Music
Ernesto Djédjé: the Ivorian creator of ziglibithy who died at the peak of his fame
Ernesto Djédjé fused the rhythms of the Bété people with funk and Congolese guitar to create ziglibithy, the…
Ivorian music
Music
White handkerchiefs and “200% Zoblazo”: Meiway, the Ivorian who named a dance style
Meiway, born Frédéric Désiré Ehui in Grand-Bassam in 1962, pioneered zoblazo, an Ivorian dance style. His hits include…
Arts + Culture
Students in Abidjan turned their frustrations into dance music: the story of zouglou
Zouglou was born in the early 1990s among university students in Abidjan, who sang humorous and critical songs…
Arts + Culture
Born in a Paris nightclub, raised in wartime Abidjan: how coupé-décalé began with Douk Saga and La Jet Set
Coupé-décalé began among Ivorians in Paris around La Jet Set, a group founded in 2001 whose leader Douk…
Music
The king of coupé-décalé died at 33: DJ Arafat and the stadium that sang for him all night
Ivorian star DJ Arafat, born Ange Didier Houon and known as the king of coupé-décalé, crashed his motorbike…
Arts + Culture
“Premier Gaou” means “first fool”: how four friends from Anoumabo took zouglou to Paris
Magic System, formed in Abidjan in the 1990s by friends from the working-class neighbourhood of Anoumabo, recorded "1er…