Beyoncé and Jay-Z: the hip-hop power couple celebrates their love of Paris

A profile this month in Europe 1, le Jdd on the most influential duo in today’s music industry highlights how Beyonce and Jay-Z, who recently shot a music video at the Louvre, have for a long time cultivated a deep appreciation and love for France and its capital.  “Paris is a beautiful, sexy city,” said Beyoncé in an interview with Flaunt magazine in 2013. Five years later, the singer is using the space to show her attachment to Paris and France. Last month, after completing secret rehearsals for their European tour at U Arena in Nanterre, Beyoncé and her husband, Jay-Z, privatized the Louvre for two nights (and for €40,000, rumors say), in order to shoot their new music video, “APES**T”.

The ire of the conservatives upon seeing this video, however carefully crafted it is, was apparent: two symbols of “bling-bling” culture in the sacred temple of European art, appropriating “The Mona Lisa”, “Winged Victory of Samothrace” and “The Wedding at Cana”?  No matter what the critics say, however, it is certain that the video has exposed the museum to the masses, maybe even more so than classic advertising campaigns ever could: the video has more than 60 million views on YouTube, nearly eight times the attendance at the Louvre in 2017. The largest museum of art and art antiquities in the world has of course capitalized on this attention: this month, the Louvre will launch an hour and a half long tour featuring the 17 works shown in the video.

True Francophiles

Behind all the buzz provoked by Mr. and Mrs. Carter, however, there is also a real attachment to France, and Paris in particular. “It’s the city of fashion and the arts, always dreaming and boasting an image of luxury and gratification,” says Stéphane Rolland, French fashion designer and haute couture fashion brand, who has been dressing Beyoncé for the past ten years. Paris is where the couple got engaged, before becoming officially married at a private ceremony in New York in April 2008. It was also in Paris, on a spring evening in 2011, that they conceived their daughter Blue Ivy.

Two years later, on her album “Beyoncé”, the artist still claimed her love for “the city of sensuality”. The music video for her song “Partition” features the singer silhouetted against the coquettish setting of the Crazy Horse Cabaret, with the phrase “Est-ce que tu aimes le sexe?” peppering the bridge.  Jay-Z also celebrated the capital in the hymn “Ni**as in Paris”, a duet with Kanye West, released in 2010. For the cover art of the single, the rappers adopted the French flag.

INGLEWOOD, CA – AUGUST 24: Blue Ivy Carter, Jay-Z and Beyonce onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images)

The Parisian In Crowd

In the wonderful universe of the Carters, as for many Americans, Paris is a party, and the couple indeed has their fair share of contacts in the area. Jay-Z is a close friend of Jean Reno, his wife Zofia Borucka being a childhood friend of the New York rapper.  Jay is even the godfather of their 7 year old son Dean.  Jay-Z also has a cordial relationship with Nicola Sirkis, Indochine being one of the shareholders of his music platform, Tidal. A great lover of champagne, Jay-Z owns the Armand de Brignac brand, acquired for $30 million at the Cattier champagne house in 2014. He intends to make it the most expensive champagne in the world. With the cheapest bottle costing €250 and a blanc de noirs at €825 euros, he is well on his way to achieving this goal.

In terms of gastronomy, Beyoncé and Jay-Z frequent the finest trendy establishments, such as the Italian restaurant “Nolita”, that they privatized in July 2016; “L’Acajou”, owned by former Top Chef candidate Jean Imbert; and “Septime”, temple of bistro culture introduced to them by Romain Gavras, their director-friend, and son of Costa Gavras. “The arrival of Beyoncé and Jay-Z has illustrated a cultural shift where smaller gourmet restaurants focusing on fine, beautiful products have overtaken the less eye-catching cuisine of the larger, more-established restaurants,” explained Bertrand Grébaut, head of Septime, in 2014.

Fashion creator Stéphane Rolland emphasizes: “They rely on a team of advisers who know the best places and trends in Paris and elsewhere.  This is where they manage to be leaders.  They have a vision, both broad and detailed at the same time, that allows them to talk to the world.”

Will they invest?

Nevertheless, it is in Paris that the Carters have seriously considered buying a pied-à-terre. It was in 2014, after two concerts at the Stade de France, that a real estate agent took them to visit several penthouses and in particular, an apartment on rue du Cirque, a stone’s throw from l’Elysée, where the clandestine meetings of President Hollande and Julie Gayet took place.  Eventually, the couple, whose fortune is estimated at $810 million, rented a mansion for the tidy sum of €155,000 per month.

If the Carters, however, are still interested in investing long-term, Paris Property Group recommends they consider “La Grande Dame”, the four bedroom, 3 bath exclusive listing on Avenue de la Bourdonnais, right across the street from the Eiffel Tower.  This breath-taking property offers the ideal combination of location, historic charm, and upper level floor for light, has already experienced a touch of fame: the cult film “Le Dîner de Cons” with French heartthrob Thierry Lhermitte was filmed here.

In the meantime however, throughout years of regular visits to Paris, the Carters have explored, under fake names and covert arrivals, almost all of the capital’s most luxurious hotels: Royal-Monceau, George-V, Meurice, and even the Shangri-La, where a suite with a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower runs at €17,000 a night. It was in July 2016, in the wake of the attack on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, that Beyoncé posted a photo of a French flag hanging on a luxurious balcony after her concert at the Stade de France, as a sign of solidarity with the country and region so dear to them. It was in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat that the couple vacationed between their two concerts in Paris last weekend, and it is in Nice that they decided to finish their European tour.

French roots

France is where it all began for Beyoncé, whose francophile tendencies have rubbed off on her husband. “Every time I’m in Paris, it’s hard to come back to the United States. I feel at home here,” she said.  And for good reason: although born in Houston, Texas, Queen B has French blood through her mother, a Louisiana Creole, descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard.

It is also in France that Beyoncé first traveled abroad at the age of 16 and experienced her first international successes with Destiny’s Child in the late 1990s.  The group performed in a shopping mall outside of Paris, a concert that was as memorable as it was unlikely. “It was crazy: there were hundreds of people there even though we were still unknown,” she told a magazine in 2004. “I was singing on a small podium and I was afraid the crowd would tip the stage.”

Twenty years later, Beyoncé returns to the city of her heart an absolute queen.  Symbolically so, the first of the duo’s two sold-out concerts fell on July 14th, France’s national holiday, and the second show the next day, took place immediately after the French national team won the World Cup.  On stage at the Stade de France, she appeared in an organza wedding dress specially made by the French duo, On aura tout vu. Already in 2016, for the music video of her single “Formation”,, Beyoncé wore a creation from this tiny Parisian workshop, preferring their fashions to those of larger luxury brands.

“Two months ago, we were contacted by her personal stylist, Zerina Ackers. It was a Sunday night, she needed the dress ready for the following Friday in LA.  She knew we could keep these impossible deadlines.  Twelve people worked tirelessly and the day she received the dress, there was no need for alterations.”

M. et Mme. Carter: future Parisians?

The wedding dress was specifically chosen to celebrate ten years of marriage with Jay-Z.  Is Paris the city where the Carters could see themselves growing old together? In 2014, Beyoncé admitted that she had already daydreamed about one day retiring in Paris and teaching French to her daughter Blue Ivy.

If this is something the Carters are seriously considering, Paris Property Group would suggest they look into this 3 bed / 3 bath residence on Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie, in the 8th arrondissement.  This impeccable property features massive views and is located in the heart of the Golden Triangle area of Paris. It’s an elegant address that is both quiet and centrally located, the perfect spot to raise their three children.