[verbals: Sarah Bentley]

Coupe Decale is party music African style. As it spreads throughout the continent, Europe and beyond, it’s a genre any self-respecting DJs need to plug into.

“And now, The Jet Seeeeeeeeet.” It’s 5.30am and Molaré, Bobo Sangui, Lino Versace and Solo Béton, all members of Africa’s premier coupé decalé crew, frug onto the empty dancefloor. The three hundred strong crowd of mainly Ivorian émigrés packed into this bouji Paris nightclub whoop and cheer. The crew all rock skin tight T’s, blingy shades and are dripping in ’90s designer labels – Versace, D&G, Armani. As they launch into a synchronised routine of isolated hip twirls and begin to chat on the mic, the well-groomed crowd, all sitting at tables with champagne buckets and balloon arrangements, shower the stage with 50 and 100 Euro notes.

Bizarre as it may seem, the passing of money between audience and artist, artist and audience, is a major part of coupé decalé culture and is inspired by atalaku, an ancient griot practice where, for a fee, the griot would make a dedication to local heavyweights. In the coupé decalé dance, everyone from artists, fans, promoters, revellers and local gangsters engage in acts of munificence (known as travailler) – buying everyone drinks, giving out bundles of cash or, in the case of coupé decalé founder Douk Saga, wearing two haute couture suits so he could strip one off to toss into the crowd. Discretion is anathema to coupé decalé heads. The point of travailler is to make the act as highly visible as possible.

Coupé Decalé is a dance/party music that emerged and developed in France and Cote D’Ivoire simultaneously around 2002. According to DJ Edu from BBC 1Xtra, the sound is a mixture of Congolese styles like zouglou but with “hip hop hype man” vocals and a fast, jiggy tempo, “akin to 4/4 house.” Like any new music genres, there are various explanations for the origins of the name. The most common is it was inspired by the shady practices (credit card fraud, internet scams, identity theft) of the scene’s founders – Ivorian youths living in France with inexplicably healthy bank balances and bling lifestyles. Coupé means to cut or cheat, and decalé to slip away without being caught, so coupé decalé basically means to cut and run. It’s Robin Hood, African style: going to Europe to rinse foreigners then returning home to splash the cash on your community.

Unsurprisingly the music initially had a bad reputation. Traditional Ivorian musicians berated the new genre and what it stood for. The Jet Set and other high profile artists were accused so many times of corruption they had to publicly explain their sources of income. Douk Saga said the source of his initial wealth was “trading in Europe”; Molaré said, he worked in “real estate”; Junior Kuyo was “the son of a millionaire” and John Kouamé’s father was a successful “legal arms dealer.” As the genre has gained popularity and artists have been able to generate legitimate sources of income from the music alone (a high profile coupé decalé performer is paid Eur3000 for international shows), it has shed its dodgy image and is a national source of pride.

The dancers are a major contributing factor to coupé decalé’s success. Like Jamaican dancehall culture, new routines are devised on a weekly basis and, thanks to video clip sites like YouTube, new moves sweep through the global coupé decalé community in a matter of weeks. The most publicized dance ever created was the Bird Flu by rising coupé decalé star DJ Lewis. He created it shortly after the first case of bird flu was reported in neighbouring Nigeria. He says, “Like our ancestors who used dance to chase illness away, I wanted to create a dance that brought joy instead of fear.” The dance, and many since, have been brought to mainstream attention by Ivorian footballers such as Chelsea’s Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou who often perform them after scoring goals.

What’s perhaps most interesting about coupé decalé is the time which it enjoyed its initial surge in popularity was when the country was stricken with civil war. Etienne of Radioclit, one of the only UK-based DJ’s to do a dedicated coupé decalé mix, observes, “The country’s most ridiculous party music emerged while it was at its most politically unstable.” Etienne is currently working with coupé decalé producer Bablee, who is renowned for his amazing coupé decalé beat Bablee Sumaz, and has been part of the movement since its inception. He remembers when war broke out in 2002, the situation was so explosive that most businesses closed down. Few people worked during the day and a curfew at night meant that no one partied in the maquis (outdoor marquees that serve as Abidjan’s main party spots). Consequently the maquis started opening at 9, 10am in the morning with wild, all-day coupé decalé parties suddenly the norm.

“It sounds crazy but the parties were escapism from the mayhem on the streets,” says Bablee. “That’s why the lyrics were so carefree and flippant, we needed them to be that way so we could forget out troubles and have a good time.” And how are the lyrics today? “It’s funny,” he says. “Because things are slightly more stable, coupé decalé artists are started to add more socially aware messages into their lyrics. The tracks sound just as light hearted and fun as before, but if you listen closely, the message is getting deeper.”

Listen to Radioclit’s coupé decalé podcast mix at here or cop Debruit’s coupe decale EP for Musique Large here

The Founder: Douk Saga & The Jet Set
Douk Saga aka The President is regarded as the founder of coupé decalé. He was one of the young Ivorians whom developed the genre in the backstreet nightclubs of Paris and honed the genre’s hyper bling aesthetic and rooted its philosophy in success, status and progress. He was the leader of the genre’s premier seven man crew The Jet Set but on 12th October 2006 he died in hospital of tuberculosis. His demise was well documented on African Internet news sites with pictures showing him hooked up to dialysis machines. A few months ago a huge party was held in his honour in Abidjan for coupé decalé artists old and new to pay homage to him.

New Artists To Watch
As The Jet Set have become institutions of the sound, a new era of coupé decalé talents who blend the sound with other dance genres such as techno and house are rocking the clubs of Paris and the maquis of Abidjan. Names to look out for include:
DJ Lewis
DJ Marethal
Konty DJ’s
Decaprio
Bora Ba.

Fact
In the founding years of coupé decalé artists presented each new song like it was a new sub-style with its own sound and dance. Tracks like Sagacité, Prudencia, Farot-Farot, Saute-Mouton, Sentiment Moko, Konami, Fouka-Fouka, Decalé Chinois and Festiboulance are commonly hailed as the original hits of coupé decalé, many of the records coming from members of The Jet Set. Sagacité by Douk Saga had him dedicating a city/ghetto to himself. Artists have since released tunes prefixing the “cité” with their own names such as Bableecité.

Dances
Bird Flu: Created by DJ Lewis to bring ‘joy’ instead of fear to the prospect of bird flu.
Guantanomo: One of the first political statements to appear in the hedonistic scene the dance involved clasping your hands together as if handcuffed.
Ca: Hailing from nearby Togo this dance is currently causing controversy with its sexually explicit moves.
Fatigue Fatigue: A new dance that sees revelers falling about pretending to be sleepy.

Top coupé decalé tunes
Pepo by DJ Jacob, Arafat & Caloudi
Faut Couper Décaler by Kaysha
Magic Ambiance by Magic System
On sait pa ou va? By DJ Jacab featuring Kaysha
Bablee Samez by Bablee
Sentiment Moko by DJ Serpent Noir