French-language rap took the lion’s share of top-selling albums in French-speaking Belgium last year, with eight entries in the top 10, according to the Belgian Recorded Music Association (BRMA)'s Ultratop charts 2022, published on Friday.
First place went to ‘Multitude’ by Stromae, released on 4 March.
Apart from the maestro’s latest album, Angèle is the sole non-rap artist to have made it into the top 10 with her album ‘Nonante-cinq,’ which reached number three. She is also the only female artist.
The other slots at the top of the ranking are occupied by French-speaking rap albums, starting with ‘Civilisation’ by Orelsan (2th) and ‘Jefe’ by Ninho (4th).
Two in the top 10 for Lomepal and Damso
Lomepal is in 5th place with his latest effort, “Mauvais ordre,” and in 10th with “Jeannine,” released in 2018. He shares this particularity with Damso, whose album “Ipséité” (2017) occupies the 6th place while his latest record, “QALF” is in 8th position. PNL’s ‘Deux frères’ (7th) and Gazo’s ‘KMT’ (9th) complete the top 10.
It is not until the 13th place in the top 100 that a non-French language album can be found: ‘Harry’s house’ by Harry Styles. The former One Direction dominates the singles chart, not only in French-speaking Belgium but also nationally, with ‘As it was.’
The list of the most listened to songs in the south of the country, which is more diverse in terms of language, further includes Rema’s ‘Calm down,’ Gayle’s ‘ABCDEFU’ and Stromae’s ‘L’enfer,’ as well as Camilla Cabello’s ‘Bam Bam’ with Ed Sheeran, Angèle and Damso’s ‘Démons’ and Pierre Demaere’s ‘Un jour je marierai un ange.”
English-language lyrics dominate in Flanders
Then come ‘La quête’ by Orelsan and ‘La fama’ by Rosalia and The Weekend.
Imagine Dragons close the top 10 with their song ‘Enemy.’
In Flanders, despite the fact that Dutch-speaking artist Metejoor and his eponymous album took first place, the rest of the top 10 albums are more about English-language music, with the exception of Stromae who took fifth place with his latest album.
Among the profusion of pop artists, the industrial metal of Rammstein reached 6th place with ‘Zeit.’
