This post brings us back to the Côte D'Ivoire, with another figurehead of Baoulé music. Yao Kouakou Michel is the most reknown guitar-koubo of the 20th century, a guitar-playing troubadour beloved for his improvised epic poems/songs. (Koubo is the Baoulé name for the traditional guitar.) He was one of the first Baoulé troubadours to become a popular recording artist, releasing at least a half-dozen 45s in the 1970s. Each song tells a story, anchored in time and place, with a clear message. They are humorous, often irreverent, include proverbs, and praises for his faithful patrons.
The song Mossi Kouakou is a typical example of his art.
O! Kondo, Son of Ahou
All of the women have left
There is a woman named Kouamé Adjoua
She has travelled far and wide in search of a child
Without success
She was never able to bear a child
She went everywhere
No child
She decided to travel
She went to Abidjan
She went to Abidjan to marry a white man
We went to sleep and when we woke
All of the women had left the village
In Abidjan she saw a white man
You, Adjoua, you can call a man?
You are illiterate, you don’t understand French
And you want to marry a white man
Adjoua said hello
The white man said ‘get the hell out of here’
Koffi Hubert, listen to me
Let me tell you this story
Adjoa wants to marry a planter
We give you a field
But you refuse to cultivate it
All the women have left
Adjoua is crying
I will start over, she says
“I am going to marry a Mossi” (ethnic group from Burkina Faso)
One day Adjoua met a Mossi
The Mossi said hello
They both agreed
Night fell
She slept with the Mossi
A week later she was pregnant
Adjoua gave birth
He learned to crawl
He grew up
He went to school
He got his high school diploma
One morning he said, I am going to France
In France, he didn’t want to be a labourer
He didn’t want to be an electrician
I want to take a civil service exam
The child returns to Abidjan
Adjoua laughs when she sees her son
What work did you do in France?
He answers: I was a gendarme
How can you do that to me?
You are my only son?
Gendarme is good and bad
You are my only son
Don’t ruin our name, don’t hurt others
He didn’t listen
He told her ‘get the hell out of here’
A week later Kouakou was a traffic officer
Cars going by, back and forth
A nurse drives by on his moped, Kouakou blows his whistle
“Where are your papers?”
Kouakou confiscates the moped
The nurse pleads
The next morning the nurse walks to work
Cursing Kouakou
That same morning Kouakou wakes up with a headache
He is driven to the hospital
The nurse sees him and laughs
Adjoua pleads with the nurse to heal her son
The nurse tells Adjoua to go home
The nurse gives him a pill
Ever since Kouakou won’t wake up
Kouakou passed
We called his mother
We did all we could to save Kouakou
Adjoua cried until she became crazy
This is why I always say
Policemen, gendarmes, customs officers
Don’t hurt others when doing your jobs
This is my abbreviated translation of the full transcription by Koffi Loukou Fulbert, of the University of Bouaké, which can be found on page 234 of this book. (There is also a transcription of two songs by Alla Thérèse, starting on page 232.)
Mossi Kouakou is unfortunately not included on this cassette. I don't know when these eight songs were recorded, my best guess is the early 1980s. This cassette does not seem to be a reissue of selections that were released on vinyl. There is little harmonic, melodic, or rhythmic diversity to these songs. If you don't understand Baoulé 'everything sounds the same'. True, but what a sound. I love Yao Kouakou's vocal phrasing and the antiphonal backing vocals.
If you are ever in Abidjan, make sure you hit Chez Ambroise in Marcory for some of the best grilled fish and alloco in the city. While you wait for your food, chances are you will be serenaded by a new generation of Guitare-Koubo.
Enjoy!!
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