Angelo Dogba

Originally from Blokosso, a village on the outskirts of Abidjan, Angelo Dogba, whose civil status is Ange Romain Akou, began his musical career in 1988 when he formed a group, Crazy B, with Sky Larock and Chase Boogie. The three of them blended the rhythms of Ivorian music with the old-school American rap of the 1990s, as in a track like "Hustler". But it was in 1996 that Dogba really came into his own. With his album Represent, he broke new ground in hip-hop, combining these aesthetic influences with jungle instrumentals typical of the British electronic and rave scene. It's an astonishing combination, and one that sets the Ivorian apart from the rest of the rap world. The tracks "Dogba" and "Ne baissez pas les bras " are hit singles, taking the rapper to the top of the charts in Côte d'Ivoire and Africa. On the strength of these successes, Angelo Dogba moved to the United States, where he nevertheless kept a lower profile on the music scene. It was in 2023, on January 25 to be precise, that his name was once again in the news: Dogba's body was found lifeless in the United States. Coming shortly after the death of another figure, Yaméogo Claver aka MC Claver, the event moved the whole of Côte d'Ivoire, which paid tribute to a protagonist of the Ivorian rap scene in the 1990s.

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