Three decades after his death, French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg remains a go-to reference point for British and American artists trying to tap his distinctive blend of musical risk-taking and louche style.
Strands of Gainsbourg’s music proved as popular in 1990s United States hip-hop — cropping up in songs by Nas, the Wu Tang Clan and Busta Rhymes — as they have with his more obvious, singer-songwriter successors of recent years.
The ball was already rolling just before his death on March 2, 1991, when De La Soul used two samples from his oeuvre for their album “De La Soul is Dead” of that year.
Gainsbourg’s wounded ennui and Gallic swoon soon cast a spell over …
Keep on reading: 30 years later, Gainsbourg still a global influence