Stromae

“Who decided that when you dance you don't have to think?”

“Music is like a medicine.”

“The first time I performed on stage, that was almost the first concert I went to, so that was pretty interesting and a bit weird at the same time.”

“I get the feeling that my songs aren't that dark. There is a cynicism but humour also - it's not depression upon depression upon depression. It's a blend.”

“I prefer the word 'musician.' I'm a musician and a composer. I have a problem with the word 'artist.' I don't know if it's the same in English, but words like 'artist' and 'star' put people on a pedestal, which is not really good for my brain.”

“I've learned how to trust someone else's ideas with mine.”

“When I'm on stage, that's a job. It's acting, it's faking, just making fun of yourself, telling bad jokes - I'm pretty good in this - dancing, just to entertain.”

“My father is black - was black. My mother is white.”

“To me, 'Alors On Danse' is the definition of clubbing. Because everyone is just trying to forget their problems, but actually, it's so sad, clubbing. We try to sell happiness in clubs, but you can't.”

“In Belgium, we know the U.S. culture through the television, but it's not the truth. It's interesting to see that Philadelphia is really industrial. I love industrial cities. Everybody hates them, but I think they're the best places to be creative. The more gritty it is, the more I love it.”

“I think it's about the feeling more than a language. And I think that we and every culture in the world has to keep their own language just to bring something else, something different, and show a different vision of the world, actually. And that's why I'm trying to keep my language.”

“At the time I learned drums, I wanted to be the drummer of Hanson. I wanted to be this guy because he was so young, and he was already drumming in the band, you know, so I just wanted to be like him. And later, I discovered hip-hop music at boarding school.”

“Who do you want to be: the radical man who can make a choice in one second, or the man who never takes decisions? That's the question: who's the best? Actually, there is no best.”

“I was raised in Brussels as a Belgian but, at the same time, feeling that I wasn't necessarily from here.”

“I'm not making music for intelligent people or dumb people. I'm just making music for people.”

“Hip-hop, pop, dance - the common point is melancholy. That's international, and I like this word because it's not only about sadness or happiness - it's both at the same time. And that's human, and that's life.”

“Everyone should have a suit that's really well fitting - if a suit just doesn't fit, it looks ridiculous. It can purposely be too large or too small, if that's what you want, but it has to fit with your image and personal style.”

“It's good to think about real life, no? Because real life isn't just dreams and happiness.”

“You should be able to wear exactly what you want to wear.”

“I have some English words on the first album, but any time I try to do it, you miss something. You think it's just a simple translation from French to English, but it's so different as far as the understanding.”