Princesses Nubiennes

{{Infobox album | name = Princess Nubiennes | type = studio | artist = Les Nubians | cover = Princesses_Nubiennes.jpg | released = September 22, 1998 | recorded = 1997–1998 | venue = | studio = Soul II Soul, London | genre = {{flat list | *R&B *neo soul *hip hop}} | length = 59:18 | label = {{flat list | *OmTown *Higher Octave *Virgin}} | producer = {{flat list | *Dan Selene (exec.) *Matt Marshall (exec.) *Les Nubians (tracks 1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 14) *Mounir Belkhir (track 1, 4, 5, 9) *Lee Hamblin (tracks 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 15)}} | year = 1998 | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = One Step Forward | next_year = 2003 | misc = {{Singles | name = Princesses Nubiennes | type = studio | single1 = Makeda | single1date = 1998 | single2 = Les Portes Du Souvenir | single2date = 1999 }} }}

'''''Princesses Nubiennes''''' is the debut studio album by Afro-French music duo Les Nubians, consisting of sisters Helene and Celia Faussart. Recorded in England, the record incorporates elements of diverse musical styles, including R&B, neo soul, jazz, electronic, hip hop, and West African music. The artists drew inspiration from the music they listened to growing up in Chad and France, as well as American singers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. The album's lyrics are almost entirely in French, and focus on themes of the African experience, nature, and international unity.

The album was first released in France in early 1998, selling poorly. However, the album became popular in the United States, selling almost 300,000 copies in its first year and close to 400,000 by 2003. Its success was driven in part by the popularity of lead single "Makeda", which peaked within the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and became the United States' first French-language hit in 25 years. Following its success in the US, the record began experiencing strong sales in France as well. The album drew favorable reviews from most music critics, who commended its production and lyrical themes, and went on to receive a nomination at the 2000 Soul Train Music Awards.

==Background== Sisters Helene and Celia Faussart, who went on to form Les Nubians, were born in Paris to a French father and a Cameroonian mother.<ref name="WaPo profile">{{cite news |last1=Harrington |first1=Richard |title=Les Nubians, With an Accent On Soul |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1999-10/13/030r-101399-idx.html |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=12 March 2022 |date=13 October 1999}}</ref> They spent their early childhoods in Paris, before moving to Chad for seven years; while there, they became interested in the music of Africa & the diaspora.<ref name="CNN" /><ref name="WaPo profile" /> Celia experienced bullying at school for her African heritage and turned to jazz music as a creative outlet; Helene exposed her to artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.<ref name="WaPo profile" /> After their father died, Celia moved in with Helene, and the two began singing together.<ref name="WaPo profile" /> Due to their young age and lack of formal training, they initially struggled to find musicians to perform with; some groups offered them the chance to sing backing vocals, but they refused.<ref name="CNN" /> They ultimately formed an a capella group as well as an Afrocentric cultural collective called Les Nouveaux Griots.<ref name="WaPo profile" /> Les Nubians were co-founders of the collective; they selected their name in honor of Nubia, the first known Black civilization.<ref name="Globalist" />

The duo recorded their debut album at the Soul II Soul studio in England, with the help of producer Lee Hamblin.<ref name="WaPo profile"/> They noted that, although they drew inspiration from American soul artists in writing the album, they didn't seek to simply adapt English-language R&B songs to French, and instead wanted to write songs that "sound good" in their native language.<ref name="WaPo profile" /> They initially signed with record label Virgin France, and were distributed in the US by Higher Octave Music, a smaller label in California, after executives heard the duo's performance in Japan.<ref name="Globalist">{{cite web |last1=Childress |first1=Marianna |title=Les Nubians — One Step Forward |url=https://www.theglobalist.com/les-nubians-one-step-forward/ |website=The Globalist |access-date=12 March 2022 |date=12 July 2003}}</ref>

==Composition== Stylistically, the album incorporates elements of jazz, contemporary R&B, jungle, hip hop, funk, roots, and soft pop.<ref name="Exclaim" /><ref name="Time review">{{cite magazine |last1=Farley |first1=Christopher John |title=Music: Princesses Nubiennes |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,990964,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=12 March 2022 |date=10 May 1999}}</ref> "Embrasse-Moi" and "Sourire" blend elements of breakbeat and West African music.<ref name="Exclaim" /> A critic writing for ''Exclaim!'' posited that the album was "rootsy like Zap Mama" and drew funk influence from Soul II Soul; critic Robert Christgau concurred that both artists were influences on the album.<ref name="Christgau" /><ref name="Exclaim" /> A critic for ''Time'' compared the group's sound to that of Sade if she had been "reared in France by members of the Fugees".<ref name="Time review" /> The openings of "Si Je T'Avais Ecoute" and "Les Portes Du Sovenir" feature grand pianos.<ref name="Exclaim" />

All but one of the songs on ''Princesses Nubiennes'' are sung in French.<ref name="Exclaim" /> Following the success of "Makeda", they re-recorded the song in English, but most stations declined to play it, preferring the original, French-language version.<ref name="WaPo profile" /> The lyrics were noted for their delicate handling of controversial issues.<ref name="Chicago Trib live">{{cite web |last1=Townsend |first1=Audrashia |title=Band Only Thing Missing for Les Nubians |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-04-07-9904070229-story.html |website=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 10, 2023 |date=April 7, 1999}}</ref> "Si Je T'Avais Ecoute" discusses teenage abortion, with the sisters offering advice to a pregnant teen girl, while the album's sole English-language track, "Sugarcane", discusses the experiences of African slaves picking sugar cane in America as well as the modern-day legacy of slavery.<ref name="Chicago Trib live" /><ref name="Globalist" /> The opening track, "Demain", imagines a world where oppressed people are liberated. "Makeda" and "Princesses Nubienne" have been interpreted as paying tribute to Black women.<ref name="Globalist" /> "Voyager" focuses on the theme of international unity, with lyrics that encourage everyone to act as a "citizen of Earth".<ref name="Globalist" />

The album also includes a Gallic cover of the Sade song "Sweetest Taboo".<ref name="Exclaim">{{cite web |last1=Bidaye |first1=Prasad |title=Les Nubians: Princesses Nubiennes |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/les_nubians-princesses_nubiennes |website=Exclaim! |access-date=12 March 2022 |date=1 August 1999}}</ref> The album also features a snippet of an interview with American jazz singer and civil rights activist Abbey Lincoln.<ref name="Book1">{{cite book |last1=Wald |first1=Elijah |title=Global Minstrels: Voices of World Music |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0415979290 |page=173 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MgyQm3PDb4C&dq=princesses+nubiennes&pg=PA173 |access-date=12 March 2022}}</ref>

==Reception== ===Critical=== {{Album ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="AM review">{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Rick |title=Album Review: Princesses Nubiennes — Les Nubians |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/princesses-nubiennes-mw0000042775 |website=Allmusic |publisher=RhythmOne |access-date=March 12, 2022}}</ref> | rev2 = Robert Christgau | rev2score = C+<ref name="Christgau">{{cite web |last1=Christgau |first1=Robert |title=Les Nubians: Princesses Nubiennes |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=2050 |website=Robert Christgau |access-date=March 12, 2022}}</ref> }}

Considered by many to be their best work to date, Les Nubians released their debut album in 1999 to wide fanfare. Writing for ''Time'' that year, Christopher John Farley said of this album that it "blends smooth jazz, soft pop and warm R&B with a dash of dance in hip-hop" and that the album had an "emotional generosity and a spiritual depth" that came through on every track.

In ''The Village Voice'', music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a letter grade of "C+", calling the artists "blander than the bass lines" and opining that the album is "'soul' if the '5th Annual Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards' says so".<ref name="Christgau" />

===Commercial=== The album's initial target market was francophone nations including France, Belgium, and Canada.<ref name="WaPo profile" /> It struggled to gain traction in France, and the record sold poorly in that country upon its early 1998 release.<ref name="WaPo profile" />

The duo hadn't initially expected the album to be successful in the United States, but after "Makeda" began to be picked up by college and R&B radio stations in the United States, the album experienced strong sales there. It debuted on the Heatseekers Albums chart in January 1999.<ref name="CNN">{{cite web |last1=TMR |title=Les Nubians Soak Up Success |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/07/mroom.les.nubians/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=13 March 2022 |date=7 May 2003}}</ref><ref name="BB profile">{{cite magazine |last1=Hay |first1=Carla |title=Les Nubians Break Through: Even in French, OmTown Duo is a Hit in U.S. |magazine=Billboard |date=22 May 1999 |volume=111 |issue=21 |pages=1, 95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ig0EAAAAMBAJ&dq=princesses+nubiennes&pg=PP1 |access-date=13 March 2022}}</ref> By May 1999, with "Makeda" gaining airplay, the album had sold 140,000 units in the US; by October, the US sales figure was almost 300,000, and its US sales stood at nearly 400,000 by July 2003.<ref name="BB profile" /><ref name="WaPo profile" /><ref name="Globalist" /> It reached a peak of number 100 on the Billboard 200 and number 25 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the United States.<ref name="WaPo profile" /> It was the most successful French-language album to chart in the US in 16 years.<ref name="BB 2003">{{cite magazine |title=Les Nubians Take 'One Step Forward' |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/les-nubians-take-one-step-forward-71819/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=October 29, 2022 |date=March 27, 2003}}</ref>

As the album's lead single, "Makeda" became the first French-language radio hit in 25 years, peaking within the top 50 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart.<ref name="WaPo profile" /><ref name="Book1" /> Following their breakthrough in the United States, the album began experiencing strong sales in their native France as well.<ref name="WaPo profile" /> Listeners in England were also supportive, recognizing it as "fresh".<ref name="WaPo profile" /> In February 2000, the double-A-side "Tabou"/"Makeda" entered the UK Singles chart.<ref name="UK Singles">{{cite web |title=Chart History: Les Nubians |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/8448/les-nubians/ |website=Official Charts |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=13 March 2022}}</ref>

== Track listing == All tracks composed by Célia Faussart and Hélène Faussart except as noted.

# De-main (Jazz) 3:50 # Les Portes du Souvenir 4:58 # Abbeylude (Interlude) ''(Mounir Belkhir, Faussart, Faussart)'' 0:28 # Makeda ''(Mounir Belkhir, Faussart, Faussart)'' 4:53 # Sourire ''(Mounir Belkhir, Faussart, Faussart)'' 2:36 # Princess Nubienne ''(Souleymane Diamanka, Faussart, Faussart)'' 5:19 # Tabou f. Casey ''(Sade Adu, Martin Ditcham)'' 4:28 # Mystic (Interlude) 0:22 # Embrasse-Moi ''(Mounir Belkhir, Princess Erika)'' 4:38 # Sugar Cane ''(unknown)'' 4:36 # Bebela 4:46 # Si Je T'Avais Écouté 4:14 # Hymne Nubien (Interlude) 1:11 # Voyager 4:27 # Désolée 8:32

== Charts == {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |+ Weekly chart performance for ''Princesses Nubiennes'' |- ! scope="col"| Chart (1999) ! scope="col"| Peak<br>position |- {{album chart|Billboard200|100|artist=Les Nubians|rowheader=true|access-date=13 March 2022}} |- {{album chart|BillboardRandBHipHop|25|artist=Les Nubians|rowheader=true|access-date=13 March 2022}} |}

== References == {{Reflist}}

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Category:1999 albums Category:Les Nubians albums Category:1998 debut albums Category:Virgin Records albums