 |
  |
Les Nubians
The American Dream
Paris
02/12/1999 -
Les Nubians returned to Paris in style this week! And the question on most French music fans' lips is: "qui sont Les Nubians?" Where have you all been? Les Nubians are two rising young Franco-Cameroonian stars who have conquered America with their smooth soul vocals. The sisterly duo have already sold over 300,000 copies of their first (and only) album to date, "Princesses nubiennes" - an impressive feat when you consider that LN and C-Lia perform all their songs in French! The sisters launched their career performing at a music festival in Bordeaux, winning local audiences over with their superb gospel performance. Following their success in the local press, Les Nubians were then invited to support a friend's group. And the rest is showbiz history - Virgin spotted the Nubians' talent and instantly snapped them up, signing a contract for their first album.
However, while Les Nubians made their debut on the French scene, the duo owes their success to music fans in the States. The album "Princesses nubiennes" made next to no impact on the French charts, but the American press went wild for it, showering the sisters with rave reviews and not hesitating to compare them to the great names of the British Soul scene such as Sade. LN is still reeling from the shock: "It's really weird to see your name evoked in the same breath as musicians you really admire. I remember when we were making the first album, the artistic director was asking us which musicians we'd like to work with. And at first we didn't dare mention any really big names …Then we ended up recording part of the album in the Soul II Soul studio in London and the musicians who came in to play on the album had all been working with people like Omar and Des'ree. I remember when we were working in the studio it felt really mindblowing, really extraordinary!"
On The Road
Following the instant success of "Princesses nubiennes", the sisters were whisked off on a major tour of the States. "We played about 22 concerts over there," recalls LN, "and on average about 1,000 people turned up to each gig. The audiences were great - they really gave us a lot of love and support!" The soul sisters are both charismatic performers live on stage, but performing in a foreign language in the States is enough to give anyone a serious bout of stage fright! "It was hard not to be overawed by it all," says C-Lia, "When you think you're about to go out on stage and sing in French to English-speaking audiences! At first we thought the album had been bought by French music fans living in the States. But when we arrived over there, we found out that wasn't the case at all. It was mostly Afro-Americans who'd gone out and bought the album. When we did the first concert, in a club in Baton Rouge, things were pretty tense. We were really churned up inside at the thought of going out on stage. But in the end things went off really well. We sang our first single "Makeda" and everyone started dancing and singing along. The next day we performed at the carnival in New Orleans in front of 40,000 people…"
Les Nubians returned to Paris in style this week! And the question on most French music fans' lips is: "qui sont Les Nubians?" Where have you all been? Les Nubians are two rising young Franco-Cameroonian stars who have conquered America with their smooth soul vocals. The sisterly duo have already sold over 300,000 copies of their first (and only) album to date, "Princesses nubiennes" - an impressive feat when you consider that LN and C-Lia perform all their songs in French! The sisters launched their career performing at a music festival in Bordeaux, winning local audiences over with their superb gospel performance. Following their success in the local press, Les Nubians were then invited to support a friend's group. And the rest is showbiz history - Virgin spotted the Nubians' talent and instantly snapped them up, signing a contract for their first album.
However, while Les Nubians made their debut on the French scene, the duo owes their success to music fans in the States. The album "Princesses nubiennes" made next to no impact on the French charts, but the American press went wild for it, showering the sisters with rave reviews and not hesitating to compare them to the great names of the British Soul scene such as Sade. LN is still reeling from the shock: "It's really weird to see your name evoked in the same breath as musicians you really admire. I remember when we were making the first album, the artistic director was asking us which musicians we'd like to work with. And at first we didn't dare mention any really big names …Then we ended up recording part of the album in the Soul II Soul studio in London and the musicians who came in to play on the album had all been working with people like Omar and Des'ree. I remember when we were working in the studio it felt really mindblowing, really extraordinary!"
On The Road
Following the instant success of "Princesses nubiennes", the sisters were whisked off on a major tour of the States. "We played about 22 concerts over there," recalls LN, "and on average about 1,000 people turned up to each gig. The audiences were great - they really gave us a lot of love and support!" The soul sisters are both charismatic performers live on stage, but performing in a foreign language in the States is enough to give anyone a serious bout of stage fright! "It was hard not to be overawed by it all," says C-Lia, "When you think you're about to go out on stage and sing in French to English-speaking audiences! At first we thought the album had been bought by French music fans living in the States. But when we arrived over there, we found out that wasn't the case at all. It was mostly Afro-Americans who'd gone out and bought the album. When we did the first concert, in a club in Baton Rouge, things were pretty tense. We were really churned up inside at the thought of going out on stage. But in the end things went off really well. We sang our first single "Makeda" and everyone started dancing and singing along. The next day we performed at the carnival in New Orleans in front of 40,000 people…"
As you may have understood, LN and C-Lia are big on communication and it comes as no surprise to learn that they have their own website in English. "It's done by the American label Higher Octave," explains C-Lia, "But we haven't had time to translate it into French yet. We're working on it right now though and we'd like to find ways of making the site a bit more interactive. It's an excellent tool for communication. I was really impressed by the website set up by The Roots (an American rap group). You know, while we were on tour, Amir the drummer sent reports on the tour every day … We're really into the Net …" C-Lia insists that within the next six months the Nubians' own site will be radically updated and improved.
On Stage
When it comes to communication, however, nothing beats the Nubians' charismatic performance on stage. In fact, you have to have seen the sisters live in concert to understand the enthusiastic reaction they generate among fans. LN and C-Lia's grace, youth - the sisters are 21 and 25 - and their sensual soul vocals transport their audience to the landscapes of Africa, America and let's not forget Europe, the starting-point of their extraordinary adventure. While fans await the release of the Nubians' second album - on which the sisters are due to begin work soon - they can catch the duo in concert at French music festivals in the spring and summer of 2000, before they head off on a (possible) African tour.
French text: Valérie Passelègue
English translation: Julie Street
17/05/2011 -
11/01/2006 -
18/04/2003 -
