Vol. 1: Ayah Yako

Ziglibithy is a 1970s Ivorian dance music created and popularized by Ernesto Djédjé. It fuses traditional Bété rhythms from western Ivory Coast with the liquid, interlocking guitar lines of Congolese rumba and soukous, plus the punchy bass, drums, and occasional horn riffs of funk and highlife. Typically fast and buoyant, ziglibithy is designed for the dance floor: bright, trebly lead guitar plays cyclical riffs, a second guitar answers in a higher “mi-solo” register, and a nimble bass locks a syncopated groove with polyrhythmic percussion. Call-and-response vocals—often in Bété and French—celebrate love, social life, and everyday stories, while extended instrumental breaks let the band ride the rhythm.