Les Déesses (French: ''the goddesses'') were a French

zouk Zouk is a musical movement and dance pioneered by the French Antillean band Kassav' in the early 1980s. It was originally characterized by a fast tempo (120–145 bpm), a percussion-driven rhythm, and a loud horn section. Musicians from Mart ...

and R&B

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

best known for their 2007 summer hit "On a changé".

History

Les Déesses originally come from the Caribbean and Africa. Lylah's parents come from

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

and

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

, Edene's parents come from Guadeloupe and Philypa is from

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. The three girls met on a dance casting and decided to form a

tropical music Tropical music () is a term in the Latin music industry that refers to music genres deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean. It includes the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean ...

and R&B group. In July 2007, the group released a first single, "On a changé" (''We have changed''), which debuted at #9 on the

SNEP SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...

Single Charts and peaked at #5. It stayed in the Top 100 for 21 weeks. A second single, "Danse avec moi" (''Dance with me'') was announced for November, but the physical release was cancelled. On October 29, their debut album "Saveurs exotiques" (''Exotic flavours'') was released, and in February 2008, a third single with the same name peaked at #11 on the French Single Charts. On March 8, they gave a concert at the Bataclan in Paris, where they were joined onstage by

Amine In chemistry, amines (, ) are organic compounds that contain carbon-nitrogen bonds. Amines are formed when one or more hydrogen atoms in ammonia are replaced by alkyl or aryl groups. The nitrogen atom in an amine possesses a lone pair of elec ...

and

Singuila Bedaya Singuila N'Garo (born 19 September 1977 in Suresnes), better known by his stage name Singuila (), is a French singer of Congolese and Central African origins. Singuila means "thank you" in Sango, a main language spoken in Central Africa ...

. In July 2008, the group announced their separation due to disagreements with their producers. Lylah started a solo career, releasing a single, "Ne t'arrête pas" (''Don't stop'') and an album, "Avec ou sans toi" (''With or without you''). Phylipa also recorded a song, "We Gonna Fight".

Name

"Les Déesses" is French for "The Goddesses". Every member of the group represents one goddess: * Lylah, the lead singer, represents

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, the

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

goddess of beauty and love, because "''she is a rare pearl with a sweet and warm voice which perfectly reveals her personality''". * Edene represents

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

, the Roman goddess of the hunt, because "''she is ambitious and dynamic and her beauty and charm confer her a particular ease on stage''". * Philypa incarnates

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

, the Roman goddess of wisdom, science and art, because "''she is suave and reserved and totally reveals herself on stage''".

Discography

Albums

Singles

¹ French Digital Charts
² Belgian (

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

) Singles Chart

External links

Official MySpace page

Official skyrock page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deesses Zouk musicians French girl groups French musical trios