Abidjan (AFP)

Tens of thousands of fans have paid homage to Abidjan's "cut-off" star, the Ivorian singer DJ Arafat, who died in a 33-year-old accident at an exceptional ceremony that lasted all night from Friday to Saturday.

Davido, Sidiki Diabate, Fally Ipupa, Serge Beynaud ... many African stars have sung on stage to salute the memory of "Daishinkan", nickname DJ Arafat (in reference to a comic superhero), at the stadium Felix Houphouet Boigny d Abidjan, the largest in the country.

Friday night, the Ivorian Minister of Culture, Maurice Bandaman, posthumously decorated the national order of cultural merit DJ Arafat, whose real name is Ange Didier Houon, "for his immense contribution to the artistic influence" of the Côte d 'Ivory. The ceremony, worthy of national funerals, was paid by the Ivorian state.

DJ Arafat died on August 12 from a motorcycle accident in Abidjan. His fast-paced music, the coupé-décalé, both genre and attitude, was born in 2003 in Ivorian nightclubs then became popular throughout Africa.

At sunrise Saturday, shortly after 06:00 (local and GMT), the body of the singer arrived at the stadium for a final goodbye, greeted by the applause of the crowd, while the coffin was placed on a pedestal in the center of the lawn . The festive atmosphere that prevailed until then has given way to great emotion, many young "Chinese" - the nickname of the innumerable fans of the singer - falling in tears.

- 'We lost a great man' -

"The ceremony was great, moving, we lost a great man," told AFP Raymonde Nguessan. "Arafat was my life, my source of inspiration," said Samuel Kablan, with tears in his eyes.

DJ Arafat, who was the father of five children, was later to be buried in family intimacy at the Williamsville cemetery in the Adjamé commune in Abidjan.

While we had feared overflowing, the tribute ceremony finally went quietly. Some 6,500 law enforcement personnel had been deployed to provide security.

In several neighborhoods of Abidjan, such as Yopougon, Koumassi, Abobo, giant screens had been installed to allow the greatest number to follow the ceremony, which was also broadcast live by the Ivorian Public Radio-Television.

The death of "Yorobo" (another of his nicknames) caused a national stir in Ivory Coast: political leaders, football stars and renowned artists have succeeded to "salute his talent".

Born from a renowned sound engineer father and a singer mother, the young DJ Arafat had trained himself on the job. DJ in the bush of the rue Princesse in Yopougon, the big place of the festival in Abidjan, he had pierced with the title "Jonathan" in 2003, before stringing the tubes for 15 years: "Kpangor" (2005), Djessimidjeka (2012), Maplorly (2015), Dosabado (2018), among others.

- On the throne of the coupé-shifted -

Arafat "revolutionized the coupé-décalé, mixing sounds and rhythms, for example, inspired by traditional African music, but also Nigerian Afrobeat, rap, Brazilian baile funk and a dancer. exceptional and associated with his music new concepts of dance ", explains Franck Alcide Kacou, director label and publishing Universal Music Africa (subsidiary of the multinational Vivendi), the company that produced the artist since 2013.

"He was the most influential artist in West Africa, with a community of two million Facebook fans, and he had a real aura," said Kacou. "It was beginning to break out in Europe and America, reaching an audience beyond the Ivorian diaspora". On his latest album, "Renaissance", released in late December 2018, he invited international artists such as Master Gims, Dadju, Davido and Fally Ipupa.

"He started from scratch, he took the throne of the coupé-décalé.Really that is something that motivates young people today, those who have nothing," testified to AFP one of his fans, Olga Manou, student.

"He was a divisive personality, he was very sensitive, hence his reactions + without filter +, but they were also marketing moves," Kacou said.

DJ Arafat was nominated "best artist of the year" at the Coupé-décalé Awards in 2016 and 2017. He was also awarded in 2012 "best African artist" at the Kora Music Awards, pan-African musical awards.

© 2019 AFP