Album review

Magic System

Cessa kié la vérité

Paris 

01/07/2005 - 

With their new album Cessa kié la vérité, the Ivorians Magic System repeat their formula for success and head off to conquer a new audience.

From June 2001 to June 2005, it's been a full four-year break between Magic System's last album Poisson d’Avril and their latest Cessa kié la vérité. Four years was the time they needed for their hits to filter through the system and successively conquer their various target markets in Africa and Europe.

Since then, Bob Sinclair's mix of Premier Gaou propelled the group to the top of the European charts and a flurry of hits have followed in its wake. Today, the Magic System phenomenon, the biggest thing to come out of Africa since Mory Kanté's Yéké Yéké, continues its progression through a series of audacious guest appearances with other acts. Featuring on tracks by young Leslie, South African music icon Brenda Fassie, or the rap group 113 on Gaou à Oran, the four musicians from Marcory have been really giving it their all, and the dividends are paying off!

Dual-purpose album

And right now, the Magic System machine is gearing up for the release Cessa kié la vérité on Virgin, and the group's tried and tested strategy for success has once again been wheeled out. Several tracks are designed for the dancefloor, with dance beats that follow the style of their previous hits and are instantly recognisable from the first few notes, with their signature vocals and synth sounds. Nonetheless, despite the slight "déjà vu" feeling of the tracks, there is an undeniably attractive energy to the album. The opening track, Petit pompier takes up similar the theme of love out of self-interest as on their hit Premier gaou. This time it is the "dames de feu" (fire ladies) and their gigolos , the "petits pompiers" (little firemen) who are the targets of humour. For Bouger bouger, which is already looking like the summer hit of 2005, the group revive their fruitful (and certainly profitable) collaboration with Malien Mokobé from 113.

Matilisso is a homage to Brenda Fassie. "We sung together for Poisson rouge and Kodjo kodjo tiré and Brenda Fassie also invited us to Johannesburg in 2002 to record a duet for her album. Before it was released, Brenda sadly died. We decided to put Matilisso on Cessa kié la vérité. It's got a new sound to it, which you might call 'zulu-zouglou,'" says one of the group's members. Magic System clearly like to experiment and have come up with a "reggae zouglou" track Tikilipo, featuring Alpha Blondy. The fact that the two acts are both on Virgin obviously had something to do with their working together, but it wasn't just that, says Tino: "Alpha Blondy is like an older brother and is the grand old man of reggae in Ivory Coast. We are the precursors of Zouglou, and we decided to work together on a message of peace." While the political situation in Ivory Coast seems to find echoes on quite a few of the tracks, the group won't be drawn on the crisis, or on their status as musicians in the capital Abidjan: "In Ivory Coast, we don't have any problems with anyone. We make music, and music helps people forget the war. Zouglou has messages but also makes people laugh. Our album has a dual purpose. If you listen to it in a nightclub, you won't be able to resist dancing. If you listen to it in your car, you'll hear the message: peace and reconciliation."

A wider audience

With songs sung in Mina, Baoulé, Bété or Bambara, the album stays close to the group's Abidjan roots and claims a certain "authenticity" for zouglou. Magic System insist that success hasn't changed them and that they still draw their inspiration from Abidjan. Through the beautifully produced ambiences of tracks like Amedjero or Doubéhi, the Magics talk of their early days or the problem of keeping childhood friends following success. This is where they manage to innovate while keeping the same spirit that characterises the group's work. On the other hand, there are other tracks that are less interesting, such as Ambiance à gogo or Molo Molo. Aimed at "lovers of new urban zouk/Latin/R&B/rap fusions," as the press release puts it, these world music tracks don't really convince. Nonetheless, the group's aim is manifestly to draw in a wider audience for their music: "When you want to sell on other markets, you have to add in other musical genres," says Manadja. But how far can you travel down that road? "Hmmm… maybe forever," comes the mischievous response.

Eglantine  Chabasseur

Translation : Hugo  Wilcken