Tamara Marthe (born 28 November 1985), better known as Shy'm , is a French singer and actress. She released her first album, ''

Mes fantaisies ''Mes fantaisies'' is the first album by French singer Shy'm. It was released in October 2006 and achieved much success in France, where it reached number six and was certified double Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol ...

'', in 2006 and has since released six more albums. She had three

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

albums, including her number-one 2012 album, '' Caméléon''. In 2012, 2013 and 2015 she received the

NRJ Music Award An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisio ...

for Francophone Female Artist of the Year.

Early life

Tamara Marthe was born on 28 November 1985 in

Trappes Trappes () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines departments of France, department, Île-de-France Regions of France, region, Northern France. It is a banlieue located in the western outer suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, c ...

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

west of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

), France to a Metropolitan French mother and a father 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 ...

, in a family oriented to music and creative arts. A fan of

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

, she nevertheless grew up to the sound of

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 ...

—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 discovered her. Marthe acquired the stage name Shy'm and began her journey to stardom. Her pseudonym is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

, 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 Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. After that, she released her own album, ''

''. 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 * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and R&B. Her first album, ''Mes fantaisies'', has a prominent R&B sound, with pop,

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

influences. Her second album, ''

Reflets ''Reflets'' is the second album by the French singer Shy'm, following 2006 ''Mes fantaisies''. A more mature album than Shy'm's début, ''Reflets'' experimented more with electronic music. The album was released in September 2008 and débuted at # ...

'', has a pop and R&B sound, though it has

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music 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 ra ...

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 music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

-inspired sound, with her fourth album, '' Caméléon'', having a deeper exploration of this sound through

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

. In 2011, Shy'm won the second season of ''

Danse avec les stars ''Danse avec les stars'' (''DALS''; ) is the French version of the British reality TV competition ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and is part of the ''Dancing with the Stars'' franchise. The show was first broadcast on TF1 on 12 February 2011, the parti ...

'' – the French version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. She was partnered with professional dancer Maxime Dereymez. On November 19, 2011, they won the competition. After winning the second season in 2011, she joined the jury for season 3, 4, 9 & 10. In 2012, she joined the

Les Enfoirés Les Enfoirés (, "The Tossers" or "The Bastards") is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur. Founded at the initiative of Coluche in 1986, a year after the Restaurants du Cœur, ...

charity ensemble.

Awards

*2012

s – 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 ''Mes fantaisies'' is the first album by French singer Shy'm. It was released in October 2006 and achieved much success in France, where it reached number six and was certified double Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol ...

'' (2006) *''

'' (2008) *''

'' (2010) *'' Caméléon'' (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)

Filmography

Film

Television

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 French television actresses French film actresses