Jain

Well-travelled French pop explorer Jain (7 February 1992), who injects her sweet, hushed melodies with colourful, global beats and warped, techno synths, has emerged as a culture-clashing, quirky artist, who has drawn comparisons with the likes of MIA and Bjork. Born Jeanne Galice in Toulouse, her father's work took the family to Dubai, where she picked up the skills to play the Arabic darbuka drum, and then on to the Congo where, at the age of 16, she started posting homemade tunes to MySpace and, mentored by local producer Mister Flash, she met manager Shane Aquart; her Madagascan mother also introduced her to the music of African stars such as Oumou Sangare, Youssou N'Dour and Salif Keita. As she returned to France to attend art school, her music career took off when singer-songwriter Yodelice discovered her work and took her on tour in 2013. Her debut single "Come" became popular a couple of years later and ended up rising to the top of the French charts, while her album Zanaka (2015) was a funky, globe-trotting, celebratory concoction of Jain's personal travels and a worldwide vision of multi-cultural, dance-pop music. Her 2015 track "Makeba"—a tribute to South African civil rights activist Miriam Makeba—also raised her profile when it was played by Jaden Smith on his Beats 1 Radio show and her acclaimed, experimental video for the song went on to win her the Victoires de la Musique Award and a Grammy nomination in 2017. She returned in 2018 with second album Souldier, a typically diverse, upbeat, melting pot of Afrobeat, Europop and reggae rhythms, which was praised by Coldplay's Chris Martin, went to number one in France and was partly a message of peace and positivity in response to the Orlando Nightclub shootings. The standalone single "Gloria" arrived in 2019 and after a short break she returned in 2023 she dropped her third album The Fool, propelled by its title track and first single. The LP was composed by Jain and produced by her long-time collaborator Maxim Nucci/Yodelice.