Music of Ivory Coast

Traditional music

Each of the more than sixty ethnic groups of Côte d'Ivoire have their own folk music traditions, most showing strong vocal polyphony (a common characteristic of African music), especially the Baoulé. Talking drums are also common, especially among the Appollo, who are also known for their abissa purification dance, part of the popular Zoblazo dance music of Meiway. Polyrhythm, another African characteristic, is found throughout Côte d'Ivoire and is especially common in the southwest.

Popular Music

Gbégbé, a Bété rhythm, has been a part of popular music since Côte d'Ivoire's independence, popularized by Soeurs Comöé and later, Frères Djatys and Sery Simplice.www.serysimplice.com Ernesto Djédjé, however, is considered the father of Ivorian popular music. Using one of the folk rhythms of the Bété as well as his teacher, Amédée Pierre's dopé style. Djédjé has long been an advocate of Ivorian music, railing against the "Congolization" of the Abidjan scene. Outside of Côte d'Ivoire, Djédjé is best known for 1977's Gnoantre-Ziboté, which was a pan-African hit and found some success in France and Canada. He plays a type of music called ziglibithy.

Since Djédjé, few Ivorian musicians have been able to achieve the same level of fame. Luckson Padaud's laba laba style, which is similar to the Bété ziglibithy, has had some success, as has Gnaore Djimi's polihet.

Ivorian artists in World styles

The most popular styles in Côte d'Ivoire are imported reggae from Jamaica and hip hop from the United States; the country has produced notable musicians of both genres, especially Alpha Blondy whose brand of Afro-reggae became a national hit following his appearance on the TV show First chance in 1983. Tiken Jah Fakoly is another popular Ivorian reggae musician, who has been living in exile due to his politically outspoken lyrics.

Hip hop has been popular in Côte d'Ivoire since the mid-1990s, and includes a gangsta rap-influenced style called rap dogba. Notable hip hop musicians include All Mighty, Rudy Rudiction, M.C. Claver and Angelo. The new R&B group 2431(formerly known as Monah) is also taking over, as R&B became very famous since U.S. chart-topping Akon had a concert in Abidjan, late 2006. Other R&B stars include Teeyah and Tour de Garde.

Zoblazo

Zoblazo, pioneered from 1990 by Meiway, the former front man to the bands Les Genitaux, Defense d'Ivoire, and Zo Gang,integrated traditional rythmns of southern Cote D'Ivoire with electronic instruments and party lyrics. His success across the country and West Africa in the mid to late 1990s spawned a string of hit Zoblazo records that has continued through 2007, even as other dance styles, like prudencia and coupé décalé have edged out Zoblazo. Even Meidway, through a series of guest musicians like Manu Dibango, Jacob Desvarieux, Lokua Kanza, Kojo Antwi and Koffi Olomidé has added Cuban, Mbalax and Ghanaian Hi-life musics.

Zouglou

Zouglou, a recent Ivorian popular tradition, comes from the early 1990s when university students, upset about living conditions on campus, began rallying around Didier Bilé. Zouglou was satirical in nature, and usually accompanied by a dance to a fictional god.

Coupé-Décalé

Coupé-Décalé was pioneered by the late Stephane Doukouré (a.k.. "Douk-Saga") during the post-2002 militaro-political crisis in Cote d'Ivoire. It reflects the aspirations of a large section of Ivorian youth. Coupé-Décalé is a very percussive style featuring African samples, deep bass, and repetitive, minimalist arrangements. Lyrically, Coupé-Décalé is about happiness, expressing daily life in Ivorian society, and also gives an insight into the political situation of the country. The prominent artists of Coupé-Décalé are Douk-Saga (Doukouré) with its Jet Set, DJ Brico, DJ Arsenal, Papa Ministre with his famous tune "Coupé-Décalé Chinois", and many other talented Ivorian artists. The most prominent singer in actuality is named DJ Lewis with its Grippe Aviaire Dance, derived from Coupé-Décalé. Other names like David Tayorault, Afrika Reprezenta, DJ Lewis are very recurrent.

References

• Bensignor, François and Brooke Wentz. "Heart of the Industry". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 472-476. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-635-2
• Kohlhagen, Dominik. "Frime, escroquerie et cosmopolitisme: Le succès du 'Coupé-Décalé' en Afrique et ailleurs" (Display, Fraud and Cosmopolitanism. Coupé-Décalé's success in Africa and beyond). 2006. In Politique Africaine no. 100, pp 92-105
• Ivorian Reggae singer Tiken Jah Fakoly persona non grata in Senegal, APA Wire, 13 December 2007].
• Ivorians catch bird flu dance fever By James Copnall BBC News, Abidjan, 12 May 2006

External links

• Discography for Ivory Coast :Afropop Worldwide(2003)
• music from the Ivory Coast

Ivorian Hip Hop

• Raplloco: Ivorian Hip Hop portal.
• africanhiphop.com: Ivorian Hip Hop: 2002.
• It's killing Ivorian Hip Hop! Interview with leading Ivorian Hip Hop stars, unitednationsofhiphop.com, 09 February 2006
• The Hip Hop Generation: Ghana's Hip Life and Ivory Coast's Coupé-Decalé. Siddhartha Mitter, Afropop Worldwide.
• on Coupe Decale.F3K 2008