Zoblazo

Zoblazo is a musical style from Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire, first created in the early 1990s.

Zoblazo is a cosmpolitan popular dance music with simple up-tempo rhythm and high tech instrumentation and contains a mixture of traditional dance rhythms from southern Cote D'Ivoire.

Its best known exponent is Meiway, who has released a series of Zoblazo records starting in 1989 with the record "Ayibebou" with his group Zo Gang. An ethnic N'Zema from Grand Bassam, Meiway integrated folk rhythms from Cote 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 musician after Alpha Blondy, and has released a steady stream records, the most recent "9ème commandement –900% zoblazo" released in 2007.

References

• 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.