Jaloux

"Jaloux" is a song by French-British alternative pop singer Beastette. Written by Beastette herself and her sister, Stephanie Kesh, and produced by dark pop singer and Beastette's best friend MIDNIGHT, "Jaloux" is the first single from Beastette's French language debut EP Francais. "Jaloux" was Beastette's first single to be released in the French language and served as her debut single in francophone Europe such as France, Belgium, Switzerland, and also in Quebec (Canada). An English version of the song, "Jealous", was released as her debut single in English-speaking Canada. "Jaloux", that being the French version, was supposed to be released as an official single in the UK and Ireland but plans to release the single there were scrapped.

Borrowing a background melody belonging to an unused demo of MIDNIGHT titled "Acidic Anna", the song lyrically is about dealing with one's own jealousy. Upon its commercial release, the single was very successful and drew also critical acclaim. "Jaloux" hit #1 in France, becoming Beastette's first number one single in that country, and was eventually certified Platinum there. The single also reached the top ten in Switzerland, Belgium, and Canada.

Background, writing, and composition
Beastette began recording the Francais EP in the spring of 2011. Before she recorded "Jaloux", she was listening to demos to record for the EP and came across a song called "Acidic Anna", which turned out to be an unused demo for MIDNIGHT. "Acidic Anna" had very dark lyrics, which Beastette naturally liked (because it was written by MIDNIGHT, an artist she considers a "great force in the industry") but felt it was unsuitable as it did not fit with the rest of the lyrical content of Francais. Beastette did however like the backing melody of the song and decided to sample it for the single. She then contacted MIDNIGHT to produce the song, in which she accepted. When writing the song, the song was originally written in English and had to be translated in French by Beastette's sister Stephanie and Stephanie's friend who worked as a translator for Google. When it came time to record the song, like many other songs on her Francais EP, Beastette had to learn the words phonetically as she naturally did not speak French.

Beastette wrote the song in the spring of 2011 but, unlike Beastette's other songs, the inspiration of the single is unknown as Beastette's songs always seemingly have a source of inspiration. Lyrically, the song talks about a protagonist who is insanely jealous of another person but tries not to be. In the song, Beastette sings the song "motherfucker its me" which she borrowed from the original "Acidic Anna" demo.

The song is a mid-tempo rock-inspired dark pop song that was produced by MIDNIGHT. Built around the sample and backing track of the "Acidic Anna" demo, the song is meant to give off a "foreboding, dark, and somewhat sinister" tone. Beastette sings the song in an intense angry tone and even borders on screaming (she doesn't do it though) when she sings the chorus. Her sister, Stephanie Kesh, provides additional background vocals in the chorus where her vocals are muffled and auto-tuned.

Promotion and release
"Jaloux" was acknowledged as Beastette's first French-speaking single and her label, Fusion Records, decided that the single's (and its parent EP, Francais) target audience would be ideally francophone Europe and Quebec, which is the French-speaking part of Canada. Prior to this, Beastette only released her material in the UK, Ireland, and the United States. As such, "Jaloux" would be her first single to be released outside of these countries and also her debut single in France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Canada. Wanting the song to be released in all of Canada, Fusion Records also decided to release the English version of the song, "Jealous", as a single for the English-speaking Canadian market. In the UK and Ireland, the original French version of the song would've been the official version released in those two countries because it was thought to make good publicity for Beastette, as the UK was the singer's most successful market for her career.

"Jaloux" was released on 6 June 2011 in France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Canada on digital download. In Canada, the English version of the single "Jealous" was released to the English speaking market of the group. The English version was also released in Denmark. Though the single was supposed to be released in the UK and Ireland, plans to release it in those two countries were scrapped. Beastette would indeed choose "Lavande" as the lead single from her Francais EP in the UK and Ireland. "Jaloux" or "Jealous" was not released in the United States either.

Critical response
The song received positive reviews for its lyrics, Beastette's choice to sing in French, her vocal performance, the involvement of MIDNIGHT, and the production of the track itself. The English version of the song equally got rave reviews though many prefered the French version over the English version.

Commercial performance
"Jaloux" managed to reach #1 in France, becoming Beastette's first chart topper in the country. Staying there for four weeks, the single was eventually certified Platinum by the SNEP (Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique). The single reached the top ten on (both of the) charts in Belgium where it reached #10 in Flanders and #6 in Wallonia. In Switzerland, the single reached #4. In Canada, the single reached #5. As a result, it became Beastette's first top ten singles in those countries.