Jena Lee, a French pop singer and songwriter who characterizes her sound as “émo R&B,” first reached listeners when her debut single “J’Aimerais Tellement” held the top spot on the French charts for several weeks in late 2009. She entered the world on June 29, 1987, in Chile and, at nine months old, was adopted by a French couple who raised her in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Early on she absorbed the emo-rock energy of Linkin Park alongside the R&B-tinged pop of Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. In 2007, after producer Sulee B. Wax encountered her initial demo recordings, he offered her the chance to contribute material to the fourth season of the reality series Popstars. Working together, the pair supplied half a dozen tracks for Sheryfa Luna’s self-titled debut album; Luna had won that season, and their collaboration yielded the chart-topping lead single “Quelque Part.” The next year Lee penned “Comme Avant,” a Top Five duet pairing Luna with Mathieu Edward, runner-up from the seventh season of Star Academy; the track served as the lead single for Edward’s debut album Entre Toi et Moi (2008). By then established among French pop insiders as a songwriter possessing a Midas touch, she launched her solo career through Universal Music France. The lead single from her own debut album Vous Remercier (2009) was once again “J’Aimerais Tellement,” which remained at number one for several months late in the year. Opening as a sentimental piano ballad before shifting into Timbaland-esque electro-pop rhythms and finally erupting into aggressive electric-guitar riffs, the track enjoyed unexpected success, especially among teenagers drawn to the 22-year-old artist’s self-described “émo R&B” aesthetic.
