Shy'm

Shy'm

Shy'm performing in Paris on Bastille Day 2011
Background information
Birth name Tamara Marthe
Born 28 November 1985 (1985-11-28) (age 26)
Origin Trappes, France
Genres Urban pop, pop, hip hop, electropop
Occupations Singer Dancer
Years active 2005-present
Labels Up Music
Warner France
Associated acts K-Maro

Tamara Marthe (born on 28 November 1985), better known as Shy'm ( /ˈʃm/), is a French pop chanteuse. She released her debut album, Mes Fantaisies, in 2006 which rose to #6 in the French chart. To date, four songs from the album have been released as singles, all of which charted in the top 10 in France.

Contents

Biography

Tamara was born in Trappes (a western suburb in Paris), France to a French Caribbean father (from Martinique) and a French mother, in a family oriented to music and creative arts. From an early age, she became interested in dancing and singing. She started taking lessons in dancing and she earned the nickname, "Spicy Tam" as a result of the effort she put in it.

In academics, she obtained her diploma at the age of seventeen. Along with her studies, she had been making demo recordings of herself while avoiding public scrutiny. Later, she went to Paris, where she sent the recordings to record companies. It was at this time that rapper K'Maro discovered her. Tamara acquired the stage name Shy'm and began her journey to stardom. Her pseudonym is a portmanteau, derived from shy and Martinique. She says she is shy, but much less so than before when the mere idea of being on stage paralysed her with fright. But her passion has allowed her to overcome her shyness and she now takes "pleasure in putting herself in the crowd".[1]

Rapper K-Maro agreed to feature her in the song Histoire de Luv from his album. The song was recorded in Montréal. After that, she brought out her own solo album, Mes Fantaisies (in English: My Fantasies), at the end of October 2006, which was written, composed and produced by K-Maro ".[2] . Shy'm explored various themes for the album, such as recurring love and intermarriage and its success. The first single, Femme de couleur, peaked at #5 in the French singles chart.

Recently, Shy'm announced on her official website that she was in the process of recording her second album which will come out on 19 September 2008.

In 2007, she made a guest appearance on the popular French game show, Fort Boyard.

The style musical of Shy'm is a mix of pop and R&B. Her first album Mes Fantaisies has soul sounds with R&B and pop influences. Reflets has pop, dance and R&B songs. Her third album Prendre l'air is more electropop.

In 2011, Shy'm was one of the nine contestants in the second season of Danse avec les stars. She was partnered with professional dancer Maxime Dereymez. On November 19, 2011, they won the competition.

Discography

Albums[3]

Year Album Charts French sales French certification
FR FR DL BEL/Wal SWI EUR
2006 Mes Fantaisies
6
7
18
49
11
380 000
Platinum
2008 Reflets
4
9
13
55
9
120 000
Gold
2010 Prendre l'air
6
5
29
78
18
150 000
platinum

Singles[4]

Year Single Charts Album
FR FR DL BEL SWI QUÉ EUR
2005 "Histoires de Luv"
(K.Maro featuring Shy'm)
6 5 1 Million Dollar Boy
(K.Maro album)
2006 "Femme de couleur" 5 9 6 5 10 Mes fantaisies
"Victoire" 4 7 4 1 1 3
2007 "T'es parti" 12
"Oublie-moi" 14 16 2
"Rêves d'enfants" 19
2008 "La première fois" 2 15 15 Reflets
"Si tu savais" 2 19 40 4 12 5
2009 "Step Back" (feat. Odessa Thornhill)
2010 "Je sais" 3 27 68 Prendre l'air
"Je suis moi" 7
"Prendre l'air" 12 23
2011 "Tourne" 35
"En apesanteur" 40 28

References

External links