Coupé-Décalé

Coupe Décalé (or Couper - Decaler - Travailler ) is a music and dance form that has been created in the Paris diaspora of musicians from the Ivory Coast in 2003; his original base is the Ziglibithy. Coupe Décalé currently considered as the most popular style of music in Africa.

The NZZ performs " In Abidjan vernacular Nouchi means" couper " as much as " drunk "or" mischief ".

In the context of living in Paris Ivorian youth, to fend for partial dubious manner, the meaning has to " cheat " or " steal money " moved. If you get criminally once to wealth, comes for a then the " décaler » for the course - it is, quickly run away in the home. Arrived in Abidjan, is finally the " travailler " to the series. Among them, however, not the exercise of a middle-class profession is understood, but the output of whatever earned money: drive German sedans, buy Italian clothes, wearing Swiss Nobel watches, drinking champagne, smoking Cuban cigars, eating Russian caviar and enjoy the nightlife in the bars and clubs. "

Its origins lie in the dance of not far from Abidjan located village Akoupé, which was caricatured by the youth of the capital. For a fun, a new dance has developed embedded in electronic music, the influences of the Ivorian Zouglou, the Cameroonian Makossa has the soukous and Congolese rumba.

Musicians such as died in 2006 Douk Saga, molar or Lino Versace ( they call themselves after a Parisian disco and because of their way of life, " la Jet Set ") have left Africa as a result of political instability and settled in Paris. They shy away from the political issues that prevails in the music of the home, and praise a purely hedonistic lifestyle.

These tributes are in the tradition of Atalakus, singing entertainers that form an integral part of the Congolese orchestras and are solely responsible to intersperse praise in the songs. This is supplemented with amusing phrases, creative word formations or onomatopoeic sounds and repeats in a monotonic manner with high linguistic and performative power of innovation. Constantly new dance moves being invented and named with original name.

So Douk Saga baptized his own style " sagacité " molar has the " farot - farot " invented, and Shanaka Yakuza promoted the " drogbacité " - these dance steps imitate the movements Didier Drogba, the Ivorian football stars in the English club Chelsea FC. Other key terms of the coupe Décalé vocabulary are " ambiancer ", " bien gallop " ( galloping dance ), " boucantier " ( in public a show pull off ) or " s'envoler " ( cut off ). They belong to a limited set of verbs that are used in many songs.