Le Roi Du Ziglibithy

Description

Analog Africa pays tribute to the “King of Ziglibithy”, the founder of the Ziglibithy movement, with this compilation featuring tracks from 1977 ? 1982. Ernesto Dj?dj? was one of the most innovative artists C?te d’Ivoire has ever produced. It was a trip to Nigeria and experiencing Fela Kuti’s music that inspired Ernesto and steeled his resolve to modernize Ivorian music. He rose to fame in a matter of years, popularising the Ziglibithy style – a mixture of the rhythms and chants of the B?t? people with the popular styles of the period, Makossa, Funk and Disco.

His untimely mysterious death in 1983, aged 35, shocked the country.

Somewhere between a philosophy and a musical genre, Ziglibithy is said to draw its strength from the sacred trees in the tropical forests of C?te d’Ivoire. The legend has it that, through a perpetual communion with the jungle, Ernesto Dj?dj? was able to establish a connection with the wicked panther, a manifestation of the mystical forces that reside within the forest. The mighty faunal queen ended up succumbing to Ernesto’s voice, transferring all of her powers to the singer on the condition that he continue to sing and dance Ziglibithy; and in only a few years it helped Ernesto rise to the top of the Ivorian music scene, until a mysterious early death brought a sudden end to his fabled career.