Chromeo is a Canadian electro-funk duo from Montreal, formed in 2002 by musicians David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel. Their sound draws from

blue-eyed soul Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly-black Motown and Stax ...

, dance music,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

. , the band has released five studio albums, with three of them hitting the Billboard 200 charts. In 2018, Chromeo received their first Grammy Award nomination for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical in the 61st Grammy Awards for their album ''Head over Heels''.

History

The duo met in the mid-1990s at Collège Stanislas in Montreal. Speaking on their different ethnic backgrounds, the two jokingly describe themselves as "the only successful Arab/ Jewish partnership since the dawn of human culture." Around the time when they were both 15, Macklovitch joined Gemayel's band. During this time, Macklovitch's younger brother A-Trak (of

Duck Sauce Duck sauce (or orange sauce) is a condiment with a sweet and sour flavor and a translucent orange appearance similar to a thin jelly. Offered at American Chinese restaurants, it is used as a dip for deep-fried dishes such as wonton strips, ...

) started winning the Disco Mix Club

Championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, becoming World Champion in 1997. After the band, Dave 1 and P-Thugg started to produce hip hop music together. Also at this time, Tiga was working with Dave 1 at a record store and asked Dave 1 to work on a project for his label, Turbo. Dave 1 and P-Thugg signed as Chromeo and started creating music together. Reviews of their 2004 debut album, ''

She's in Control ''She's in Control'' is the debut studio album by Canadian electro-funk duo Chromeo, released on February 17, 2004 by Turbo Recordings and Vice Records. Track listing Personnel Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''She's in Control''. * ...

'', were mostly favorable. Critics compared the sound to 1980s groups Hall & Oates, Zapp, Prince, Klymaxx and

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

. "Needy Girl" became a worldwide club hit. According to Dave 1, "''She's in Control'' didn't blow up. But we had "Needy Girl", and "Needy Girl" was like a musical passport. That song went all around the world and DJs played it everywhere". The song "You're So Gangsta" was featured as the theme tune for the PC game Space Colony. In 2005, Chromeo released a mix CD of funky dance tracks on Eskimo Belgium records entitled ''Un Joli Mix Pour Toi'' (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

for: ''A Nice Mix for You''). In 2006, the group was featured in DJ Mehdi's song "I Am Somebody". During early 2007, Chromeo supported indie rock group Bloc Party on their British tour. After a three-year break, they released a second album, ''

Fancy Footwork ''Fancy Footwork'' is the second studio album by Canadian electro-funk duo Chromeo, released on May 8, 2007 by Turbo Recordings and Last Gang Records. The album spawned three singles: "Fancy Footwork", "Tenderoni", and "Bonafied Lovin". In the Un ...

'', which also received positive reviews. In 2008, Chromeo performed with Daryl Hall as a part of his online series ''

Live from Daryl's House ''Live from Daryl's House'' (simply known as ''Daryl's House'' and often abbreviated as ''LFDH'') is an online music series that debuted in the autumn of 2007. The show features singer-songwriter Daryl Hall performing with his band and various gu ...

''. They also performed with Hall at the 2010 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, TN. On a 2009 episode of '' Yo Gabba Gabba!'', Chromeo appeared performing original song "Nice 'N Clean". Chromeo released their third studio album, '' Business Casual'', on September 14, 2010. As of 2020, the music video for the album's single "Night by Night" had received over 5 million views on YouTube. The band has appeared on

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programm ...

's '' Morning Becomes Eclectic'', been on the cover of ''Future Magazine'', and sold out The Forum in London. At the beginning of March 2011, Chromeo sent out notice that they had recorded the "world's smallest album", entitled ''Drive Time'', which consists of 55 songs in only 183 seconds. About a week later, it was revealed that ''Drive Time'' is actually a free musical Nokia Own Voice satellite navigation pack for

Ovi Maps Here Technologies (stylised and trading as HERE and here) is an American-Dutch multinational group dealing with mapping, location data and related automotive services to individuals and companies. It is majority-owned by a consortium (an a ...

, made for usage with Nokia's compatible cell phones. A red vinyl 5" single consisting of regular, instrumental and

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

versions of "Turn Left" and "Follow" was released to promote it, with a sticker on the shrink wrap saying that it was a numbered limited edition of 40 copies. In September 2013, the group announced their fourth studio album '' White Women'' with a trailer video featuring the track "Over Your Shoulder". It was released May 9, 2014, in Ireland and May 12 elsewhere. Chromeo performed at the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...

in April 2014. On November 2, 2017, Chromeo announced a new album called '' Head Over Heels''. The first single "Juice" was released on November 7, 2017. In December of 2018, Chromeo received their first Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical in the 61st Grammy Awards for the album. On May 4, 2020, Chromeo announced the launch of its own record label, "Juliet Records" via Facebook. On June 12, 2021, the

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

'' Date Night: Chromeo Live!'' was announced for release on June 25, alongside the release of the single "Don’t Sleep (Live in Washington D.C.)". Tracks were recorded during a 2019 North America concert tour, where Chromeo had performed live with a full band for the first time.

Members

* Dave 1 (real name David Macklovitch, born June 7, 1978) on guitar and

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

. Macklovitch is a Ph.D. candidate in French Literature at Columbia University and is currently appointed as lecturer in French at Barnard College. * P-Thugg (real name Patrick Gemayel, born in Lebanon on July 31, 1977) on

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s, bass guitar, and talk box. He moved to Canada at the age of eight.

Discography

* ''

'' (2004) * ''

'' (2007) * '' Business Casual'' (2010) * '' White Women'' (2014) * '' Head over Heels'' (2018) * ''Quarantine Casanova'' (EP) (2020) * '' Date Night: Chromeo Live!'' (Live album, 2021)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Chromeo 2002 establishments in Quebec Atlantic Records artists Canadian disco groups Canadian funk musical groups Canadian musical duos Canadian synthpop groups Dance-rock musical groups Electronic music duos English-language musical groups from Quebec Musical groups established in 2002 Musical groups from Montreal Nu-disco musicians Nettwerk Music Group artists V2 Records artists Male musical duos