Stringbean-skinny, androgynous, and biracial, Paul Van Haver is one of Europe's biggest music sensations. Known as Stromae, the Belgian-Rwandan artist's hip-hop-infused dance album Racine Carrée (Square Root) has sold nearly 3 million copies since it was released last year. The explosive lead single “Papaoutai," about absent fathers (Van Haver’s was killed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide), went to No. 1 in 16 countries and now has 188 million views on YouTube. Hardly a manufactured pop star, Stromae financed his first hit by working at a fast-food restaurant. That cathartic dance-floor banger, “Alors On Danse,” became the most-played French-language single of 2010 and was remixed to new acclaim in the English-speaking world by Kanye West. In the midst of his U.S. tour, Van Haver spoke with Vulture about the alienation of clubbing, his first impressions of the U.S., and how desperate he was for President Obama to listen to his CD.Is...
- 9/24/2014
- by Rachel B. Doyle
- Vulture
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