Tamara Marthe (born 28 November 1985), better known as Shy'm , is a

French singer The following is a list of noted French singers. A * Abyale *Adé (singer) *Salvatore Adamo (often known as ''Adamo'') *Isabelle Adjani *Aketo (band: Sniper) *Akhenaton (band: IAM) *Frank Alamo *Alizée *Alma *Amanda Lear *Amine * Anaïs ...

. She released her first album, '' Mes fantaisies'', in 2006 and has since released six more albums. She had three Platinum albums, including her number-one 2012 album, ''

Caméléon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

''. In 2012, 2013 and 2015 she received the NRJ Music Award for Francophone Female Artist of the Year.

Early life

Tamara Marthe was born on 28 November 1985 in Trappes (a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

west of Paris), France to a

Metropolitan French French of France () is the predominant variety of the French language in France, Andorra and Monaco, in its formal and informal registers. It has, for a long time, been associated with Standard French. It is now seen as a variety of French alon ...

mother and a father from Martinique, in a family oriented to music and creative arts. A fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, she nevertheless grew up to the sound of zouk—a French Caribbean music genre—and R&B. From an early age, she became interested in dancing and singing. She began taking lessons in dancing and she earned the nickname "Spicy Tam" as a result of the effort she put in it. In academics, she obtained a baccalaureat at the age of seventeen. Along with her studies, she had been making demo recordings of herself while avoiding public scrutiny. Later, she went to Paris, where she sent the recordings to record companies. It was at this time that Lebanese-Canadian rapper

K.Maro Cyril Kamar ( ar, سيريل قمر; born January 31, 1980, in Beirut), known by his stage name K.Maro (; sometimes stylized as K-Maro or K'Maro) is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter, producer and businessman of Lebanese origin. He sings in Frenc ...

discovered her. Marthe acquired the stage name Shy'm and began her journey to stardom. Her pseudonym is a portmanteau, derived from "shy" and "Martinique". She says she is shy, but much less so than before when the mere idea of being on stage paralysed her with fright. But her passion has allowed her to overcome her shyness and she now takes "pleasure in putting herself in the crowd".

Career

Rapper K.Maro agreed to feature her in the song "Histoire de luv" from his album. The song was recorded in Montréal. After that, she released her own album, '' Mes fantaisies''. It was written, composed and produced by K.Maro. Shy'm explored various themes for the album, such as recurring love and intermarriage and its success. The first single, "Femme de couleur", peaked at number 5 on the French singles chart. In 2007, she made a guest appearance on the popular French game show, '' Fort Boyard''. Shy'm's musical style is a mix of

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

and R&B. Her first album, ''Mes fantaisies'', has a prominent R&B sound, with pop, soul and hip hop influences. Her second album, '' Reflets'', has a pop and R&B sound, though it has

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

influences. Her third album, ''

Prendre l'air ''Prendre l'air'' is the third album by French singer Shy'm. It was released in June 2010 and five singles ("Je sais", "Je suis moi", "Prendre l'air", "Tourne" and "En apesanteur") have been released. A departure from the R&B sound that Shy'm had ...

'', deviates towards a more

synthpop 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 a ...

-inspired sound, with her fourth album, ''

'', having a deeper exploration of this sound through

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

. ; winning ''Danse avec les stars'' In 2011, Shy'm won the second season of '' Danse avec les stars'' – the French version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

''. She was partnered with professional dancer Maxime Dereymez. On November 19, 2011, they won the competition. In 2012, she joined the Les Enfoirés charity ensemble.

Awards

*2012 NRJ Music Awards – Francophone Female Artist of the Year *2013 NRJ Music Awards – Francophone Female Artist of the Year *2015 NRJ Music Awards – Francophone Female Artist of the Year

Discography

*'' Mes Fantaisies'' (2006) *'' Reflets'' (2008) *''

'' (2010) *''

'' (2012) *''Solitaire'' (2014) *''À nos dix ans'' (2015) *''H.E.R.O.S.'' (2017) *''Agapé'' (2019)

Tours

*''Shimi Tour'' (2011–2013) *''Paradoxale Tour'' (2015) *''Concerts Exceptionnels'' (2018) *''Agapé Tour'' (2019)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shy'm 1985 births Living people People from Trappes French people of Martiniquais descent French contemporary R&B singers Black French musicians Danse avec les stars winners Warner Music France artists 21st-century French singers 21st-century French women singers