Despite receiving a lukewarm reception in France, they have become one of the most successful French-language musical groups in the U.S. Apart from their two albums, they have also made appearances on songs by the Black Eyed Peas, Talib Kweli, and Yerba Buena.
Website: http://www.lesnubians.org/
September: Third Album "Nü Revolution" is released!
An unconventional female duo that came out of Bordeaux, France, in the 1990s, Les Nubians offered a jazzy, sophisticated style of R&B that combined French lyrics with the influence of Sade, Soul II Soul, hip-hop, and African pop. The duo consists of sisters Helene and Celia Faussart, who were born in France to a French father and a Cameroonian mother. After living in France as children, the siblings moved with their parents to the African country of Chad in 1985, when Helene (born 1975) was ten and Celia (born 1979) was six. The sisters lived in Chad for seven years before returning to France as teenagers. Helene and Celia had been singing most of their lives, and when they first formed Les Nubians, they were an a cappella group that specialized in covers of R&B, reggae, and African songs. Eventually, they started working with bands and performing original material. Helene and Celia absorbed a variety of music along the way, and they have expressed admiration for artists ranging from Ella Fitzgerald and Abbey Lincoln to the Fugees and African icons Miriam Makeba and Fela Kuti. Their promising debut album, Princesses Nubiennes, was released by Virgin worldwide in France, Switzerland, and Belgium in June 1998 before coming out on Omtown/Higher Octave in the U.S. in September of that year. It became America's most successful French-language album in more than a decade, and Les Nubians also graced recordings by Talib Kweli and Black Eyed Peas, as well as a Red Hot tribute to Fela Kuti, Red, Hot & Riot. Sessions for their second album brought the pair to Jamaica, Cameroon, London, and Paris, including a host of intriguing collaborators: top underground rapper Talib Kweli, fellow Cameroonian Manu Dibango, pianist Ray Lema, and broken-beat maestro IG Culture. The results appeared as One Step Forward, released in March 2003 by Higher Octave. In 2004, they recorded the track "Going All the Way" featuring reggae star Beres Hammond for UNITY: The Official Athens 2004 Olympic Games album. In 2005, Les Nubians issued Nubians Present Echoes, Chapter One, a collection of spoken word pieces by poets and hip-hop artists from the U.S., France, and Africa. The duo also covered "With or Without You," for inclusion on the compilation In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2, in 2008. Les Nubians finally re-entered the recording studio in 2010, emerging with the EP Nü Revolution Nubiatic in the latter part of the year and the full-length, Nü Revolution in the spring of 2011. ~ Alex Henderson and Thom Jurek, Rovi
J'veux d'la musique
Les Nubians Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Je la conjugue au passé au présent,
Je, tu, il, nous à tous les temps,
J'fais d'la musique tout le temps.
Musique de toutes les langues, de tous les instants
Musique du cœur
Ses battements
Musique, musique joue pour toi et moi
Musique
Eternelle à mon cœur
Musique
J'veux d'la musique tout le temps
Du passé au présent
J'veux d'la musique tout le temps
Assurément. Tout le temps.
Chaque minute précieuse à son air,
Mélodies ancestrales de nos mères,
Les berceuses et les prières fières sur nos genoux trop usés.
Et l'amour sur tes lèvres,
La chanson de nos fièvres,
Et celles de tes larmes amères quand le poids te fait plier.
Musique
De toutes les couleurs
I love music, every kind of music
Musique
J'veux d'la musique tout le temps
Du passé au présent.
Musique
Eternelle à mon cœur
Musique
J'veux d'la musique tout le temps
Assurément. Tout le temps.
The opening lines, "J'ai la musique dans le sang, Je la conjugue au passé au présent" ("I have music in my blood, I conjugate it in the past and the present") declare the singer's passionate connection to music. The repetition of the phrase "tout le temps" ("all the time") reinforces this obsession. They assert that music transcends time, language and ethnicity, and it's eternal, enduring and connects us all. The lyrics then go on to describe how music has been a constant presence for them, from the ancestral lullabies and prayers on their grandmothers' knees to the love songs and heartbreak that have marked their life. The song emphasizes the ways that music becomes almost a part of our body and soul and brings us together in joy, sorrow, and celebration.
The chorus itself becomes a declaration of this love for music: "Musique eternelle a mon coeur / Musique, j'veux d'la musique tout le temps" ("Eternal music in my heart, music, I want music all the time"). The repetition of the word "music" becomes almost a mantra, as if their love for it could never be expressed enough. The musics they mention comes from different parts of the world and encompasses different genres, including soul, funk, jazz, and reggae — a deliberate reflection of the group's international background and influences.
Overall, Les Nubians's "J'veux d'la musique" is a passionate tribute to the power of music to lift us up, connect us with each other, and celebrate life. It's a celebration of the power of the human spirit to find beauty, even in the darkest moments.
Line by Line Meaning
J'ai la musique dans le sang,
Music flows in my blood and is an essential part of me.
Je la conjugue au passé au présent,
I express music in both past and present tenses.
Je, tu, il, nous à tous les temps,
Music is for everyone and for all times.
J'fais d'la musique tout le temps.
I make music all the time.
Musique de toutes les langues, de tous les instants
Music is a universal language that transcends time and language barriers.
Musique du cœur
Music that touches the heart.
Ses battements
The rhythms of the heart.
Musique, musique joue pour toi et moi
Music plays for both you and me.
Que jamais personne ne puisse éteindre ta voix
May no one ever silence your voice.
Musique
Music, the eternal companion of my heart.
Eternelle à mon cœur
An undying love for music.
J'veux d'la musique tout le temps
I want music all the time, without a doubt.
Du passé au présent
From the past to the present, I want music.
Chaque minute précieuse à son air,
Every precious minute has its own melody.
Mélodies ancestrales de nos mères,
Ancestral melodies of our mothers.
Les berceuses et les prières fières sur nos genoux trop usés.
Lullabies and proud prayers on our wearied knees.
Et l'amour sur tes lèvres,
And love on your lips.
La chanson de nos fièvres,
The song of our fevers.
Et celles de tes larmes amères quand le poids te fait plier.
And those of your bitter tears when the weight makes you bend.
De toutes les couleurs
Of all colors.
I love music, every kind of music
I love music, every kind of music.
Contributed by John L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.