Artist Cédric Kouamé at his Baoulecore archive center, Abidjan, November 14, 2025. MARINE JEANNIN/LE MONDE
Less visible and less global than the drill, rap ivoire or coupé-décalé trends, the retro wave has nonetheless captivated Ivorian youth. Rediscoveries of vintage tracks on TikTok, screenings of Henri Duparc films and a fascination with old football jerseys have all fueled the movement. This is a generation nostalgic for an era it never knew: the 1960s and 1970s, decades marked by Côte d'Ivoire's post-independence economic and cultural miracle and a shared heritage that young people are now digging up and sharing on social media.
"Ivorian heritage goes beyond rap ivoire, coupé-décalé and zouglou," said Thomas Lerousseau. With Club Calao – a project that encompasses vinyl parties, Spotify playlists and an Instagram page – the man known as "Tonton Mehdi" ("Uncle Mehdi") has set out to "help people rediscover Ivorian and West African music and nightlife from the 1960s to the 1980s."
It is a period that has been long overlooked, noted Cédric Kouamé, another enthusiast. His Baoulecore archive center, operated with his own funds from a small apartment in Cocody, is an Aladdin's cave of some 3,000 vinyl records and 2,000 cassettes, nearly all forgotten musical treasures. He regrets, he said, that "the chain of transmission has been broken." There is no true national archive for music, film or images in Côte d'Ivoire. To build his collection, Kouamé had to recover old Ivorians' collections – either donated or sold by their children – and place ads on local radio stations across the country.
