Ivory Coast in mourning: DJ Arafat, blessed son and bad boy

Victim of a motorcycle accident on the night of August 11-12 in Abidjan, Huon Ivorian artist Didier Angelo - aka DJ Arafat - died at the age of 33 from his injuries at a clinic in Abidjan.

The "coupe-decalé" star died Monday, August 12, at the Two Plateau Polyclinic in Abidjan. The artist died as a result of his injuries following a serious traffic accident that occurred during the night of Sunday to Monday. His motorcycle hit a car driven by a journalist from Côte d'Ivoire Radio. The unconscious singer was quickly taken care of and admitted to intensive care. Unfortunately he did not survive.

"He was admitted to emergencies in a vegetative state. He had a skull fracture and edema," Jeune Afrique told a doctor at the facility on condition of anonymity. The medical teams tried to revive him "in vain".

Two Côte d'Ivoire government ministers, who visited the artist's bedside, confirmed Jeune Afrique's death, just as a senior official posted in Abidjan. "I am at the clinic where DJ Arafat was admitted. I can confirm that the artist is dead. I am with Minister of State Hamed Bakayoko to organize with the family," said Jeune Afrique Maurice Bandaman, Minister of Culture and Francophone of Costa do Marfim. The information was also confirmed on the antennas of RTI, a public channel in Ivory Coast, in its 13-hour diary.

"A shooting star"

"The boy is gone. He lived like a shooting star. We're all crumbling. In the zouglou style, internationally, there is the Magic System. For the cut, it was DJ Arafat ... This is a big loss for Ivorian music," lamented A'salfo, the leader of the Magic System group, contacted by Jeune Afrique.

A large crowd gathered in the afternoon in front of the polyclinic where the singer died, the fans expressing their sadness and disbelief, singing in particular "Arafat can not die".

Undisputed coupé-decalé king DJ Arafat - whose real name is Ange Didier Huon - began in the early 2000s at the Princesse Street clubs in Yopougon, before forging an international reputation and establishing himself as the undisputed head of the little coupe. frequent. He also had a sulphurous reputation, especially because of the recurring clashes that pitted him against other court performers.

Born in 1986 in Yopougon, a town in western Abidjan, the artist enjoyed constantly claiming new nicknames, from "Commander Zabra" to "Yorobo" - more recently, he even introduced himself as "Committee Head". People from China. "Tragic irony, one of his latest single - which has hit YouTube records with 4.5 million views since its release last May - is called" Moto-Moto. "