Ernesto Djédjé

Ernest Djédjé Blé, known as Ernesto Djédjé, singer, poet, dancer, arranger and guitarist, was born in 1947 in Bétés country, in the village of Tahiraguhé, Côte d'Ivoire. Creator of the ziglibithy musical and dance style, he is considered one of the pioneers of zouglou and coupé-décalé. Neglected by his father, a Senegalese businessman, he was raised by his mother's family. At the age of ten, he learned tohourou, a traditional rhythm from Bété country, which formed the basis of the first poems he wrote. He went on to learn guitar, and in 1963 formed a band with his friend Mamadou Kanté. Two years later, the two musicians joined conductor Amédée Pierre's Ivoiro-Star Band. In 1968, he decided to move to France. There he met Manu Dibango, whom he recruited for the arrangements of his first album, Anowa, in 1970, which blended soul, traditional music and rhythm'n'blues. The following year, he teamed up with the Reeba orchestra to create the album N'wawuile/N'koiyeme . In 1973, he went on to record Mamadou Coulibaly, then Zokou Gbeuly . He finally returned home that year with the intention of modernizing his country's music by incorporating elements of disco and Congolese rumba. This desire for openness materialized on the album Aguissè in 1975. During a trip to Nigeria, he discovered the music of Fela Kuti, which was a revelation for him insofar as it achieved the crossbreeding he was aiming for. The man nicknamed "the King" gradually perfected ziglibithy, a blend of disco and Bété dance. With producer Raimsi Gbadassi, he spent six months in the studio perfecting the 33-turn Zibote, which contains the hit of the same name. In 1978, he released Les Ziglibithiens, named after the group that accompanied him on stage. During this period, he earned a new nickname: "Gnoantré national", meaning "the man a whole nation fights with". The following years saw the release of Golozo (1979), Azonadé (1980) and Zouzoupale (1981). His last album, Tizeré, was released in 1982, shortly before his sudden death at the age of 35 on June 9, 1983, in Yamoussoukro military hospital. His death is shrouded in mystery, as there is talk of food poisoning as much as political assassination.

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