Adila Sedraïa (born 26 June 1984),[3][4] known professionally as Indila, is a French singer-songwriter and record producer.[5] She collaborated with many musicians on vocals and lyrics prior to releasing her first single, Dernière danse (English: "Last Dance"), in November 2013, which reached SNEP second in France and became in December 2023, 10 years after its release, the first French-language song to exceed one billion views on YouTube.[6] She released her debut album Mini World in February 2014.
Indila | |
|---|---|
 Indila performing at the 2015 EBBA Awards | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Adila Sedraïa |
| Also known as | Indila |
| Born | 26 June 1984 Paris, France[1] |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Labels | Capitol |
| Spouse(s) | |
Early life
Adila Sedraïa was born on 26 June 1984, in Paris to Algerian parents. Her mother was a caregiver, while her grandmother sang at weddings. She has two older sisters.[1] Indila describes herself as a "child of the world" as she claims to be of Algerian, Cambodian, Indian and Egyptian descent.[7][8] Prior to her singing career, she worked as a tour guide at the Marché international de Rungis.[7] She explained that her stage name comes from her immeasurable love for India.[7][9]
In addition to her native French, Indila has provided vocals in English, including Dreamin with Youssoupha[10] and Bye Bye Sonyé with DJ Abdel,[11] and sung Hindi-language refrains in Criminel by TLF and Thug mariage by Rohff.[12]
Career
Indila's meeting with record producer Skalpovich allowed her to enter into the world of rap and eventually collaborations with several French rappers.[1][13] Indila began her music career in around 2009, providing vocals for Invitaation by Vitaa, Trinité by L'Algérino, Thug mariage by Rohff, Hiro by Soprano, and composing J'ai besoin d'y croire, sung by Admiral T and among others.[14] Hiro was Indila's first successful collaboration, reaching number 26 in the charts in France and 27 in Belgium.[15] She continued to collaborate with several other French rappers and DJs over the next three years, including Poussière d'empire with Nessbeal, Criminel with TLF, Press pause with OGB, Bye Bye Sonyé with DJ Abdel, Dreamin with Youssoupha, which peaked in July 2012 at number 14[16] in France's SNEP charts, and Ma Reine with Axel Tony.[14] Indila also composed the songs Plus Haut by Matt Pokora along with Avec Toi by Axel Tony featuring Tunisiano, in which she is credited by her real name "Adila Sedraïa".[14][17] Avec Toi, which was produced by Skalpovich, reached number 7 in the charts in France in November 2012.[14][17]
In November 2013, Indila released her first single, Dernière danse (English: "Last Dance"), from the album Mini World, which quickly found success. It reached the top 10 of the French charts on 4 January 2014 and reached number 2 on 18 January 2014, where it remained through the week of 22 March 2014.[18] The song remained in the top 200 in France through April 2015, for a total of 77 weeks in the top 200.[18] It was also a success outside France, by the end of February 2014, Dernière danse was the number one song on iTunes in Greece and Romania, and the number two song on iTunes in Turkey.[19] The music video for Dernière danse, released 4 December 2013,[20] reached 100 million views on YouTube 30 July 2014,[14] and has over 1.1 billion views as of 27 April 2024, not least because of its popularity on TikTok.[21][6]
In February 2014, Indila released her first album, Mini World, which was produced by Skalpovich.[1] In addition to Mini World and Dernière danse, two other singles from the album reached the top 20 in the charts in France: Tourner dans le vide (English: "Spinning in the Emptiness"), which reached number 13, and S.O.S, which reached number 8.[22] Mini World was the best-selling album in France at the week of its debut and remained among the ten best-selling albums through the week of 11 October 2014.[22] A limited-edition CD/DVD version of Mini World was released in November 2014, with two new songs, orchestral versions of Tourner dans le vide and Love Story, an acoustic version of S.O.S, and video of live performances of several tracks from the album.[22] A second limited-edition release of Mini World in February 2015 contained ten tracks from the original release, the two new songs from the first limited edition, and another new song.[22] Mini World found success both in France, where it was the third-best-selling album of 2014, and outside the country, where it was the best-seller of 2014 in Poland and second-best-seller of 2014 in Belgium.[23][24][25]
In October 2014, Indila won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best French Artist.[26] In February 2015, she won Best New Album of the Year award (for Mini World) at the 30th Victoires de la Musique.[25] In 2015, Indila was among the ten artists to receive the European Border Breakers Award.[27][28]
On 23 August 2019, after 5-year without releasing a song or album, Indila returned with her new song Parle à ta tête (English: "Speak to Your Head").[29] On 14 November 2019, the music videos for the song were released.[30]
In April 2021, Amir's single Carrousel is a duet with Indila. In January 2023, Zaho unveiled the track Roi 2 cœurs in duet with Indila, on her album Résilience.
Artistry
Vocal range
Indila's vocal range spans from F3 – D♯5 and has alto type.[31]
Influences
She has cited Enrico Macias as her first musical influence, with others influences being Michael Jackson, Ismaël Lo, Buika, Warda, Jacques Brel, Lata Mangeshkar and Édith Piaf.[1][32]
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [22] | BEL (FL) [33] | BEL (WA) [34] | GER [35] | POL [36] | SWI [37] | |||
| Mini World |
| 1 | 16 | 1 | 32 | 1 | 11 | |
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [22] | AUT | BEL (FL) [33] | BEL (WA) [34] | GER [35] | POL [41] | SWI [37] | GRE [42] | ISR [43] | TUR [44] | ||||
| "Dernière danse" | 2013 | 2 | 46 | 5 | 2 | 46 | 3 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Mini World | |
| "Tourner dans le vide" | 2014 | 13 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 28 | 78 | 89 | 10 | 96 | 23 | ||
| "S.O.S." | 8 | — | 3 | — | — | 6 | 10 | — | — | — | |||
| "Run Run" | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Love Story" | 57 | — | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Parle à ta tête"[48] | 2019 | —[a] | — | — | —[b] | — | — | — | — | — | — | TBA | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Other charted songs
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [22] | |||
| "Tu ne m'entends pas" | 2014 | 116 | Mini World |
| "Boîte en argent" | 121 | ||
| "Mini World" | 136 | ||
| "Ego" | 149 | ||
| "Comme un bateau" | 153 | ||
| "Feuille d'automne" | 80 | Mini World Limited Edition (Bonus Tracks) | |
| "Ainsi bas la vida" | 103 |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [22] | BEL (WA) [34] | SWI [34] | |||
| "Criminel" (TLF feat. Indila)[12] | 2010 | — | — | — | Renaissance |
| "Poussière d'empire" (Nessbeal feat. Indila)[50] | — | — | — | NE2S | |
| "Hiro" (Soprano feat. Indila)[12] | 26 | 27 | — | La colombe | |
| "Thug mariage" (Rohff feat. Indila)[12] | 2011 | — | — | — | La cuenta |
| "Bye Bye Sonyé" (DJ Abdel feat. Indila)[11] | — | — | — | Evolution 2011 | |
| "Dreamin'" (Youssoupha feat. Indila & Skalpovitch)[12] | 2012 | 14 | 8* (Ultratop) | 65 | Noir désir |
| "Garde L'équilibre" (H Magnum feat. Indila)[51] | 2015 | 96 | — | — | Gotham City |
| "Carrousel" (Amir Haddad feat. Indila)[52] | 2020 | 191 | — | — | Ressources |
| "Roi 2 cœurs" (Zaho feat. Indila) | 2023 | 104 | — | — | Résilience |
*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.
Other vocals
| Title | Artist | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Invitaation" | Vitaa | 2009 | Celle que je vois |
| "Trinité"[14] | L'Algérino | 2010 | Effet miroir[53] |
| "À L'ancienne" | 113 | Universel | |
| "Press pause"[14] | OGB | 2011 | La mémoire |
| "Yema" | Kayna Samet | 2012 | A coeur ouvert |
| "Plus jamais" | Sultan | Des Jours Meilleurs |
Songwriting credits
Besides songs appearing in Mini World and Parle à ta tête, Indila is credited as a songwriter in the following songs:[54]
- 2010: "Poussière d'empire" by Nessbeal feat. Indila.[54]
- 2010: "J'ai besoin d'y croire" by Admiral T feat. Awa Imani and Indila.[14]
- 2010: "Thug mariage" by Rohff feat. Indila.[14]
- 2011: "Bye Bye Sonyé" by DJ Abdel feat. Indila.[55]
- 2012: "Avec toi" by Axel Tony featuring Tunisiano and Indila.[14]
- 2012: "Plus haut" by M. Pokora feat. Indila.[14]
- 2012: "Plus jamais" by Sultan feat. Indila.[56]
- 2012: "Dreamin'" by Youssoupha feat. Indila and Skalpovitch.[14]
- 2013: "Ma reine" by Axel Tony feat. Admiral T and Indila.[14]
- 2016: "Baila" by Ishtar feat. Indila.[54]
- 2016: "Pour toi et moi" by Ishtar feat. Indila.[54]
- 2021: "Carrousel" by Amir feat. Indila.