Ernesto Djédjé

Über Ernesto Djédjé

Ernesto Djédjé built ziglibithy out of the Bété rhythms of western Côte d'Ivoire and turned it into the country's first genuinely national popular style. His 1977 album Ziboté, recorded in Lagos, paired hard guitar lines and dense percussion with singing in Bété rather than French, and it made him a star across West Africa. He was billed as the king of ziglibithy for the rest of his short career. His death in 1983 at thirty-six cut off a body of work that still anchors every account of modern Ivorian music.