Guinea

William Baldé is a French reggae-pop singer/songwriter whose debut solo single, "Rayon de Soleil," was a chart-topping smash hit in summer 2008. Born Mohamed Guy William Baldé in Guinea, he began his recording career in the group Yuba, which released the full-length album Everybody Nyani-Nyani (1996) on EMI. Roughly a decade later Baldé made his full-length solo album debut with En Corps Étranger (2008) on Warner Music. Featuring the chart-topping summertime favorite "Rayon de Soleil," which spent eight weeks at number one, En Corps Étranger peaked at number three on the French albums chart and spawned a series of follow-up singles including "Sweet Lady" and "Sur la Route de Dakar." In the wake of his breakthrough solo success with "Rayon de Soleil," Baldé was nominated for a 2009 NRJ Music Award in the category of French Revelation of the Year. ~ Jason Birchmeier