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Magic System are back!
Zouglou Power
Paris
03/10/2007 -
RFI Musique: So the title of your new album says it all really. Magic System are back!
Magic System: Scoring big hits like 1er Gaou and Bouger bouger meant we got sort of relegated to "summer hit" status and that was that. The title of our new album, Ki dit mié, is meant to be a bit cheeky. It reminds everyone that even though summer’s over Magic System are still whipping up the hottest sounds on the dancefloor! We’re a multi-talented, multi-faceted group people can listen to any time without moderation! So are you ready for our "autumn hits"? 
Absolutely! Our friendship goes back twenty years now and it’s just got better and stronger with our success. In fact, I’d say our success is based on the solid bonds between us!
And what lessons have you learned from your ten years together as a band?
I’d say that the past decade has been a steep learning curve. Our career is only just beginning now! The past ten years we’ve spent studying at the ‘school of music’ and the ‘school of life’ have taught us a lot about the music industry and its artistic and commercial demands. I think Magic System have finally reached maturity and we’re ready to confront a whole new range of challenges now.
And what kind of challenges are there left for a band like Magic System when you’ve already scored a number of hits worldwide?
You know, musicians’ careers are all about fixing new aims and objectives all the time. When a band have got two, three and then four gold discs on their mantelpiece, their goal becomes a fifth one – and if they don’t get that they feel they’ve failed! The more famous you get, the more pressure there is. As a group we operate in a spirit of continuity and progression, not regression. And there are still plenty of new markets to break into, like the U.S., for instance.
There’s one very big challenge we have on our plates right now and that is that our message has still not been properly understood. As far as zouglou goes, the world only knows Magic System, but we’re just the tip of the iceberg. There are at least 250 zouglou groups in Ivory Coast right now! What are we fighting for? To make zouglou as big on the international scene as reggae or Rai.
Could you define zouglou for music fans who may not be aware of the genre right now?
Zouglou is a form of protest music. It was originally invented by what I’d call non-musicians, by students performing on university campuses in the early ‘90s. The dance steps and the body movements used in zouglou express a sort of weariness and lassitude in the face of social problems. Zouglou gradually broke out of the student milieu and became a national urban music style. Its strength lies in the fact that it doesn’t belong to any specific region and it can be sung in a variety of different languages like Bambara and Dioula. At the basis of zouglou you’ll find “woyo”, a Malinké word meaning “noise”, “pounding drums”, an “easy atmosphere”. The first zouglou song played on modern instruments was recorded in 1991. Since then, zouglou has spawned a lot of derivative styles like mapouka and coupé-décalé which are both musical styles based on dance and pure entertainment. There’s no protest side to them.
Magic System have become worldwide symbols of zouglou. Do you ever get the impression you’re seen as ambassadors of African music in the West?
I think we’ve certainly opened a few doors and helped groups like Amadou & Mariam break through overseas. African artists are gradually beginning to get more airplay on radio stations in the West, but the fight’s not over yet and as a band we can help advance things thanks to our own experience. I think that above all else we like to promote ourselves as a pan-African group.
Has peace returned to Ivory Coast now?
Yes, and I’d say things are a lot more than a lot better now! As part of the festivities we organised to celebrate our ten years together as a band we played in Abidjan, but we also did a concert in Bouaké, the rebel stronghold. We got a really warm welcome there and that would have been completely unimaginable even a short while ago. Can you imagine, a people finally reunited all grooving to the same rhythm, the same sound! That was Magic System’s small contribution towards establishing peace back home.
What role did a band like Magic System play during the whole painful period prior to this?
When war broke out in our homeland, we were just beginning to take off abroad. In the eyes of the world the image of a country at war is automatically tarnished. But as four young musicians packing out concert halls abroad I think we helped put a more positive spin on things. Ivory Coast was no longer just this country torn apart by war and discord, it was also seen as a land of music and culture.
Did you ever take sides in the conflict?
We’re a band of the people. We’re completely apolitical. If we have a role, it’s a role devoted to reuniting our people. If you take sides in a conflict it automatically means excluding someone and causing a divide. Magic System are a group who bring everyone together. I think we bring a lot of positive things to the table without getting involved on a direct political level. The fight we’re fighting lies elsewhere. People are weary of all this talk of war. They need to relax and decompress. And that’s where we come in. That’s the sense in which music can play a political role. Music can bring joy in times of trouble and spread a message of hope. With Magic System we’re trying to reach out to the entire nation and say, "Sooner or later, things are going to get better!"
So Magic System would refuse to be labelled as pure entertainment?
You know, dance and other bodily movements are also a way of getting a message across. Nothing is ever simply coincidence. All forms of art revolve around communication. Besides, even though our music is based on catchy beats, we sometimes touch on hardhitting subjects in our songs. Our songs are intended to give people food for thought! 
Like a lot of other people in the modern world we divide our time between our home and the place we work. Our career requires us to have a base in Paris, where the media and the record labels are. But we always go back to Abidjan to create. That’s our source, our homebase where all our families live… We couldn’t just live in France and look at the problems in our homeland from the outside. Besides, like all Africans, we’re really superstitious - composing our material in Abidjan means we’re blessed by the spirits!
Do you see yourselves as spokespeople for your generation?
Magic System are a mirror for African youth as a whole. I think the fact we’ve had to struggle to get where we are sends out a message of hope to a lot of people, not just on the music circuit. If you believe in what you’re doing, and do what you love to the best of your ability, there’s no reason you shouldn’t succeed!
That sounds like an example of zouglou philosophy…
Yes, I guess it is. Zouglou is essentially a sound of hope. Zouglou is music to encourage the poor and the desperate!
Anne-Laure Lemancel
Translation : Julie Street
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