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Published in electro-pop ·

JANIS

Hypnotized

Hypnotized, the 2015 single with which the French singer once known as Sliimy returned as a Paris electro-pop producer, in its 4:08 audio version; its video, directed by Ludovic Zuili, filmed dancers under the influence of hypnosis.

By korczis 3 min read
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Review

Genre and Mood

JANIS’s Hypnotized is electro-pop: NOWNESS presented it in 2015 as the electro-pop debut of a Paris-based producer. The title sets the mood of this page, hypnotic and a little mysterious, and the video took the title literally.

Song Summary

Hypnotized was a comeback. The French singer Janis Sahraoui, born in Saint-Étienne in 1988, had been known as Sliimy, and in the spring of 2015 returned under a new name with this single. MusicBrainz dates the release to 13 March 2015 on Y&I Records and lists the track at 4:08, the audio version this page uses. Sahraoui performed it on the French television show Le Grand Journal on 5 May 2015.

Musical Breakdown

Main Section

No review we found describes the song section by section, so this page describes less than usual. The sources give its style, electro-pop, and its setting: a single meant to introduce a new artistic identity. Listen to it first without the video, as this audio version allows, and then with the hypnotised dancers.

Concepts in Focus

A stage persona is the name and image under which an artist performs. Sahraoui has had three: Sliimy until 2015, Yanis from 2015 to 2023, and Janis since 2023, which is why this 2015 single, first released as Yanis, is credited to JANIS today. Each name marks a stage of the music too: French Wikipedia describes the move from the pop of the Sliimy years to the electro-pop of the Yanis records.

The music video, directed by Ludovic Zuili and produced by Instant T and Frenzy Paris, filmed dancers under the influence of hypnosis; its credits name a hypnotist, Julian, and a cast that includes the actress Charlotte Le Bon. NOWNESS premiered it under the headline that dancers lose control in it.

The video runs longer than the 4:08 recording, and the artist’s channel published both, the clip and an audio upload. That makes each an alternate version of the release, and the yearbook’s copy is the audio one.

Artistic Context

As Sliimy, Sahraoui shared songs on Myspace in the late 2000s, signed with Warner and released the album Paint Your Face in April 2009; a cover of Britney Spears’s Womanizer drew attention after Perez Hilton featured it, and Sliimy opened for Britney Spears in Paris and toured with Katy Perry in 2009. After Hypnotized came Crave later in 2015 and L’Heure Bleue in February 2016, the first record under the name Yanis. In 2023 Sahraoui played Orlando in Paul B. Preciado’s film Orlando, My Political Biography.

Impact and Reception

Hypnotized was a fresh start more than a hit: NOWNESS, a channel for short films, gave its video a premiere, and the single opened the road to L’Heure Bleue. It is here as one of the owner’s songs of 2018. Let it play twice, once without the pictures.

Learn from this track

Introductory

What you will learn

  • Explain what a stage persona is, using an artist who has recorded as Sliimy, Yanis and JANIS.
  • Describe how a music video can turn a song's title into an experiment, here filming dancers under hypnosis.
  • Tell the audio version of a single from its video version and say which one this page is about.

Listening guide

  1. the whole track The 4:08 audio version of the single, the recording MusicBrainz lists for its March 2015 release; the official video runs longer.
  2. the style Electro-pop, as NOWNESS called the release: the sound that, according to French Wikipedia, replaced the pop of the Sliimy years.
  3. the video Ludovic Zuili's film of dancers under hypnosis, with a hypnotist named Julian in the credits and the actress Charlotte Le Bon among the cast.

Concepts in this track

music video

144 tracks

A short film made to accompany a song. Since MTV it has shaped how songs are remembered, and on YouTube it is often the main way a song is heard.

stage persona

10 tracks

An invented identity that a musician performs as: a mask, a character, a cartoon band or a pair of robots. A persona lets artists play with fame and image, keep their private selves hidden, and make the character part of the music's meaning.

alternate version

58 tracks

A second finished recording of the same song by the same artist, with a different arrangement, tempo or sound rather than a reworking by another producer. Comparing two versions shows how much of a song's mood comes from production rather than from melody and words.

Listen next, and why

Questions for discussion

  1. An artist who changes name changes how listeners hear the music. What does a new name allow that a comeback under the old one does not?
  2. The video's dancers were filmed under hypnosis. Does knowing that change how you hear a song called Hypnotized?
  3. Why might an artist release an audio version alongside a music video of a different length?

References

  1. Wikipedia. Janis Sahraoui. Encyclopedia
  2. Wikipédia. Janis Sahraoui. Encyclopedia
  3. NOWNESS. JANIS: Hypnotized - Dancers lose control in this electro-pop music video (2015). Video
  4. YouTube. JANIS - Hypnotized (2015). Video
  5. MusicBrainz. Hypnotized (release) (2015). Database

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