Photo by Brad Ardley

Video: Tesher talks cultural expression through pop music

Story by Howard Druckman | Friday November 11th, 2022

After initially going viral on TikTok, Tesher’s “Jalebi Baby” caught the attention of Jason Derulo, who approached him to feature on the song. A remix version with the duo became a global viral sensation, topping the Shazam charts in 25-plus countries, and quickly amassing more than 100 million combined global streams. The song peaked at No. 1 on the U.K. Asian Music Chart, and remained atop it for seven consecutive weeks. “Jalebi Baby” also rose to a peak of No. 3 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, where it stayed for two weeks. The song also rose to a peak of No. 7 on India’s Top 20 International Singles chart for three weeks, becoming Tesher’s first Top 10 hit in that nation. Here, he discusses the satisfaction he gets from sharing the stories and sounds of his culture.

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Photo by Félix Renaud

Video: Bleu Jeans Bleu presents Top Minou album

Story by Eric Parazelli | Wednesday November 16th, 2022

For Bleu Jeans Bleu, there’s a before and after for  their “Coton ouaté” era – that began following the release of the mega-hit song –  and stretched over several months. So far, since its release on April 29, 2019, “Coton ouaté” has garnered more than 16 million views on YouTube alone. This unexpected success allowed them to become widely known, and sell out venues, throughout Québec. Because the band released two albums before Perfecto, from which “Coton Ouaté” is taken, the sudden-breakthrough popularity didn’t go to their heads. Their rich repertoire of pop melodies and rock energy has ensured that they’re not one-hit-wonders.

For Top Minou, Bleu Jeans Bleu’s fourth album, the band has stayed the course by offering 11 songs with eclectic themes, the inspiration for which is almost always drawn from the little things of everyday life – and which will doubtless put a smile on everyone’s face once again. In this video interview, Claude Cobra tells us about the creative context of the album, and the genesis of a few of its nuggets.

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Click the image to watch the interview with Blue Jeans Bleu

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

Video – ADISQ 2022: TEKE::TEKE’s boldness is rewarded

Story by Eric Parazelli | Friday November 11th, 2022

What might have been a single-concert musical experiment has turned out to be one of the most daring musical projects to come out of Québec in the past few years. TEKE::TEKE, a multi-ethnic, Japanese-speaking, genre-busting band, mixing psychedelic jams, punk riffs, traditional Japanese melodies, and pop experimentation, saw their efforts – and their album Shirushi – rewarded with a first honour at the Premier Gala de l’ADISQ, on Nov. 2, 2022.

We met them as they were leaving the stage to discuss the reception they’ve received from Québec audiences since their very beginnings, which gave them the impetus to tour internationally.

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