M. Pokora

Emerging first through his time in the boy band Linkup, pop and R&B vocalist M. Pokora stepped out on his own in 2004 with the self-titled debut Matt Pokora. Observers sometimes cast him as the French Justin Timberlake, citing parallel boy-band origins and a shared taste for elaborate hats. Born Matthieu Totta in Strasbourg, France, he reached the public eye on the reality series Popstars—a blend of American Idol and Making the Band—performing with his rap outfit Mic Unity. Spotting his fan appeal, the producers quickly grouped him with Otis and Lionel to create Linkup. After the show, Pokora and his bandmates issued their sole album together; lead single “Mon Étoile” scored a hit in France, yet follow-up “Un Seconde d’Éternité” faltered on every chart. The 2003 full-length Notre Étoile likewise met lukewarm results, prompting the Popstars team to dissolve the group.

Turning solo, Pokora prepared his self-titled album only to face a legal conflict with another French artist, forcing him to issue the project under a pseudonym; he settled on the enduring stage name M. Pokora. For his 2006 sophomore set Player he joined Ricky Martin on “It’s Alright,” a track first heard on Martin’s Life without Pokora’s lyrics; the duo later cut a version that appeared as a bonus cut on Player, both single and video receiving broad European airplay. Having modeled himself after American R&B and pop figures such as Michael Jackson and Usher, Pokora reached wider recognition in 2008 when he enlisted Timbaland, Ryan Leslie, and J.R. Rotem for his third album, MP3. Released across Europe in March 2008, the record was sung almost entirely in English aside from two French tracks. He reverted to French for the 2010 follow-up Mise à Jour yet simultaneously prepared an international edition titled Updated with every song re-recorded in English; a 2011 special edition, Mise à Jour Version 2.0, added extra tracks.

In April 2012, fifth album À la Poursuite du Bonheur largely replaced the hard-edged urban electro-R&B sound that had defined him with a smoother soul-pop approach. The project became his biggest success to date in France and Switzerland and led to the 2013 live release À la Poursuite du Bonheur Tour, which topped the charts. Pokora also performed on stage that year, taking the title role in a musical adaptation of Robin Hood, or Robin des Bois. February 2015 brought sixth album R.E.D. (Rythmes Extrêmement Dangereux), earning him his second consecutive number-one album in France; he marked the occasion with a lengthy tour that filled most of the year. One year later he returned with My Way, a tribute to Claude François featuring production from Metro Boomin, Kygo, and PartyNextDoor. Another chart-topper in France, the album soon received platinum certification.