Meet Petite Noir: Africa's Rising Pop Star

First let me apologize for my blog vacation. The CBI conference in Atlanta kept me pretty busy and seeing the city was quite fantastic! While I was away, my inbox was steady filling up with all kind of musical goodies, however, one artist in particular stood out the most for many obvious reasons that you will find below.

When thinking of the beauties of Africa, its affinity for producing pop stars does not immediately come to mind but Yannick Ilunga, a half Congolese and half Angolan artist that goes by the stage moniker, Petite Noir, may be about to change what you think you know as African music.  This 22 year old artist/producer's music is hard to describe, hauntingly unique, and at the same time hard to turn away from.

Somewhat electronica, somewhat soul based, Petite Noir's sound has baffled and intrigued some of the industry's most seasoned critics. Featured in both Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, he is steadily growing as an artist that the world needs to pay attention to by turning the world's perception of African sounds upside down and slamming them on their face.

Petite Noir influences are all the place and this immediately shows up from the first few seconds of listening to one of his singles. His debut single, Till We Ghosts, has made him popular among music's snotty elite and helped lead him to perform a sold out show in London.

Check out Petite Noir's music below and decide for yourself if he has what it takes to conquer the charts.

Petite Noir's Till We Ghosts