March 17, 2009 @ 12:52 pm

Corneille is Next

Brad Wete

(Kor-nay) is anything but

Corneille Nyungura is in an unfamiliar, but comfortable position. Standing outside of Bonita, a Mexican restaurant in Brooklyn, N.Y., the Motown Universal singer is bundled up in a puffy black coat chatting on his cell phone. And no one is bothering
him. No fan is bombarding him with idol worship. No one has approached to prod him for an autograph. It’s a rare treat.

America is just about the only place the German-born, Rwanda-raised is not known. At 32, he’s renowned in Canada, Africa, and Europe. With two French-speaking hit albums, Parce Qu’on Vient de Loin (2003) and Les Marchands de Rêves (2005) released by Wagram Music, a French independent, Corneille is a familiar face to millions.

“The only place I can take a lot of attention is when I’m onstage performing,” he says. “For two years I was like, ‘I’m stopping everything.’ I didn’t do any interviews. I stopped signing autographs. People would come up to me for one, and I would say, ‘No. I’m not going to give an autograph. I’d rather shake your hand. I feel like that would be a little bit more real.’ It’s weird to be put on a pedestal in that way, when you’re aware that it’s all bullshit.”

He may have to relinquish that anonymity after the release of The Birth of Cornelius, his English-language debut, which drops today. The guitar player recalls Tracy Chapman’s simple folk and Seal’s serenity, with a hint more R&B. Throughout, the married singer-songwriter shares his present-day happiness while exploring his tragic past. When Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana was assassinated in 1994, the horrific genocide that followed claimed the lives of his mother, father, brother, and sister. Moving to Montreal at 21 and frequently visiting America, he developed a strange appreciation for the States.

“I come from a country where black-on-black crime reached its all-time high,” he says. “When I got here, [I thought], Well no Latino, no white, or no black man, for that matter, has ever threatened me with a machete.... So I guess it’s not all that bad.”

Corneille’s Motown debut is diaristic, chronicling his growth as a man. On “Liberation,” he sings about overcoming survivor’s guilt and finding love. And maybe he’s ready to sign some autographs again, too. “It sort of comes with the job,” he says. Get your Sharpies ready

Article tags: Corneille 

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