YSEE

Audrey Gbaguidi, alias YSEE, é unha cantautora e actriz nacida o 16 de xuño de 1988 en Draguignan, cerca de Marsella en Francia, membro da banda de rock Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. A súa familia é orixinaria de Benín, no Oeste de África. 

A súa tía criouna en Francia, e ata que tivo seis anos Audrey pensou que era a súa nai, aínda que nunca foi benvida nesa familia. Naceu durante unha viaxe que o seu pai, diplomático, e a súa nai, fixeron alí, despois dun embarazo de sete meses, con problemas de saúde que lle impedían regresar a África. Deixárona alí, pero nunca a chamaban. Cantar foi para ela dende nena unha forma de evadirse das súas dificultades, entre a casa e o hospital, aínda que molestaba a todos cando o facía.  Un día, vendo a unha cantante de Disney na televisión, descubriu que quería adicarse a iso. Despois de escoitala cantar, unha veciña, Madame Robert, pediulle á familia que lle deixaran ensinarlle canto e piano os mércores pola tarde; empezou a ensaiar os sábados, e a actuar os domingos na parroquia local. Máis tarde, descubriría que a súa nai e a súa avoa tamén foran directoras de coro nas igrexas.

Con 17 anos, fuxiu da familia e foise a vivir cuns amigos, e despois á rúa. Sen que ninguén tentase que volvera á casa, aprobou o bacharelato, e obtivo unha bolsa para cursar Psicoloxía en Aix-en-Provence. Deixouno un ano antes de rematar a carreira, porque discrepaba acerca dalgúns métodos terapéuticos que se ensinaban. Non obstante, esta formación permitiulle manexar mellor as presións da industria musical. Marchou a París, onde o azar fixo que tivera os seus primeiros encontros con persoas vinculadas á industria, e actuou por primeira vez na televisión. Tamén viaxou, coñeceu a xente como Lauryn Hill, e levou a cabo os seus primeiros proxectos. Sempre traballou en Francia, ata que en 2015 se mudou a Inglaterra para continuar a súa traxectoria na música.

Comezou a súa carreira traballando con Tony Allen, que a chamou para actuar de xira con el por todo o mundo entre 2009 a 2013, e a súa voz incluíuse en “Moving On”, o tema de apertura do disco “Film Of Life”. Aínda que era a única muller entre todos os músicos e non se sentía segura, o único consello que lle deu Tony foi que fora ela mesma. Tony Allen era un batería e compositor nixeriano que formou parte da banda de Fela Kuti Africa’70 entre 1968 e 1979, e foi un dos principais cofundadores do Afrobeat. O Afrobeat era un xénero musical que combinaba elementos da música do Oeste Africano con influencias do jazz, do soul e o funk americanos, centrándose nas voces, no cruce de ritmos complexos, e na percusión. A política era esencial no Afrobeat, pois nel empregábase a crítica social para abrir camiño cara o cambio nun contexto de inxustiza política e corrupción militar, durante a transición dende os gobernos coloniais ata a autodeterminación. Tony Allen máis tarde formaría a súa propia banda, emigrando a Londres en 1984 e máis tarde mudándose a París. Desenvolveu un son híbrido ao que chamou Afrofunk, fusionando o Afrobeat coa electrónica, o dub, o R&B e o rap.

En 2015 fixo os coros para Eska, artista británica de pais zimbabuenses, cantautora e multinstrumentista de folk, soul, jazz e dance, na Semana da Moda de Rick Owens en París. No mesmo ano, fixo unha actuación de homenaxe á cantante togolesa Bella Bellow, falecida en 1973 con 28 anos, que creou unha carreira internacional e gravou varios discos, na apertura da exposición de Arte de África do Oeste na Biblioteca Británica.

En 2016 actuou como abreconcertos do británico Seal, de nai nixeriana e pai afrobrasileiro, cantautor de pop, R&B e soul, no Olympia de París. En 2017, actuou no mesmo lugar como abreconcertos para George Benson, guitarrista, cantante e compositor americano de jazz, R&B, funk e soul. E tamén para a cantante e compositora americana de hip hop soul e R&B Mary J. Blige.

Tamén participou en Africa Express, un proxecto de Damon Albarn, líder de Blur e Gorillaz, para facilitar a colaboración entre músicos de países africanos, de Oriente Medio, e occidentais, e axudar a disipar prexuízos e estigmas asociados ao termo “música do mundo”.

YSEE traballou con Brian Eno, e tamén aparece nos temas “Farewell” e “Cowboys or Indians” do disco publicado en 2017 "The Road: Part 1", da banda británica de electrónica, trip hop e rock alternativo UNKLE.

Cando levaba un ano vivindo en Londres con dificultades económicas, casualmente, unha muller á que lle mercou un anel pasoulle o teléfono dun amigo, que á súa vez lle presentou a David Holmes, produtor de "Who Built the Moon?", o terceiro disco de estudio de Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Os tres encontráronse nun restaurante e el pediulle que lle enviara as súas maquetas. Uns minutos máis tarde, David envioulle un email con copia para Noel Gallagher dicíndolle: "Benvida a bordo". En 2017 YSEE aportou as voces para os temas “Fort Knox” e “Be Careful What You Wish For” do álbum, que debutou como número un na lista de discos do Reino Unido, e uniuse á banda no seu tour Stranded On The Earth World Tour, que comezou en Detroit en febreiro de 2018. Entre 2019 e 2020 publicáronse os EPs "Black Star Dancing", "This Is The Place" e "Blue Moon Rising". En 2019 a banda comezou un tour en América do Norte cos Smashing Pumpkins, e posteriormente uníronse a U2 como abreconcertos no The Joshua Tree Tour 2019.

Ese mesmo ano, publicou o single "Qu Est Ce Que Je Dois Faire?", escrito por ela e polos membros de Foster the People Sean Cimino e Isom Innis, para o que tamén gravou un vídeo.

Paralelamente á súa carreira musical, entre 2010 e 2018 YSEE participou como actriz en varias películas e series de televisión: "35 Kilos D'espoir", "Les Amants Naufragés", "Enquêtes Réservées", "Mon Amie Victoria", "Le Sang De La Vigne", "Unidad De Investigación", "Caïn", e "Vestiaires", ademais de contribuír á banda sonora de "The Good Doctor" en 2019.

Audrey é unha persoa que se guía pola verdade e non polo ego e o éxito definido polo neoliberalismo patriarcal, que loita polo seu lugar, mantendo a súa autenticidade e orixinalidade nunha industria extremandamente competitiva, e que preme máis ca nunca ás artistas para que tomen atallos e se convirtan nun produto falso.

Tony Allen foi mentor, figura paterna e amigo cercano de Audrey, e apoiouna moito no entorno hostil da industria da música, especialmente para unha muller negra. Faleceu durante o primeiro confinamento, o 30 de abril de 2020, en París, á idade de 79 anos. Tiña un último álbum asinado con Universal que non puido levar a cabo, e dous ou tres meses despois, a familia e achegados empezaron a escoitar que se ía a publicar un álbum póstumo. Ninguén do círculo íntimo de Tony sabía nada dese álbum, xa que el non fixera ningunha sesión, e estaban totalmente sorprendidos; pero estaba claro que Universal ía a publicalo e a sacar beneficio del. Unha vez máis, estábase repetindo o cliché do artista negro ao que explotan incluso despois de morto, e ao que lle rouban a voz, pois a Tony gustáballe moito ter a última palabra no que respecta a todos os detalles como a remezcla ou a produción dos seus álbums.

A muller de Tony pediulle a Audrey que participara como testemuña no xuízo no que a familia demandou a Universal Music, e ela aceptou inmediatamente, para afirmar que Tony non escribira ese álbum, sabendo que posiblemente a cancelarían como artista. Nese momento, moitas persoas, supostamente das máis cercanas a Tony, déronlles as costas.

Hai unha longa histora de managers brancos na industria da música tratando de transformar aos artistas negros nun produto, apropiándose da súa voz, e isto é especialmente repugnante cando o artista xa non está presente. Hai que ter en conta ademais que Tony era un artista radical e revolucionario, que traballara con Fela Kuti e Hugh Masekela, e que loitou durante toda a súa carreira para sobrevivir na industria da música. 

Aínda que esta experiencia afectou á súa carreira, non cancelou o desexo, a ledicia e a música de YSEE; contribuíu a que deixara de tentar compracer a outros e de cuestionar os seus propios méritos, e motivouna aínda máis para ser ela mesma e para estar con xente que queren ser eles mesmos, e vivir sen arrepentimentos.

En 2021, colaborou na composición e interpretación do single "Aurora" da banda brasileira de rock alternativo Devise.

En xuño de 2022, YSEE publicou o seu primeiro EP, "Tony Allen Makes Me High", unha homenaxe a Tony con cancións de jam sessions, nas que participou o propio artista, e que inclúe unha versión de "The Right Stuff" de Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

Ese mesmo ano, tamén saíu de xira cos Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds e participou na marabillosa actuación da banda no festival de Glastonbury con Paul McCartney no Pyramid Stage.

Ademais, colaborou xunto con outros artistas no album "Rōnin II" da banda UNKLE.

En 2023, nos Polar Music Prize, YSEE rendiu homenaxe á súa heroína, Angélique Kidjo, gañadora do premio xunto con Chris Blackwell e Arvo Pärt. YSEE interpretou "Agolo", e Angélique uniuse a ela no escenario nun momento máxico.

En setembro de 2023, uniuse ao reparto do terceiro episodio de "Bellefond", a serie de France TV.

En febreiro de 2024, embarcouse nuha extraordinaria aventura na que reconectou coas súas orixes viaxando a Togo, no oeste de África. Foi invitada a unha residencia polo Institut français du Togo para abrir a segunda edición do Festival LES AFROPÉENNES, e para traballar con incribles músicos locais. Hai anos que YSEE admira a Bella Bellow, unha cantante asombrosa, que faleceu hai 50 anos. Era moi importante para ela explorar a súa música e saber máis sobre a súa incrible historia, e rendiulle homenaxe xusto en fronte da súa familia. E ademais gravou unha película.

O 10 de decembro de 2024, no Día Dos Dereitos Humanos, estreouse o filme “For Our Family Human”, no que YSEE participou xunto con outros artistas e activistas. Foi dirixido por Dan Cadan e lanzado por Smiley News, unha organización de noticias británica sen ánimo de lucro que se centra no xornalismo de noticias positivas e solucións. O obxectivo era centrar a atención na Declaración Universal dos Dereitos Humanos, reinterpretando os seus 30 artigos, e recadar fondos para Choose Love, unha organización benéfica para refuxiados.

En febreiro de 2025 actuou como abreconcertos de Lisa Ekdahl, e uniuse a ela no escenario como estrela especial invitada nas súas actuacións en Lille e en París.

En maio de 2025 publicouse o single “Sun Is Coming”, unha colaboración de YSEE con Moses Boyd, batería e produtor nomeado aos “Mercury”, e o produtor francés Bastien Burger. Foi gravada e filmada en directo nos estudios Abbey Road dentro da serie “Lock-In”. Conta con actuacións adicionais de Jack Leonard, o pianista de UNKLE; Ollie Rocket, o guitarrista de Mystery Jets e Sunspell; Tom Waters, o saxofonista de Jools Holland, e o artista en solitario Liam Bailey. Trátase dun tema relaxante, que levanta o ánimo, e cheo de ritmo.

Falando do proceso de crear esta canción, YSEE dixo: «Non sabía o que ía pasar na sala cando chegamos, pero sabía que quería unha "canción de abrazos", algo que puidese animar á xente. Comecei a cantarlle a melodía sobre o sol a Bastien, que comezou a tocar un gancho de piano de inmediato, entón Moses comezou a tocar a batería e iso foi todo. Un fermoso momento xunto ao piano buscando melodías conducidas pola batería. A miña querida amiga Jill Furmanovsky veu visitarnos ao estudo e facer fotos. Durante un descanso, díxome que a súa neta, por desgraza, sufrira acoso escolar no seu colexio anterior. Iso reforzou absolutamente a miña vontade de facer disto unha "canción de abrazos" e quizais enviarlle unha mensaxe sobre manterse firme e coidar da súa propia coroa, da súa soberanía. Creo que funciona para todos nós, en todas as idades e períodos da vida. Todos necesitamos un pouco deste sol, e cando chega, lava todas as preocupacións...»

Texto publicado orixinalmente: 11/07/2021

Texto actualizado: 16/06/2025

Audrey Gbaguidi, alias YSEE, is a singer-songwriter and actress born in Draguignan, near Marseille in France, member of the rock band Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Her family is originally from Benin, in West Africa.

Her aunt raised her in France, and until she was six Audrey thought she was her mother, although she was never welcomed into that family. She was born during a trip that her father, a diplomat, and her mother made there, after a seven-month pregnancy, with health problems that prevented her from returning to Africa. They left her there, but they never called her. Singing was a way for her to escape from her difficulties since she was a child, between home and hospital, although she annoyed everyone when she did it.  One day, watching a Disney singer on TV, she discovered that she wanted to pursue it. After hearing her sing, a neighbor, Madame Robert, asked the family to let her teach her singing and piano on Wednesday afternoons; she began to rehearse on Saturdays, and to perform on Sundays in the local parish. Later, she would find out that her mother and grandmother had also been choir directors in churches.

At the age of 17, she ran away from her family and went to live with friends, and then to the streets. Without anyone trying to make her return home, she passed the A levels, and obtained a scholarship to study Psychology in Aix-en-Provence. She quit a year before finishing her degree, because she disagreed with some of the therapeutic methods that were being taught. However, this training allowed her to better handle the pressures of the music industry. She went to Paris, where chance made her have her first meetings with people linked to the industry, and she performed for the first time on television. She also travelled, she met people like Lauryn Hill, and she carried out her first projects. She always worked in France, until she moved to England  in 2015 to continue her career in music.

She began her career working with Tony Allen, who called her to perform on tour with him around the world from 2009 to 2013, and her voice was included on "Moving On", the opening track of the album "Film Of Life". Even though she was the only woman among all the musicians and she didn't feel confident, the only advice Tony gave her was to be herself. Tony Allen was a Nigerian drummer and composer who was part of Fela Kuti's band Africa'70 between 1968 and 1979, and he was one of the main co-founders of Afrobeat. Afrobeat was a musical genre that combined elements of West African music with influences from American jazz, soul, and funk, focusing on vocals, on crossing complex rhythms, and on percussion. Politics was essential in Afrobeat, as it used social criticism to pave the way for change in a context of political injustice and military corruption, during the transition from colonial governments to self-determination. Tony Allen would later form his own band, emigrating to London in 1984 and later moving to Paris. He developed a hybrid sound he called Afrofunk, fusing Afrobeat with electronica, dub, R&B and rap.

In 2015 she did the backing vocals for Eska, a British artist born of Zimbabwean parents, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of folk, soul, jazz and dance, at the Rick Owens Fashion Week in Paris. In the same year, she performed a tribute to the Togolese singer Bella Bellow, who died in 1973 at the age of 28, who created an international career and recorded several albums, at the opening of the exhibition of West African Art at the British Library.

In 2016, she was the opening act for the British Seal, born of a Nigerian mother and an Afro-Brazilian father, singer-songwriter of pop, R&B and soul, at the Olympia in Paris. In 2017, she performed at the same venue as an opening act for George Benson, an American jazz, R&B, funk and soul guitarist, singer and songwriter. And also for American hip hop soul and R&B singer and songwriter Mary J. Blige.

She also participated in Africa Express, a project by Damon Albarn, leader of Blur and Gorillaz, to facilitate collaboration between musicians from African, Middle Eastern, and Western countries, and help dispel prejudices and stigmas associated with the term "world music" .

YSEE has worked with Brian Eno, and she also appears on the tracks "Farewell" and "Cowboys or Indians" from the album released in 2017 "The Road: Part 1", by the British electronic, trip hop and alternative rock band UNKLE.

When she had been living in London for a year with financial difficulties, coincidentally, a woman she bought a ring from gave her the phone of a friend, who in turn introduced her to David Holmes, producer of "Who Built the Moon?", the third studio album of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. The three of them met at a restaurant and he asked her to send him her demos. A few minutes later, David sent her an email with a copy for Noel Gallagher saying, "Welcome on board." In 2017 YSEE contributed vocals to the tracks "Fort Knox" and "Be Careful What You Wish For" from the album, which debuted at number one in the UK Albums Chart, and joined the band on their Stranded On The Earth World Tour Tour, which began in Detroit in February 2018. EPs "Black Star Dancing", "This Is The Place" and "Blue Moon Rising" were released between 2019 and 2020. In 2019 the band began a North American tour with the Smashing Pumpkins, and later joined U2 as openers on The Joshua Tree Tour 2019.

That same year, she released the single "Qu Est Ce Que Je Dois Faire?", written by her and Foster the People members Sean Cimino and Isom Innis, for which she also recorded a video.

In parallel to her musical career, between 2010 and 2018 YSEE participated as an actress in several films and television series: "35 Kilos D'espoir", "Les Amants Naufragés", "Enquêtes Réservées", "Mon Amie Victoria", "Le Sang De La Vigne", "Unidad De Investigación", "Caïn" , and "Vestiaires", as well as contributing to "The Good Doctor" soundtrack in 2019.

Audrey is a person who is guided by truth and not by ego and success defined by patriarchal neoliberalism, who fights for her place, maintaining her authenticity and originality in an extremely competitive industry, that pushes artists more than ever to take shortcuts and  become a fake product.

Tony Allen was Audrey's mentor, father figure and close friend, and he was very supportive of her in the hostile environment of the music industry, especially for a black woman. He died during the first confinement, on April 30, 2020, in Paris, at the age of 79. He had one last album signed with Universal that he couldn't carry out, and two or three months later, family and close friends started hearing that a posthumous album was going to be released. Nobody in Tony's inner circle knew anything about that album, since he hadn't done any sessions, and they were totally surprised; but it was clear that Universal was going to publish it and make a profit from it. Once again, the cliché of the black artist who is exploited even after death, and whose voice is stolen, was being repeated, because Tony really liked to have the last word when it came to all the details such as the remixing or the production of the songs of his albums.

Tony's wife asked Audrey to take part as a witness in the trial in which the family sued Universal Music, and she immediately agreed, to claim that Tony had not written that album, knowing that she would possibly be canceled as an artist. At that point, many people, supposedly those closest to Tony, turned their backs on them.

There is a long history of white managers in the music industry trying to turn black artists into a product, appropriating their voice, and this is especially sickening when the artist is no longer around. It should also be noted that Tony was a radical and revolutionary artist, who had worked with Fela Kuti and Hugh Masekela, and who struggled throughout his career to survive in the music industry.

Although this experience affected her career, it did not cancel the desire, joy and music of YSEE; it helped her to stop trying to please others and question her own merits, and motivated her even more to be herself and to be with people who want to be themselves, and to live with no remorse.

In 2021, she collaborated in the composition and performance of the single "Aurora" by the Brazilian alternative rock band Devise.

In June 2022, YSEE released her first EP, "Tony Allen Makes Me High", a tribute to Tony with songs from jam sessions, that featured the artist himself , and which includes a cover of "The Right Stuff" by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. 

That same year, she also toured with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and took part in the band's wonderful Glastonbury festival performance with Paul McCartney on the Pyramid Stage.

In addition, she collaborated together with other artists on the album "Rōnin II" of the band UNKLE.

In 2023, at the Polar Music Prize, YSEE paid tribute to her heroine, Angélique Kidjo, who won the prize together with Chris Blackwell and Arvo Pärt. YSÉE performed "Agolo", and Angélique joined her on stage for a magical moment.

In September 2023, she joined the cast of the third episode of "Bellefond", the France TV series.

In February 2024, she embarked on an extraordinary adventure in which she reconnected with her origins by traveling to Togo in West Africa. She was invited to a residency by the Institut français du Togo to open the second edition of the LES AFROPÉENNES Festival, and to work with incredible local musicians. For years, YSEE has admired Bella Bellow, an amazing singer, who passed away 50 years ago. It was very important to her to explore her music and learn more about her incredible story, and she paid tribute to her right in front of her family. And  she also recorded a film.

On 10 December 2024, Human Rights Day, the film “For Our Family Human” was released, in which YSEE participated along with other artists and activists. It was directed by Dan Cadan and released by Smiley News, a British non-profit news organization that focuses on positive news and solutions journalism. The aim was to focus attention on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, reinterpreting its 30 articles, and to raise funds for Choose Love, a refugee charity.

In February 2025, she opened for Lisa Ekdahl, joining her on stage as a special guest star at her performances in Lille and Paris.

In May 2025, the single “Sun Is Coming”, a collaboration between YSEE with Mercury Prize-nominated drummer and producer Moses Boyd and French producer Bastien Burger, was released. It was recorded and filmed live at Abbey Road Studios as part of the “Lock-In” series. It features additional performances from UNKLE pianist Jack Leonard; Mystery Jets and Sunspell guitarist Ollie Rocket; Jools Holland saxophonist Tom Waters; and solo artist Liam Bailey. It is a relaxing and uplifting song, with a great groove.

Speaking about the process of creating this song, YSEE said:  “I didn’t know what was going to happen in the room when we arrived, but I knew I wanted a ‘hug song’ - something that could uplift people. I began to sing the melody about the sun to Bastien who started playing a piano hook straight away, then Moses started playing the drums and that was it. A beautiful moment by the piano looking for melodies carried by the drums. My dear friend Jill Furmanovsky came to visit us in the studio and take photos. During a break, she told me her granddaughter unfortunately was bullied at her previous school. It absolutely reinforced my will to make this a ‘hug song’ and to maybe send her a message about standing her ground and taking care of her own crown, her sovereignty. I think it works for all of us, every age and period of life. We all need a bit of this sun, and when it’s coming it washes away all the worries..”

Text originally published: 11/07/2021

Updated text: 16/06/2025