I'm a bit crazy, yes.
— Stromae
I'm trying to focus on my job. I don't think that being famous is a job. My job is composing, singing, performing, but not being a star.
The way we always want to compromise between everything, I think that's really Belgian. I think I'm really Belgian for that, because I never make choices. That's my problem, actually.
I was a big fan of G. Dep!
Music is more than words. It's a visual experience, too, and people really feel my music because of the way I move and put on a show.
Maybe I just look at things as a humanist: I like looking at people in a realistic way more than looking at them in a positive way.
I was also so happy to learn how to do the Djatence. Djatence is when you show your clothes off in the street - it's something between a dancing, showing off, and trying to get attention turned on you. It was a really cool experience with people who are more refined than I could imagine.
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.
We are proud of our ridiculousness. That's what made our Surrealism. Proud and ashamed of everything at the same time. I think that's my definition of Belgium.
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.
My father is black - was black. My mother is white.
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.
Success is a gift, but it's a handicap at the same time, I think.
I'm trying to stay normal, that's all. But it's hard.
I'm just like a photographer or a director. Of course I have an opinion, but I don't think my opinion, or what I want to say... is so obvious 'cause that's not my job. My job is just to give a point of view, not more than that.
There are so many reasons to be sad in the club.
I'm not making music for intelligent people or dumb people. I'm just making music for people.
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.
Being famous is a bit dangerous sometimes.
I let Brel into my world. What I like about him is the simplicity of his language. It's not so simple to be simple.
I'm not making music for old people or young people.
As much as only playing clubs can become tedious, performing in huge venues can also become off-putting. To go from one to the other feels great. And sometimes playing clubs can be even more stressful, because you really have to think about what you're going to tell the audience between songs.
That's what's interesting: When you release an album, everyone hears it their own way.
I knew of the Sapeur community for a long time, and they're an important influence for me.
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.
I have four or five custom suits, including one that's velvet, and a gray one I wear onstage. It's wool.
I always have the same problem when I try to buy something straight off the rack: If I put on a medium, it's perfectly fitted in the torso, but the sleeves are too short. If it's a large, the sleeves are long enough, but it's too baggy. So made-to-measure suits are especially important for me because I'm 6'2'' and so skinny.
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.
It's good to think about real life, no? Because real life isn't just dreams and happiness.
Our ambition isn't just to be big, it's to be listened to and supported by people. And to have the success - if we deserve it, of course.
When I was a teenager, I was maybe a little bit angry.
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.
Who decided that when you dance you don't have to think?
Being a star is not a job, and that's really important for me say.
I have crazy, different influences in my songs. I want rap music, I want Congolese rumba, I want salsa, I want dance music, I want hip-hop music, all mixed into one!
Being honest and spontaneous is important when making music. But I'm also really logical when I compose.
I think the Congolese music is more important in the African community that Rwandan. You know, Rwanda is not musically really important in Africa. It's interesting, of course. But Congolese rumba was so huge in Africa that everybody was inspired by it.
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've learned how to trust someone else's ideas with mine.
I'm more the kind of man who never makes decisions. But impulsivity is not the opposite of courage; I think it's possible to do both.
I'm sure, ever since I was really young, that happiness is not a bottle of champagne and a girl and a limousine and a swimming pool.
You should be able to wear exactly what you want to wear.
It's just about feelings. And the thing is we - everybody lives exactly the same things. We are all humans, even if you speak Spanish or whatever you speak. That's just - we are humans, and that's really interesting. And I'm sure that we can understand each other even if you don't understand my language.
We are all human, and we are all able to listen to music that we cannot understand. I used to listen to English music like Notorious B.I.G., and I didn't know what he's talking about in all of his tracks, but I'm a fan. It's rhythm and a groove that makes me dance, so I'm convinced that my music can work in the U.S.
I'm a composer like every maestro on this earth.
I make dance music because I love to dance. But I want to think at the same time.
It's my job to be ridiculous.
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 want to have not only the good side of life but the bad side of life. And the both combined is just my music. It's funny at the same time as it's sad.
