Indila
French singer-songwriter (born 1984)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adila Sedraïa (French pronunciation: [adila sedʁaja]; born 26 June 1984), known professionally as Indila (pronounced [indila]), is a French singer-songwriter and record producer. She collaborated with many musicians on vocals and lyrics prior to releasing her first single, "Dernière danse" (English: "Last dance"), in December 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. She released her debut album, Mini World, in February 2014, which met commercial success.
Indila | |
|---|---|
Indila performing at the 2015 EBBA Awards | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Indila |
| Born | Adila Sedraïa 26 June 1984 Paris, France |
| Genres | World |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Label | Polydor France |
Spouse | |
Early life
Adila Sedraïa was born on 26 June 1984, in Paris, France.[1][2] Her mother was a caregiver, while her grandmother sang at weddings. Indila has two sisters,[2], and she described herself as a "child of the world" of Algerian, Cambodian, Indian, and Egyptian descent.[3][4][5] Prior to her singing career, she worked as a tour guide at the Marché international de Rungis.[3] She explained that her stage name came from her immeasurable love for India.[3][6]
In addition to her native French, Indila has provided vocals in English, including "Dreamin'" with French and Congolese rapper Youssoupha[7] and "Bye Bye Sonyé" with Moroccan-French musician DJ Abdel,[8] and sung Hindi refrains in "Criminel" by French band TLF and "Thug mariage" by French rapper Rohff.[9]
Career
2009–2012: Featuring vocals
Indila's meeting with record producer Skalpovich allowed her to enter into the world of rap and eventually collaborate with several French rappers.[2][10] 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.[11] "Hiro" was Indila's first successful collaboration, reaching number 26 in the charts in France and 27 in Belgium.[12] She continued to collaborate with several other French rappers and DJs over the next three years, including "Poussière d'empire" with Nessbeal,[13] "Criminel" with TLF,[14] "Press pause" with OGB, "Bye Bye Sonyé" with DJ Abdel,[8] "Dreamin" with Youssoupha, which peaked in July 2012 at number 14 in France's SNEP charts,[15] and "Ma Reine" with Axel Tony.[11] 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.[11][16] "Avec Toi", which was produced by Skalpovich, reached number 7 in the charts in France in November 2012.[11][16]
2013–2014: Mini World and its commercial success
In November 2013, Indila released her first single, "Dernière danse" (English: "Last Dance"), from her then-upcoming debut studio album. It reached the top 10 of the French charts on 4 January 2014 and reached number 2 on 18 January, where it remained through the week of 22 March. The song remained in the top 200 in France through April 2015, for a total of 77 weeks in the top 200.[17] It was also a success outside France, by the end of February 2014; "Dernière danse" was the numbers one and two song on iTunes in Greece and Romania as well as Turkey, respectively.[18] The music video for the somg, released 4 December 2013,[19] reached 100 million views on YouTube on 30 July 2014[11] and has over 1.4 billion views as of 6 June 2026, which marked the first French-language song to exceed one billion views.[20][19]
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In February 2014, Indila released her debut studio album, Mini World, mainly produced by Skalpovich.[2] Two other singles from the album reached the top 20 in the charts in France; "Tourner dans le vide" (English: "Spinning in the Emptiness") reached number 13,[21] and "S.O.S" reached number 8.[22] Mini World was the best-selling album in France at the week of its debut, remaining among the ten best-selling albums through the week of 11 October 2014.[23] 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.[23] 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.[23] 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.[24][25][26]
In October, Indila won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best French Artist.[27] In February 2015, she won Best New Album of the Year award for Mini World, at the 30th Victoires de la Musique.[26] Same year, she was among the ten artists to receive the European Border Breakers Award.[28][29]
2019–present: "Parle à ta tête" and several collaborations
Following a five-year hiatus, Indila teased her then-upcoming single "Parle à ta tête" (English: "Speak to Your Head"), sharing its cover art on 20 August 2019.[30] Produced by Skalpovich, the song was released after three days.[31][32] On 14 November, its music video was released on her YouTube channel.[33] Following "Parle à ta tête", her second album was to be released in the first quarter of 2020.[34] According to Purecharts, Indila had an album in preparation but disputes with her Record Label in releasing the second album, causing delays.[35][36] According to information from Purecharts, the second album may have not have been released due to the poor and unexpected performance of "Parle à ta tête".[37] French-Israel singer Amir's single, "Carrousel", a duet with Indila, was released in October 2020;[38] a music video for the song followed in April 2021.[39] In January 2023, Algerian-Canadian singer Zaho unveiled the track "Roi 2 cœurs" on her album Résilience, in duet with Indila.[40] On 26 January 2024, Indila in collaboration with German DJ Bennett released "Dernière Danse (Techno Mix)" to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of "Dernière danse".[41]
The progress on her long-awaited second album finally started accelerating on 27 March 2025, when Indila was reportedly seen filming a music video on the Bir-Hakeim bridge in Paris, wearing a pink dress and accompanied by a white horse, followed by a camera car.[42] Following that, in May, Entrevue reported that Indila is working on her second studio album.[43] According to Le Parisien, she finished recording the album in December 2024, and is set to embark on a large-scale tour with a new artistic team and label.[44] On 22 December 2025, American rapper Lil Uzi Vert sampled "Love Story" for his single "What You Saying".[45]
Her comeback targeted in 2025 with a world tour at the end of that year and a music video filmed in spring was never released, following multiple delays.[46] However, it was reported by Purecharts that the project has been done, and that she is taking her time with the release.[45] Following the public dissolution of her label Island Def Jam France, it was revealed that she was moved to Polydor France.[47][48]
Artistry
Indila's musical style has been described as world music, incorporating pop elements.[49] The singer's vocal range spans from F3 – D♯5 and has alto type.[50] 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.[2][51]
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [23] |
AUT | BEL (FL) [52] |
BEL (WA) [53] |
GER [54] |
POL [60] |
SWI [56] |
GRE [61] |
ISR [62] |
TUR [63] | ||||
| "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" | 2019 | —[a] | — | — | —[b] | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Dernière danse (Techno Mix)"[69] | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Other charted songs
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [23] |
BEL (WA) [53] |
SWI [53] | |||
| "Criminel" (TLF featuring Indila)[14] |
2010 | — | — | — | Renaissance |
| "Poussière d'empire" (Nessbeal featuring Indila)[13] |
— | — | — | NE2S | |
| "Hiro" (Soprano featuring Indila)[9] |
26 | 27 | — | La colombe | |
| "Thug Mariage" (Rohff featuring Indila)[9] |
2011 | — | — | — | La cuenta |
| "Bye Bye Sonyé" (DJ Abdel featuring Indila)[8] |
— | — | — | Evolution 2011 | |
| "Dreamin'" (Youssoupha featuring Indila & Skalpovitch)[9] |
2012 | 14 | 8* (Ultratop) |
65 | Noir désir |
| "Garde L'équilibre" (H Magnum featuring Indila)[70] |
2015 | 96 | — | — | Gotham City |
| "Carrousel" (Amir Haddad featuring Indila)[38] |
2020 | 191 | — | — | Ressources |
| "Roi 2 cœurs" (Zaho featuring Indila)[40] |
2023 | 104 | — | — | Résilience |
| "*" denotes a single did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts. | |||||
Other vocals
Songwriting credits
| Title | Year | Artist | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Poussière d'empire" | 2010 | Nessbeal | [76] |
| "J'ai besoin d'y croire" (featuring Awa Imani and Indila) |
Admiral T | [11] | |
| "Thug mariage" | Rohff | ||
| "Bye Bye Sonyé" | 2011 | DJ Abdel | [77] |
| "Avec toi" (featuring Tunisiano and Indila) |
2012 | Axel Tony | [11] |
| "Plus haut" | M. Pokora | ||
| "Plus jamais" | Sultan | [78] | |
| "Dreamin'" (featuring Indila and Skalpovitch) |
Youssoupha | [11] | |
| "Ma reine" (featuring Admiral T and Indila) |
2013 | Axel Tony | |
| "Baila" | 2016 | Ishtar | [76] |
| "Pour toi et moi" | |||
| "Carrousel" | 2021 | Amir | [38] |