Racine carrée

Its hard to relate to but I appreciated a bit more of a modern pop sound with variety.

Now that’s some French hip-hop with which I can rendezvous. I loved at least half of the tracks on this disc. It seems like most of the Francophone world did as well.

Papaoutai // 1.5/5

3.5.

Best Song: Papaoutai. It's not often that you get a fantastic pop song with such great, thoughtful lyrics like this. All around fantastic. Worst Song: Humain à l’eau. The backing electronica was really jarring on this one. Stromae makes much better pop music than he makes club music. Overall: This album starts great and ends great. There is a real lull in the middle, but overall it's hard to hate the range of great pop that Stromae shows off here.

Growing up in the Netherlands, Racine Carrée was everywhere in 2014. Inescapable. At the time I'd have given it a three, maybe three and a half. Usually overexposed albums wear out completely. This one went the other way for me. Stromae isn't really French or Belgian. He's Brussels, that specific urban melting pot of Flemish, Walloon, African, and French culture, filtered through his Central African roots and his Rwandan father's absence. Paul Van Haver wearing all of that simultaneously, in a language that's technically French but culturally something a bit more complicated. What makes the album work is the central trick: devastatingly sad lyrics in relentlessly upbeat music. Papaoutai (Dad, where are you) about growing up without a father, delivered as something you could dance to. Quand C'est with its clever wordplay on cancer that only works in French and only works if you're willing to make a pun about something terrible. That combination of joy and grief in the same breath connects to something deeper than European electropop and connects more to the Congolse rumba tradition underneath it where music carries enormous grief in joyful form. I saw him live in 2014 and it was marvellous. He was one of the more extraordinary live performers of his generation. The album holds up just as well.

2/3

I had no preconceived notions and was pleasantly surprised.

This is rad. batard is fucking killer.

I figured house electro-pop sung in French might be decent, but nope, this was utter trash from start to finish. Extremely annoying and zero depth, just Euro trash club tunes. One star.

EDIT: I originally gave this album a 2, which the below review reflects I've had 3 electropop/dance pop albums in my last four albums, so it seems like that genre is the user album equivalent of Dimery's britpop. Just pointing this out because I'm automatically going in with a biased opinion because I'm tired of this genre already. That said, I feel like by the end I gained a sense of respect for the album. Starting with my least favorite aspect because it's the first thing on the album: the blaring stuttery synth. I think this sound is incredibly annoying. I said before that this album is electropop/dance pop, but it borrows heavily from late 00s-early 10s EDM, which I think was a low point for the genre and I usually don't like music with that style of production. There are a few interesting things about this album. There seems to be some crossover with some traditional styles of African music mixed in with Stromae's typical style. It's not very common but it did make my ears prick up, definitely an interesting blend. The thing I found most interesting about the album were some of the songs that seem to follow in the steps of old chanson artists (Jacques Brel and Scott Walker from the main list fall under this category) which isn't something I've heard before, though maybe it's common amongst French language music. I always see chanson as an "old" genre, so seeing that style with a new coat of paint and mixed in with more modern genres like EDM is very interesting in my opinion. When this album was generated I thought I heard the name "Stromae" about 10 years earlier, but wasn't sure, however after checking the reviews I think I may have been right because apparently this album was very popular in mainland Europe around the time it came out. It's interesting to see something that was a big deal elsewhere that I had miniscule knowledge of prior. I don't like this album at all, that said I found it to be an interesting album that I would have never listened to otherwise. I do not regret listening to it at all, and that's the best compliment I can give an album. Should it be on the main list: I'm going to abstain from this one. I was certain it was going to be a no, but apparently this was a huge deal in mainland Europe when it came out and it seems to be held in high regard, so I'll let those people decide for me. Top 3 songs: Papaoutai, Tous les Mêmes, Merci

This was unavoidable in Europe in 2013. For the most part it's more traditional songs set to a house beat. The vocals set it apart from other house music. His melodies are often longer and his range is wider. It has some African influences in some songs. Not bad at all.

House, electropop, dance-pop. Me ha gustado bastante. Un 4. Casi un 5.

I was actually thinking of adding this to spinshare the other day. I was introduced to this one by some French students in my grad program. And though it has been a while since I actually listened to it, I remember this one being quite fun and having its own uniquely European energy about it. I mean obviously it being completely in French contributes, but something in the heavily electronic production with some opera references (carmen) and more "classic" sounding instruments like the accordion (ave cesaria) compound the effect. Stromae shows some impressive range and beat selection here. Dabbling in confident club track strutting (humain a l'eau, Ta fete), some more tender balladry (Formidable, quand c'est), and some solid tracks in between those two worlds (Papaoutai, ave cesaria, avf, carmen). This is one of those albums that has a telaportative quality. Not something for every day, but it delivers whenever I do throw it on. Solid 4.

Hits that cross section between pop EDM and straight pop. Almost like newer Coldplay stuff. I could see these songs littering summertime radio in Europe.

Pretty decent house music but nothing I would come back to at all. Merci was a very cool song though I liked that a lot. This is a mid to low 3

I'm getting serious Dadi vibes from this a few songs in, just in French instead of Icelandic. Pretty fun pop EDM rekkid!

2.2 Turns out I really can't do Europop. It wasn't terrible, just found nothing interesting about it. I think he'd do really well at eurovision, let's say that.

I don't really like most pop or hip hop. Some of this was pretty cool but still didn't do it for me.

2.5/5

interesting. varied types of music here, nice to see non-English included. 3/5

Wow, j’suis totalement éberlouis, moi qui avait une idée toute préconçu de Stromae, je m’attendais pas à embarquer autant! Déjà, j’ai du écouter toutes les chansons au moins 3x (1000x pour Papaoutai, que je suis pu capable) à la radio, mais j’avais aucune idée qu’elles provenaient tous du même album! Il y a de quoi de fun là-dedans, tout les succès back à back, pis c’est pas un greatest hits! J’ai redécouvert Bâtard, Carmen et Merci, turbo bangers tous à leurs manières, beaucoup de diversités de styles que j’associais pas à Stromae la semaine dernière disons. Je pense avoir vraiment aimé ça, tiens, 5 pour Strostro

While I can understand the appeal, this really isn't for me

I understand that a lot of people like this and that the beats are mostly pretty nice, but as a french speaker I find most of his themes very cringey. Even the hits can't save this one as a whole, for me.

I'd say this is more down my alley than most on here, so I appreciate the addition of it to the list. I can't speak to the lyrical content, but instrumentally it sounds very good with a solid amount of variation, albeit lacking in originality. 8/10

Jaunty euro-club feel.

I enjoyed this a lot, it gave a distinctly European feel without the standard europop sound that pervades a lot of modern European music.

Nope

Very enjoyable album even though I don't understand the lyrics - the feelings are right upfront. Ta fête sets the scene perfectly, Papaoutai hits harder when you know it means 'Dad, where are you?', and Formidable, Humain à l'eau, and Sommeil are all standouts. Stromae makes you feel it even without speaking French. Looking forward to giving this another spin.

I've listened to one of his other albums, but not this one. Yeah, it's a good time! More poppy than I'd usually listen to, but poppy in an inventive way - always seemed to be something that grabbed my interest, even with the language barrier. Fave tracks - "Batard" and "Carmen", let's say, but it would probably take more listens to properly decide....

I’m not necessarily against this, but I found it hard to enjoy. Admittedly, I don’t speak the language, so maybe there was something in the lyrics that would have made this a better listen. However, my main displeasure derives from the production, vocals, and songwriting. Too formulaic. Couldn’t get into it. I’d enjoy this more if I was coked up at a rave somewhere in central to western Europe. 2/5

I suspect I would have hated this in english, but in Belgian it feels fresh and innovative and very cool

Sometimes a record comes along at the right time and you hear it differently than you may have. I am primarily a metal guy but I love a lot of other stuff. So foreign synthy hip-hop isn't something I would normally catch by chance. Which is why I joined this project actually. Anyhoo. It's January 2026 in America. Between work, family, and appearing at protests in [city redacted], I am struggling to make time to really listen to records. Like really listen. So overnight into Sunday of this week [City Redacted] gets like 8 inches of snow. I am required at work Monday and there is more coming. So I will need to shovel all day instead of protesting Ice. Which makes me feel like a cuck, but we can look into that later. Anyhoo. I got my hoodie, gloves, and my Sennheiser cans. (Normally this would be where I go off on some random rant about Sennheiser going to shit after a sale to a company that doesn't care about audio. But Ice just murdered a dude in cold blood and my energy is low.) Anyhoo. So I am shoveling and hating life. Hoping for that "Dead shovel" heart attack that will pay out insurance that will put my kids through college and this record is on... At first, it is a little derivative. But like in the first two minutes, it grabs me. And WILL NOT LET GO. I have no clue what this Belgian dude is talking about. I'm going to assume it's all anti fascist shit for the duration as that anger keeps me going. Anyhoo. It's fucking big. It's fucking brash. And now I follow this dude on Spotify and am looking at vinyl from my local record store in [city redacted] of this record. They don't have it. Discogs? No US Release. It's all French so this will cost me a fortune. 215 Euros! That's like 255 freedom units! Holy shit. I guess Spotify will have to do.

Banger after banger after banger. Yes, they're overplayed, but who cares? Keep playing them!

Not really sure how to classify this aside from French. It was surprisingly catchy and worth a listen.

Allons y!! Non

parp! parp! injustice! parp

I refuse to believe these are your top recommendations for albums to listen to. It’s just people trying to show how edgy they are.

I can see how this would be a great album for it's genre but it doesn't do anything for me.

This actually was pretty good for a language I don't understand and music I wouldn't normally listen to.

Favorite songs: Papaoutai, asf, Tous Les Memes, Formidable, Moules Frites, Ta Fete, Ave Cesaria, Batard Least favorite songs: Quand C'est? 5/5

Désolé mais ce n'est pas pour moi.

I bet this album would be really great performed in its entirety at a club or festival. Instead, it's just okay as an album, with a lot of great ideas, but suffers from the whole "early 2010s" of it all.

Well, I guess not every French album on here was going to be a winner. Something might be getting lost in translation, or from some other lack of cultural context, but on first listen, this just strikes me as a lot of crappy club music.

Properly shit

Graduating the European equivalent of high school in 2013, this was a welcome trip down memory lane. A modern classic in party music and enjoyable through and through.

One of the most danceable interpretations of pain and sadness in recent history.

Good pick! My daughter showed me this at the time- really brave to tackle these subject matters (need subtitles though :-))

The Gods are Belgian, very few people are aware of it, and they once wondered what would happen if Jacques Brel returned from the dead over a house music soundtrack sprinkled with strong hip hop flavors and other EDM influences ... And guess what? What actually happened was a worldwide success that's rarely seen for a record not sung in English. Of course, one could argue that Stromae is even more than the tags I assigned to him up there. He might not be right up my alley, I can't deny the very distinct voice he has, in all senses of the word. Puns and constant wordplay abound in "Racine carrée" -- to the point where they could make a French-speaking listener's head spin. Bangers also abound, especially in the first half. Being a French speaker myself, I'm quick to pinpoint them -- all of them have been played to death in the radio where I live. After that first half, the momentum created by the singer-rapper-composer loses its leg a little. Worse, a couple of duds at the very end come close to ruining the whole thing (aw, what a tragic way to stumble on the finish line and miss my high-rated albums list here!). Those duds are the pointless instrumental "merci" and closer "avf", featuring Maître Gims -- don't ask me about him, American and British friends, he's one of the most terrible mistakes made by the *French* gods in the last two decades or so. But I guess that's a story for another time, kiddies. Or not. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5). Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 33 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 43 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 87 (including this one) ---- Émile, quelques récentes réponses au dessus...

Not a fan of electronic dance music

Not my jam

Fine commercial electropop. This is pretty much the exact polar opposite of my music taste in every conceivable measure, but I somehow didn't hate it. Stands out with its lyrics (or I assume from what I read about it, I don't speak French) and some pretty cool instrumentation in certain parts. Strong 2/5.

I always have time for rapping/singing in languages that I don't understand. I found the arrangements here just a little too pop for my liking, but it was diverting enough anyway.

TIL that Belgium has three primary language spoken, Flemish, French and a small bit of German. I'm not a linguist, but this is all in French..(?) This was a bumpy listen despite the language barrier. Some of it seemed more apt to be preformed on stage like a Lin Manuel Miranda production, while others sounded like I was meant for audience chanting at a 'le foot' / futbol / soccer game, and even other parts reminded me of nursery rhymes set to discothèque / boîte de nuit beats. Tho, more educated than anything you'd expect to find on Eurovision, this occupied the tiny space between mediocre ABBA and the BeeGees in me. Part of me wanted to turn it off and advance the tracks, while the other was curious what would come next.

The name Stromae sounded familiar. Turned out it was because my daughter keeps listening to a song by him that’s on the soundtrack for the show “Arcane.” That song actually has a pretty cool vibe that fits the moment in the show well, and while the vibe is a little different on “Racine carrée” it was still a good listen. Stromae brings a great blend of styles, and reading about his life helps to crystallize that aspect. Fascinating though that he has been compared to Jacques Brel, since their music is so different despite both being Belgian.

I am neither 21, rolling, nor do I have the calves to dance to this. My Achilles are going to be sore tomorrow just from listening.

It's a no from me. Not good

Horseshit

Not in this heat.

Euro/French dance beats. Ok

More fun than expected

I thought this album was cool overall. I didn't know what to think at first, but it grew on me. I feel like it would be a lot better if I spoke French, but I'm also determined never to learn anything useful 4/5

The 2013 is strong with this one "Papaoutai" was really big when I was in high school French- Stromae, ou-t'ai? Despite not being hot on the genre, Racine carrée is a pretty good example of 2010s house. Both the music and singing style bounce around from song to song, and for a virtually unilingual listener (me with all my French classes) it’s still quite accessible. 3.5 HL: "Papaoutai", "Tous les mêmes", “Moules frites” May 29, 2025

Strong album considering the language gap and the genre. I may ever play it again in the future.

A fun catchy confection. Enjoyed it. Very good share!

Quite simply: Banger

Perhaps most notable for being the most prolific French-language artist of the 21st century, Stromae successfully blended electropop and hip hop in a way that was both stylish and distinctly European. While it only barely broke through to the anglosphere (having charted in Canada and specific US areas), Racine carrée demonstrates that there is a whole other world of popular music outside of the usual English-speaking artists. To that extent, I can easily see why Stromae attained so much success in Western Europe. While incredibly well-made, the music itself didn't quite strike me as anything special. Still worth a consideration for breaking out of the usual US/UK albums. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: Maybe!

My French is not very strong so can’t really comment lyrically. However, I found myself bopping along to this one. Not typically the sound that will do that for me. Found myself surprised with how much I enjoyed this.

This is the exact reason that I have loved doing this project. I wish that the original book included a lot more diverse music from around the world. This was really cool!

I'm so happy I completed this project and I'm now able to listen to so many albums in a row that are just utterly amazing music that I would have missed out on if I hadn't taken the time to do this project. I'm so happy that I am able... Oh what am I saying? This is utter dogshit like almost everything else in these (user-submitted and original) lists. Thanks, OP, for yet another wasted hour in which I question my life choices. Why the fuck do I solicit the opinion of strangers? Why do I involve myself in the society of people whose taste is so utterly inferior to my own?

racine careée is pretty stylish in places, it has a swagger about it and it's electronic house that doesn't annoy me too much, so that's a positive. Better than some of that genre on the initial list and tracks like merci near the end are good enough to get this up to a 3/5, not hugely memorable in and of itself but I suspect I'll remember this one for a bit, an earworm sort of listen.

Not reading anything about Stromae before diving in, I was prepared to accept this entry as being a really jolly good fun French hiphop album. Scrolling down the tracklist though I see the track "moules frites" and instantly this becomes a Belgian album. With that in mind, it also becomes a surprisingly excellent Belgian hiphop album. At least, until Merci, it was an excellent Belgian hiphop album. Merci just blew me away. What a take. The influence of Italo-disco on a thoroughly modern interpretation of piano-driven house, diverting in the second half to full synth - just great and I'm here for it. It takes this album up to an extraordinary Belgian hiphop album. Yep, solid choice for the list, and I am definitely going to pay more attention to Stromae.

I lived in France in 2013/2014, it was absurd how much they thought "Formidable" was actually a good song. I guess a foreigner like me will never get it...

I've said it before and I'll say it again, anything in French sounds cooler.

Ooh some French language music. Ah it's electronic. The problem I have, as mentioned many times before, is that I hear so much really good house / electronic music that my bar is set so high that this has to be flawless. It's okay. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Sure why not. Could replace some of the electric slop that was on here.

Fun French pop! No complaints.

Très bon

The context of the listening experience matters

I try to spend my year avoiding Eurovision, so this just isn’t my cup of tea. My wife who loves Eurovision enjoyed it though.

House, electropop, dance-pop. Me ha gustado bastante. Un 4. Casi un 5.

Great rap and electronic album by Stromae with personal lyrics and great tunes. Favorite Songs: "Papaoutai" and "Formidable".

Not completely without merit but definitely not my thing

No. This french club mix electro is not for me.

its upbeat, energetic without being too over the top. It does have a "club" feel to it, but I like the way he's able to weave different styles/genres into this album. Great recommendation.

Sure, i didn't understand it, but the energy and fun combined with the fact that it is pretty unrepresented in the book, made this an enjoyable listen. Humain a l'eau was probably the only tough one to get through, but the rest were cool electronic pop.

So many bangers on this album

Fíla þessa stemmingu.

Without doubt the best Belgian electronica album I've heard to date. Rating: 2.5 Playlist track: Moules Frites Date listened: 31/09/24

French rave music. If you're into this kinda stuff I'm sure it's great but not for me.

Super!

This was one of the albums I thought might be in this project, so I was very glad to see it here! I think it's the best francophone album of at least the last 20 years. Love it lots!

That was quite fun!

Fun!

This was a fun listen! Some of the songs hit better than others, but great overall.

wow, je n'avais aucune idée de ce qui se passait dans cet album. c'était comme un rêve de pop électronique française pour lequel je n'avais pas de traducteur. c'est pourquoi cette revue est en français. comme c'est triste 2.5/10

Enjoyed it, don't speak French so couldn't really appreciate but enjoyed a lot of tracks while they were playing

Catchy and often foot stompingly fun, with a level of nuance and substance I don't typically expect in this type of music. I fully expected to tire of this quickly, but it gets more interesting as the album progresses. I feel like this album fills a couple of the many gaps on the original 1001 list, both for post-millennial dance pop and music from non-English speaking artists. I like how Stromae takes musical ideas that feel very traditionally "French" and flips them around, incorporating world music sounds to make them current and add depth. Fave Songs: Tous les mêmes, Ave Cesaria, Papaoutai, Carmen, Humain à l'eau, Quand c'est ?

Very Enjoyable

Glad to see this one on here. I listened to this when it came out, and I'm a big fan.

Superb!