Sliimy

Pronounced "slimmy," not "slimy," Sliimy is the nom de musique of Yanis Sahraoui, a singer/songwriter originally from the French town Saint-Etienne near Lyons. Sahraoui acquired the nickname Sliimy as a boy because he was tall and thin; he also discovered his love of music while he was very young, with his mother introducing him to the pure pop of Michael Jackson, Madonna, and the Bee Gees. After his mother passed away when he was seven, Sliimy spent a lot of time alone listening to music. Eventually, he joined the local choir, which gave him a grounding in gospel and soul. This came in handy when he entered a 2005 singing contest; performing Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," Sahraoui won first prize, which was studio time with producer Feed. The pair hit it off, their collaboration became permanent, and they began posting tracks on Sliimy's MySpace page in 2007. These tracks included a radically reworked cover of Britney Spears' "Womanizer," which became an Internet hit. Blogger Perez Hilton was so impressed with Sliimy and Feed's music that he made them the first artists to sign with his label, Perezicious Music (Sliimy signed to Warner Chappell to release his music in the U.K.). Sliimy's debut album, Paint Your Face, appeared in fall 2009.