Zoblazo is a musical style from

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre ...

, created in the early 1990s. It is a cosmopolitan popular dance music with simple up-tempo rhythm and high tech instrumentation and contains a mixture of traditional dance rhythms from southern Côte d'Ivoire. Zoblazo's best known exponent is

Freddy Meiway Frederic Desire Ehui , best known as Meiway (born 17 March 1962 in Grand Bassam), is a singer from the Ivory Coast. He is most notable for pioneering the Zoblazo Zoblazo is a musical style from Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, als ...

, who has released a series of Zoblazo records starting in 1989 with the record "Ayibebou" with his group

Zo Gang Zo or ZO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Kamen Rider ZO'', a 1993 Japanese tokusatsu movie * ''Zo'' (album), an album by jazz pianist Matthew Shipp Ethnography * Zo people, a group of indigenous tribe in Burma and northeast India ** Zo ...

. An ethnic

N'Zema The Nzema are an Akan people numbering about 328,700, of whom 262,000 live in southwestern Ghana and 66,700 live in the southeast of Côte d'Ivoire. In Ghana the Nzema area is divided into three electoral districts: Nzema East Municipal, also kno ...

from

Grand Bassam Grand-Bassam () is a town in southeastern Ivory Coast, lying east of Abidjan. It is a sub-prefecture of and the seat of Grand-Bassam Department; it is also a commune. During the late 19th century, Grand-Bassam was briefly the French colonial c ...

, Meiway integrated folk rhythms from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana with and is danced to with a white handkerchief. From his second album in 1990 entitled ''200% Zoblazo'', Meiway became the second best known Ivorian and N'zema musician after Alpha Blondy, and has released a steady stream records, the most recent ''9ème commandement –900% zoblazo'' released in 2007.

External links

RFI Musique: Meiway Biography
January 2007.
Review Meiway - Golgotha (800% Zoblazo)
Africa On Your Street, BBC.co.uk.
Meiway from Ivory Coast, JJC Reviews
May 2006: Africa On Your Street, BBC.co.uk. Ivorian styles of music World music genres Abidjan {{Coted'Ivoire-stub