Bons baisers de France

If I haven’t posted anything since the beginning of the new year, it is because it has been hectic with unfortunately very little time to post. I have arrived in Paris on January 15 (10 days ago).Between getting lost, managing jet lag and being a tourist  - I have managed to meet with 2 scholars, 2 journalists and many Ivorians. Everyone I have told about my project so far finds it odd but happens to be genuinely interested.

Unlike in North America, people seem to generally have a better familiarity with the music I intend to study (Zouglou and Coupe Decale). This is perhaps due to Magic System popularizing the Zouglou genre and various Coupe Decale songs topping summer charts in France (Decale Gwada, Ami oh etc.). However, very few people seem aware of the real origins of these genres and the circumstances of their emergence.  Answers I have received have varied widely but all seem to center around a common theme. People understand Coupe Decale to be a “musique d’ambiance” (party music) with somewhat unclear origins. The meaning of the term “Coupe Decale” itself is subject to serious ambiguity. It can be translated directly from French to mean “Cut and Shift”, or it could be translated into Nouchi (Abidjan French) to mean “Steal and Run Away” or some attribute its etymology to the Attie town of “Akoupe”, an ethnic group in Cote D’Ivoire who are said to have inspired the dance. To a lot of people Coupe Decale is just to dance and party – that’s about it.

On the other hand Ivorian people I have spoken with have identified Zouglou to be the “music with the message”.  “I listen to it when I want to reflect on life”, a friend in Chateau D’eau told me. It’s fair to say that Zouglou’s message seems somewhat more overt and accessible. The style has always been highly political and, until the early 2000s, has often been used to denounce wrongs in Ivorian society.

On my quest to find the true meaning of Coupe Decale, I have been recommended Henry Louis Gate Jr.’s book “The Signifying Monkey”. Even though I have yet to get a hold of a copy, my current research has led me on a path rich with African folk tales and layers of meanings. I am at the moment convinced that Coupe Decale carries a very strong political message, I just need to unveil it somehow! In order to do so, I will need to analyze the songs, dances, clothing and discourses of various Coupe Decale “actors”. These actors will include artists, promoters, record labels etc. found in the Coupe Decale universe.  Thankfully, I have been able to set up a series of meetings with these various actors starting tomorrow. I will soon be off to Mons in Belgium to watch James Carles’ piece “Coupe Decale” and hopefully interview him and obtain his views on the political nature of this genre. I could not have asked for a better way to start this project!