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WEDNESDAY
Half French and half Cameroonian, the two sisters of Les Nubians are as ethnically exotic as Bjork and much more genuinely Afrocentric than Erykah Badu. Helene and Celia Faussart grew up on soul at its smoothest and hiphop at its most aware. They cite their influences as jazz, world, R&B, and other styles of the African diaspora, but their music has a decidedly modern triphop element to it, and they sing mostly in French. Les Nubians’ sound is pleasing, but not easy to pigeonhole. Their target audience is equally difficult to pin down. At the recent College Music Journal Music Marathon in New York, however, one panel discussion put it all in perspective. The panel, composed of A&R reps from various major labels, solicited and played amateur demos from the audience. Afterward, the panelists commented on what aspects of the songs might catch a record label exec’s greedy ear. They listened as one anonymous female singer’s bittersweet R&B vocals poured out of the speakers. When the song was finished, one of the panelists immediately asked, “What does she look like?” A disturbed voice in the audience rejoined, “Does it matter?” In unison, the panelists answered, “Yes.” What’s that the marketable-looking Les Nubians are lying in? Looks like pay dirt to me. With Olu at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13, at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $15. (202) 393-0930. (Neil Drumming)