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<\/a><\/div>\nIn Lom\u00e9, on November 2 2019, on the occasion of the Beer <\/span><\/p>\n In March 2020, a second single was released, “Tu dis que quoi”, which is doing even better and after 4 months already has more than 1.7 million views on YouTube. The song, a Bend Skin rhythm is a tribute to the rich musical culture of Cameroon in general and that of the Bamilike people in particular.<\/p>\n <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nMeiway is nicknamed “Profess\u00f6r Awolowoh” father of\u00a0“Zoblazo”, the dance with the handkerchiefs, a musical style that Meiway invented, inspired by the folk rhythms of the Akan. Meiway by his real name\u00a0Ehui D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric<\/span><\/span>,<\/span> an Ivorian singer, songwriter and composer, was born on March 17 1962 of parents from Grand-Bassam, the main city of the kingdom of “N’zima Kotoko”.\u00a0He enjoyed his first hours of glory as musician in 1991 with his second album “200% Zoblazo”.
His father, a commercial agent in a local company, is an amateur accordeonist. His mother and his sisters sing in the Sainte Jeanne d’Arc Choir of the Catholic parish of Treichville in Abidjan. Naturally Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric<\/span>\u00a0makes his first steps in music by accompannying his parents\u00a0during the\u00a0mass. \u00a0He begins his apprenticeship with traditional percussion, drums, bass guitar and vocals. During his Highschool years in Abidjan\u00a0around 1978 he joined his first group “Pace”. In 1981 he creates his first own\u00a0band\u00a0“les G\u00e9nitaux”.<\/span>They\u00a0\u00a0had<\/span>\u00a0some local<\/span> <\/span>success after\u00a0they won<\/span> <\/span><\/span>\u00a0the prize for “best amateur group” of Ivorian television. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nIn 1985 he decides to\u00a0seek the adventure in Paris to develop his career and deepen his musical knowledge. Soon enough he set up a new group,\u00a0\u201cD\u00e9fense<\/span>\u00a0<\/span> d’Ivoire”, with African, Algerian and French musicians. They won the price of the Paris club Excalibur and make a small career in the French capital. To make ends meet, Meiway\u00a0takes several jobs and finally works in a gas station where he becomes co-manager.
His greater resources allow him to apply for a bank loan to finance his very first album “Ayibebou” <\/em><\/strong>which was released in 1989. The immediate success in all of Francophone Africa, allows Meiway\u00a0 to return to\u00a0Ivory Coast\u00a0as a star. In 1990 this first album\u00a0brought him the title of\u00a0 “best singer of Ivory Coast”. In this album, we\u00a0hear the beginnings of “Zoblazo”, a new music style created by Meiway.
Mixing different folklore from Southern Ivory Coast, the Zoblazo is a dance music based on traditional percussion of his ethnic group “N’zima” – commonly called “Appolo”- and embellished by a modern orchestration (drums, guitars, keyboards, brass, violins etc…). Zoblazo is also inspired by several other Ivorian\u00a0music styles as well as by\u00a0Ghanaian High-Life and Makossa from Cameroon. This new, global oriented and catchy\u00a0music is danced with a white handkerchief as a sign of joy, purity and peace.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nWith his second album in 1991 “200% Zoblazo”<\/em><\/strong>, the style of the same name\u00a0gets its definite\u00a0shape. Meiway becomes a superstar. He is awarded as the best variety artist at the first edition of the “African Music Awards”… This year he tours, in addition to Africa , also in Europe and Canada and releases from now on at least every two years a new album.<\/span><\/p>\n
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\nIn 1993, he released the album “Jamais 203”<\/em><\/strong>. At that time, Meiway created his fan club, his own management\u00a0and his career is now marching as\u00a0a well\u00a0oiled\u00a0machine. Beside reggae star Alpha Blondy, Meiway is now by far the most prominent performing artist in Ivory Coast.
“Jamais 203” was followed in 1995 by “Appolo 95”<\/em><\/strong>, a title inspired\u00a0 by the name of his ethnicity. On the\u00a0album we find many guests including Guadeloupean Jacob Desvarieux of Kassav and King Mensah.
The release of Appolo is followed in May 96 by a long African tour. On June 21st, he took part in the Music Festival in Paris, followed by an American tour in July. In the last quarter of the same year, he received the award for the best sub-regional artist at the first African Music Award in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“Les g\u00e9<\/span><\/span>nies vous parlent” <\/em><\/strong>comes out in 1997. This time he incorporates for the first time a brass section\u00a0in his music and the album becomes one of his most awarded records.
“Hold Up”<\/em><\/strong> released in 1998, is the first album of Meiway’s orchestra the\u00a0“Zo Gang”. This very varied album, highlights the pillars of this orchestra, Briscard Kouadio, Donguy, N’toumba Minka, Jean Paul Melindji and Ernest Mvouama.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n
Surrounded by – among others – Manu Dibango, Jacob Desvarieux and Jean Claude Naimro of Kassav, Meiway celebrates\u00a0his 10-year career in 1999 with the album “Extraterrestre”. <\/em><\/strong>Shortly after the release of “Extraterrestre”, followed also a second album of the Zo Gang, titled “Le proces”<\/em><\/strong>. In 2001 he scores a tremendous hit with “Miss Lolo”<\/strong>, a track from the album “Eternel”<\/em><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n
It is not a surprise that Meiway’s eigth album “Golgotha”\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>kicks of with the pure Zoblazo track “800% Zoblazo. \u00a0But surrounded by prestigious guests, such as\u00a0Lokua Kanza, Kojo Antwi and Koffi Ollomide he also explores several styles and also\u00a0 flirts with fashionables dances\u00a0like the Prudencia and Coup\u00e9 D\u00e9cal\u00e9.<\/span><\/span>
On stage\u00a0Meiway is more than ever present with “The Zo Gang” and he remains a major attraction\u00a0in the\u00a0African showbizz. With a little lower frequency than the past years but still in\u00a0a steady pace,\u00a0the Ivorian releases new albums. It is in December 2006, that\u00a0” 9\u00e8<\/span>me Commandement” <\/em><\/strong>is launched. On this album Christian Meiway refers his commitment to spirituality, peace and the fight against AIDS. However, he does not\u00a0forget the dance floor and as ususal he presents us some irresistable dance tracks, like the tribute to the woman “Emeraude”, and\u00a0the even hotter duet with rapper Alibi Montana “Feu de camp”, a funny evocation of a reality TV show.\u00a0Quite unususal for Meiway this album also contains a pure Zouk Love track, the seductive “Zouk interdit”.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nOn the occasion of\u00a0 the celebration of his 20 years of\u00a0 successful career, Meiway released his 10th album “M20” <\/em><\/strong>with a variety of sounds and music. This album saw the participation of the Franco-Congolese rapper Passi on the track “Dedans” and Lynnsha on “Mami”. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nAt a time when Ivory Coast seems to be embarking on the path of peace after an unprecedented political crisis, Meiway returns in 2012 with “Professeur” <\/em><\/strong>his 11th album that contains 15 new songs with incandescent rhythms, including 2 duets with Black Kent and Soum Bill.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nHis next album,\u00a0“Illimitic” <\/em><\/strong>was released in 2016. This time no guest appearences by fellow singers but a composition by a fellow\u00a0artist. As a musical homage to Deza XXL, the singer, gitarist and musical brother who died in 2005, Meiway recorded a cover of Deza XXL’s song “No”. And in the last song of the album, the ballad\u00a0“Bye, bye”, he remembers some fellow singers who died recently such as\u00a0Lapiro de Mbanga (2014), Guy Lob\u00e9<\/span> (2015) and\u00a0Papa Wemba (2016).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nFestival, \u00a0Meiway launched his new album.
\nThe first single from the disc, released on the web in May 2019, “Korokoto”, and
\nits cutting-edge choreography were very well received (more than 500,000 views
\non YouTube).<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0After launching his first album “Ayibebou” in
\n1989, it is already 30 years since the most constant artist and the most
\nrepresentative of Ivorian culture, defends the tricolor colors (orange, white
\nand green-OBV) of his country, masterfully. It is precisely to celebrate this
\nanniversary that he released the 13th album of his discography: “Legende”<\/i><\/b>.
\nA title that justifies its status as a guide to African culture. The album
\nincludes 16 tracks and was produced in Abidjan and in Paris where Meiway
\nmultiplied the rehearsals and studio sessions to coordinate the final
\nadjustments.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\nNote the participation of several arrangers such as DONGUY,
\nDSK on the beat, CHAMPY KILO and JC Beat as well as eminent musicians: Nicolas
\nGUERET (France), Christian MARTINEZ (France), Fabien CYPRIEN (France), Olivier
\nTSHIMANGA (DRC) , Amen VIANA (Togo), Frank NELSON (Haiti \/ France), Juhan ECARE
\n(Ivory Coast \/ Finland), Michel BASS (DRC), Belmond de BEAUVILLE (Cameroon) and
\nthe ZO GANG his orchestra\u2026<\/p>\n