Birth of Cornelius [Extra tracks, Import]

Corneille | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 23, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Import
• Label: Sony Japan/Zoom
• ASIN: B00273D3RA
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,127,964 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Back to Life

2. All of My Love

3. Liberation

4. A Man of This World

5. Murder

6. Foolish Heart

7. Too Much of Everything

8. Home Is by You

9. I'll Never Call You Home Again

10. Sweet Dependency

11. Heaven

12. Live Is Good

13. I Never Loved You

14. Spending on You

15. The One

16. Sukiyaki -Lonely Nights

17. Sukiyaki -Lonely Nights [Acoustic Version]

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

"Music has been the place where I could go to hide and forget about the world. I couldn't make sense of a majority of the things that happened to me, so I used music as a shield. But over time, music has become a vehicle to channel out everything that I've been keeping from myself for all these years. And the new album is definitely the most honest, real assessment of everything that's happened in my life, because I'm not trying to hide as much."--Corneille

The release of The Birth of Cornelius doesn't just mark the arrival of a major new artist on Motown Records. The album chronicles the latest chapter for a musician who has already had a remarkable career--and an extraordinary life. Though virtually unknown to an American audience, Corneille sells out arenas in other parts of the world. His albums have reached monumental, Diamond-selling status in France. And those accomplishments follow struggles and challenges in his personal history that are truly beyond comprehension.

Corneille Nyungura was born in Fribourg, Germany, where his parents were students. At the age of six, his family returned to Rwanda, their country of origin. "When I went to Rwanda for the first time, there was a sense of going to the place where I belonged," he says. "But because my parents were very much Westernized, I still felt like I didn't fit in."

As a boy, Corneille began to develop an interest in music--initially discovering Michael Jackson (although "because we were so far from MTV, most kids didn't even know what he looked like"), and then the great soul artists who would shape his style: Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Prince.

He credits his father for nurturing his interest. "I was singing something in my room," he says, "and my dad heard me, and said, `That sounds good, it kind of sounds like Tracy Chapman.' And I remember thinking, `Oh, It's OK for me to make music.' That was a very unique thing because music is a big part of African culture, but we never considered it as a job option." At age 16, he made his first recording, and was selected as a finalist in a music contest sponsored by the state-run television station.

But in 1994, Rwanda's President Habyarimana was assassinated, and the largest, most horrific genocide in modern history claimed over 800,000 victims. Corneille's parents and other family members were killed in the massacre. He alone managed to escape--first to Kinshasa, and then to Germany, where he was taken in by some family friends.

When asked how surviving such an incomprehensible tragedy has shaped his outlook, and his music, Corneille is strikingly calm. "For a good ten years after the genocide," he says, "I lived in a great deal of denial. But I managed not to get too bitter because I had parents who always made me feel special. It's a sort of pain that you can have closure with. I know I'm not going to be able to talk to my family ever again, but they left me with memories filled with such love that I don't have that much anger."

Corneille stayed in Germany for three years before moving to Montréal--part of the North American world that had shaped his musical dreams, but still familiar for its French language. He attended Concordia College, but decided that it was time for him to get serious about his music. He formed a band called O.N.E. (Original New Element), and, in 2002, released his first studio album, Parce Qu'on Vient de Loin.

"There are hardly any outlets for English-speaking artists in Quebec," he says. "I realized that would be a great challenge--since there's really no French soul or R&B music that exists, it gave me the opportunity to have my own little niche."

Initially, Parce Qu'on Vient de Loin made little impression in Canada, but it was soon discovered in France. At his first shows, in a small Parisian club, the room was already packed with fans singing all of his lyrics; they had chased down copies of the album, imported from Quebec.

Following its success overseas, the album was re-released in Canada, and took off behind the single "Rêves de Star," eventually achieving Platinum sales status. Corneille received his first Felix Award, selected by the public, for Best Male Artist. In France, sales of Parce Qu'on Vient de Loin soared past a million.

In 2005, Corneille recorded a song with Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour in support of UNICEF and the fight against AIDS. (Corneille is a Red Cross Canada spokesperson, and has been made a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.) That same year, his second studio album, Les Marchands de Rêves, was released. A sixty-date tour of France had a total attendance of over 200,000 fans, and was followed by an acoustic tour in the fall of 2006.

But Corneille wasn't fully satisfied by his triumphs in Europe and Africa. "I was starting to feel lost," he says. "With my French albums, I was becoming a symbol for something, a persona, more than an individual. I needed to break from that--and it doesn't get any more humbling than coming to the U.S., because you really do have to start from scratch."

Corneille began working on the songs that would become The Birth of Cornelius album. As he got closer to the tradition and culture that first drew him to music, his acoustic-based R&B sound began to come fully into its own. "When I allowed myself to write in English, everything was different," he says. "I came up with some of the songs in five, ten minutes, because it was just pouring out. I guess I was reconnecting with the way I saw and understood music when I was little, and that was an amazing experience for me."

After all this time, after all these travels and tragedies, Corneille and his music are finally ready to take on America. And he can't wait.

"I look at America, and I see so much of who I am," he says. "The identity confusion that I've been struggling with all my life is the same that most people here go through. When I think of America, the first thing that comes to my mind is the sense that I might truly feel understood for the first time."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best R&B Album I've Bought This Year!!!, April 14, 2009

By 

Avid Reader (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Birth of Cornelius (Audio CD)

This artist has a very special album! This is the first time I've heard his music and I was surprised at the intensity and how well put together this album is. I hope this artist makes more of his kind of music in English so we can enjoy it. This has to be the best R&B album of the year as far as I'm concerned. I was hooked from the first song to the last but my favorite has to be "A Man Of This World. Next is "Foolish Heart, Liberation, Heaven, and Home Is By You" This album is a must for any collection. With the state of pure R&B soul these days, this artist is a gem! If you are looking for a good R&B album for your collection, this is the album to get!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, Relaxing Music, April 8, 2009

By 

MicheZ (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Birth of Cornelius (Audio CD)

I LOVE this CD-it is great to groove to in the car, great for relaxing as well, and overall has great beats, lyrics, and rythems. You can feel a lot of his passion and life experiences through the songs, and you can tell he had huge influences from early Motown. I really enjoyed the back to basics type of music and highly reccomend this CD to anyone looking for some smooth R&B, relaxing grooves.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Foolish Heart, April 5, 2009

By 

Jeffry Steele "Jeffry" (Tacoma, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Birth Of Cornelius (MP3 Download)

Just heard him interviewed by Tavis Smiley on NPR -- and while I cannot speak for the album as a whole, this particular song in incredibly moving. He was 17 when he lost his parents in the Rawandan genocide -- the principal message of the song being to thank them for the love they provided him up to that point. (He also sings of missing his brother and sister -- but I don't know what happened to them). At the same time, he is apologizing to his lover for how shut-down he had since been. This emotional catharsis is supported by brilliance of craft in harmony, melody and production.