hip-hop

Zaho

1 festival played

Algerian-born, Montreal-based singer whose French-language R&B broke through with 'C'est chelou.' Pop hooks delivered with a rasp.

Zaho was born Zahera Darabid in Algeria and moved to Canada as a teenager, settling in Montreal. She sings in French, with occasional lines in Arabic, and her voice has a dry rasp that sits oddly against the smooth production behind it. Before her own records she turned up as a guest vocalist on French rap tracks, which is where much of her early audience found her.

Her debut album, Dima, arrived in 2008 and established the template she has worked with since: R&B and pop melodies written in straightforward French, delivered without much ornament. She has kept the collaborations going alongside her solo releases, splitting her time between Montreal and France.

hip-hop