The Art of Remixing in Abidjan (Ivory Coast)

In the cosmopolitan city of Abidjan, various music traditions from Western Africa and beyond meet and hybridize with globalized black music genres such as reggae and hip hop. Based on ethnographic data collected in local recording studios, we describe the career of five studio professionals, namely Tupaï, Patché, Gabe Gooding, Charlie Kamikaze, and Lyle Nak; and we report on the workflow and digital signal processing events of three recording sessions. Our analyses reveal that the creative processes of Ivorian studio professionals are centered on remaking or remixing instrumentals that they retrieve from the web or from their past productions. We conclude with our plans for future collaborations with these practitioners and the female network Les Femmes Sont…founded by Lyle Nak.