Preparing for the highly anticipated sophomore Album, “My Tribe”
(May 16th), YOUNG PARIS releases the first club single “BANJAGA”. Produced by ITSNYCEMAN; Grammy nominated producer “Beast” who produced the song CLASSIC MAN by JIDENNA
ARTnews and Spring Place launched a new event series created by Young Paris
with visual works by prominent artists Rashaad Newsome, Devan Shimoyama, Lerone Wilson, Delphine Diallo, Ntangou Badila were on view along with a fashion installation by AzedeJean Pierre. The evening held a panel discussion by Viacom’s Kodi Foster, Artist Dustin Yellin, Daria Brit Greene and Young Paris.
The conversation highlighted contemporary African and African-American culture and the tension of past and present African diaspora through Art.
These concepts were further highlighted in musical performances by singer Oyinda, Violinist Ezinma
and DJ sets by Odalys & Nianga Niang.
Roc Nation act – Young Paris is on that afrobeats wave as he teams up with Nigerian singer – Sojay to unleash this fusion of Afrobeats and House music entitled “Let Me Love You”
Listen Up!
Young Paris has taken the media world by storm, featuring in Billboard, Complex, The Fader, REVOLT, BET, Vice, and Pigeons & Planes, while his impact on the fashion world has captured the attention of VOGUE, WWD, NY Mag, Harpers Bazaar, Coveteur, Essence & Ebony Magazine.
Young Paris’ latest accomplishment finds him as a signee to Jay-Z’s entertainment brand, Roc Nation, which has grounded his mission to bring a new wave of Afrobeats and international vibes to the mainstream music scene, tying in his roots with the times.
After dropping his critically acclaimed EP, titled “Afrobeats” including a remix for “Best of Me”, featuring Nigerian superstar Tiwa Savage, and “One Time” featuring Reekado Banks he now releases his new EP ” LET ME LOVE YOU ”
Young Paris, a musician specializing in Afro-centric beats and signed to Jay Z’s label Roc Nation, is a man who you’d see once and never forget. For proof of this, take a look at him Sunday night at the BET Awards and you can already tell that the man takes fashion seriously.
There’s the shiny silver suit, the multiple necklaces, the nail polish and the elaborate, beautiful white face paint design, which Paris calls his maquillage and which stems from his African heritage.
This keen attention to detail is probably why fashion loves him so much. in 2016, he attended New York Fashion Week for the very first time and he’s already been named an ambassador for 2017 NYFW: Men’s, which begins July 10 in New York City. He’d ultimately like to see more diversity and appreciation of different cultures at fashion week.
Young Paris, the Paris-born, New York-raised Congolese musician, was just re-watching a cut of his latest video, “Best of Me,” when we connected over the phone in recently to, as it happened, discuss the very video, which premieres exclusively on W a week after it was released on Tidal.
“I think the video really captured the ambiance we were going for,” he said. The video, which accompanies the fourth track off his recent EP, Afrobeats, is the second iteration of “Best of Me”; Young Paris, born Milandou Badila, had previously released a version of the track and video featuring Ben Bronfman, but the remix stars the Nigerian musician Tiwa Savage—who has been likened to that nation’s Beyoncé.
“I was really channeling it from a man’s perspective,” he said of the original. Savage’s lines lend a woman’s voice. “In the video, it’s fly, it’s cool, but this woman is this selfish girl that becomes the bad guy in the video but doesn’t have anything to say,” Paris went on. “Tiwa became the voice of that girl.”
http://bandcamp.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ce8e44fe24d3e8a06b260d061&id=ae8ee26071&e=f4d1f18a4e
Young Paris is giving us a quick lesson of his African roots, he explains the paint on his face and his new deal with Roc Nation.
Roc Nation’s rising star Young Paris is offering the world an 8-track introduction of Afrobeats music with his signature blend of hip-hop, trap, and dance music. This new EP is featuring Nigerian sensation Tiwa Savage and Mavin Records star, Reekado Banks with 2 co-productions by famous Nigerian DJ Cuppy.
Young Paris has taken the media world by storm, featuring in Billboard, The Fader, REVOLT, BET, Vice, and XXL Mag, while his impact on the fashion world has captured the attention of WWD, Harpers Bazaar, Coveteur, Essence & VMAN.
Click the Image above to listen, Click HERE to purchase on iTunes!
Born to Congolese parents in France, and raised in New York, Young Paris totes an origin story that blends cultures from three corners of the world, fusing traditional Afro-culture with high fashion creative style in his visionary approach to music and fashion. Through his work as an artistic director, music producer, and song writer, Young Paris has taken the media world by storm, featuring in Billboard, The Fader, REVOLT, BET, Vice, and XXL Mag, while his impact on the fashion world has captured the attention of WWD, Harpers Bazaar, Coveteur, Essence & VMAN.
Young Paris dropped his critically acclaimed full-length album, titled “African Vogue” and recently released official remixes for “Best of Me”, featuring Nigerian superstar Tiwa Savage, and “One Time” featuring Reekado Banks. Young Paris’ latest accomplishment finds him as a signee to Jay-Z’s entertainment brand, Roc Nation, which has grounded his mission to bring a new wave of Afrobeats and international vibes to the mainstream music scene, tying in his roots with the times. A multi-platform innovator, Young Paris is also the founder ‘MELANIN’— a company designed to encourage all people of color to share and embrace their excellence and highlight the beauty of their skin. He founded the very popular hashtag series #MelaninMonday, which celebrates the global beauty of melanin through powerful visuals and educational content. MELANIN also includes a line of merchandise, as well as Melinated.com — a website “for people of color” that launched in September, 2016.
Milandou Badila is one of the few people who can say he had a great year in 2016.
The stylish 28-year-old rapper behind the moniker Young Paris moved to New York in March, signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation in July, and his debut album “African Vogue,” which has a heavy Afrobeats influence, also dropped in this year that everyone else can’t wait to end.
But there’s even more on the horizon for Young Paris, who has spent his very artistic life traveling between Congo, Paris and New York, under the influence of his ballet director father and playwright mother. He’s always been infatuated with music, something he chalks up to the Congo’s francophone culture.
“Culturally, we tend to be more tribal on the ground, in the art world and not so business savvy,” he says. “In our culture we embrace music and the arts. I’ve always been attracted to music, it’s always been a part of our lives and I don’t know another option.”
Central to the art of Young Paris, whose music fuses EDM with tribal beats, is the expression of his African identity, which is hard to miss from the face paint he dons primarily for performances.
“My father cofounded the first national ballet in Congo and they had different ways to embellish their culture … we wear different colors for different meanings,” he explains. “I wear white because I lost my father four years ago and this is the marking he gave me when I was very young.”
Blackness and African pride are omnipresent in both the lyrics and music on “African Vogue,” which Badila partially credits to the strong cultural ties that living in Europe afforded his family. This stands as a stark contrast to African-Americans, who have suffered the “worst identity crisis” imaginable because of slavery in the United States.
“In Paris the black people there are essentially Africans. They know where they’re from,” Badila explains. “Black Americans don’t know where they’re from … it’s a melting pot. In (Paris), people go back home very often, it just gives them a whole other sense of connectivity to their continent.”
Badila believes his music and strong sense of identity can appeal to black people in America, which he now calls home.
“One role that I do play with my love of my culture is just to be a piece of Africa for African-Americans,” he says. “We can speak the same language. I’m African but I know American culture.”
Another undeniable facet of Young Paris’ identity is fashion. Growing up around his playwright mother, who also designed costumes for her productions, and observing men’s fashion in the Congo as his elders traipsed about in pricey couture, sowed the seeds for his appreciation of style. It’ll bring him back to Paris in spring for fashion week, where his music will undoubtedly be at home.
As for 2017, Badila has his eyes set on making more content and spreading his love of Afrobeats, and obviously never forgetting where he came from.
“I’m using my story to help people’s lives. Whatever race you are, whatever background you are, share it with the public and export it,” he says. “I think we all have … pieces of us we have to lose to be a part of a scene. But in my life I know who I represent, so I’m trying to give people that story.”
-NYdailynews
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