for Foreign Hit of the Year in 2010.
