Meiway, your last album, Extraterrestre, marked the tenth year of your career. Is there any special significance behind Eternel, your seventh album? What state of mind were you in when you were recording it ?
I'd say Eternel is a notch above my other albums. As for the state of mind I was in when I went into the studio, it was really a case of looking around me and feeling that the world was sliding into doom and catastrophe. I mean, you had the most powerful nation in the world kow-towing to forces which supposedly came from a much smaller, poorer country. Which just goes to prove that no-one is safe and the world is in a very bad state indeed. The only thing to hang on to and feel positive about in such conditions is the "eternal" - by that I mean holding on to something reliable and spiritual and getting back to essential values.
That's really the sort of thing I drew inspiration from when working on the new album. I was working under much more relaxed conditions than usual, in a way. I'd just come out of a very difficult period. We'd all lived through a major political crisis in Ivory Coast and I think that had a pretty negative effect on my last album. I also found myself a bit of an outsider on the record market for a while. A lot of new musical trends emerged all of a sudden and I found myself a bit overlooked. But it was good in a way. Not being a 'market leader' any more meant I could take the time to sit back and work more calmly and serenely.
I actually talk a lot more than I sing on Eternel … I feel myself to be more of a 'messenger' than a singer on the new album really. When I stood and looked at what was going on in the world around me, I felt like getting in touch with my fans, you know, really speaking to the people who've helped make my career what it is. And what I wanted to do was warn them to take a bit of distance from the stupidity going on in politics right now. I decided it was time for me to speak up and express what people are thinking but not saying right now.

Meanwhile, I notice the old zoblazo meter's whizzing round faster and faster. Eternel is billed as being "700% zoblazo" and yet it features a cover of your old hit 200% zoblazo. Is this a bit of nostalgia for your old glory days?
Well, I have to say that if you're in this business, you do it first and foremost for your own pleasure, but after that what counts is the fans, especially the hardcore ones who've followed you right from the beginning. My early fans are particularly attached to 200% zoblazo. I'm always asked to play it at concerts and things. So I thought it would be nice to make a little gesture, you know, rework the arrangements and the musical orchestrations with new equipment, but keep the original spirit of the song intact. I've really kept the basics of 200% zoblazo - and I don't think fans will be too disappointed with the new version!

Given the political situation in Ivory Coast is very much in the headlines right now, is the song Abenan intended as a message to your people?
Yes, and necessarily so, because people from Burkina Faso have played a major role in building the Ivory Coast as a nation. And I really don't think it's right for them to be treated so unjustly because of political stupidity and skulduggery. As an Ivorian who can put his hand on his heart and say he truly loves his country, I'm trying to speak up and call for reconciliation and tell the Burkina Fasans that the Ivory Coast is their home too. Let's face it, there's no such thing as a "true Ivorian", we all come from somewhere else. What I see going on around me in Ivory Coast right now is people on one side of the divide and politicians on the other. And it's obvious to me that the two sides are not fighting the same battles.
Take the reconciliation forum, for instance. That's been turned into a political business like everything else. It's outrageous. It revolves around one single person - but there's 15 million of us involved and no-one's asking us for our opinion! Make no mistake about it, Ivorians are not stupid!!!! Ivory Coast has always been an open-minded country and I think it's important for someone to stand up and remind everyone of that fact.

Meiway, you must be aware that your music has a big following amongst young people. Is a song like Sentence - on which your message to African leaders is basically "Step down, we don't want any more of you !" - intended as some sort of incitement to revolt?
I'd say the song is first and foremost a personal act of revolt. And, after that, yes, it's a call for some kind of positive constructive revolt, not a call for chaos and disorder. I want Africa to move forward but my revolt is not about change for change's sake - I want to see some real profound changes in my country. Our state leaders have had a catastrophic record to date. They've run up unacceptable levels of debt in African countries. I think they all have to go, because basically if they don't they're going to continue borrowing 'easy money' and get us all into even more of a mess.

That's why on the song Archimango I call on this fictional leader to come and save Africa. Archimango represents the sort of ideal leader we need right now. I'm ready to bow down before the kind of leader who's prepared to develop his country's resources to the maximum, instead of increasing the debt which future generations will have to pay back. In my opinion, foreign aid encourages laziness and idleness. It doesn't help you stand on your own two feet!

Songs such as Adibébé and Adjalou are powered by the familiar driving rhythms of zoblazo. But on your new album, I get the impression that synthesisers have taken over from the traditional percussion instruments associated with zoblazo …
Synthesisers are simply musical accessories which translate the aesthetic dictates of the age. The thing is, I belong to a generation for whom computers were part and parcel of our musical education and I try to use them to bring out the best in traditional percussion. Having said that however, I can honestly say that I've never used percussion instruments as much as on this album. I used up two whole studio sessions recording percussion this time round - and that's something that never happened on my other albums! At the end of the day I'd say my music is contemporary, but my feet are more solidly anchored in zoblazo than ever before!

On earlier albums you worked elements of traditional musical from Gabon and Senegal into your zoblazo mix. Did you experiment with the same sort of mix on Eternel ?
Yes, absolutely. A song like Abenan, for instance, is symbolic on two levels. Firstly, it's a song about reconciliation - as I explained earlier - but there's a second kind of symbolism too, because the rhythm on that song is typical of music from Burkina Faso. So in a way Abenan allowed me to affirm my "Africaness". OK, I'm an Ivorian, but first and foremost I'm African!

Meiway, you're something of a precursor when it comes to spreading the urban sounds of Ivory Coast. A lot of new groups have emerged on your national music scene in recent years. What's your opinion of them? Do you feel they threaten to take over from zoblazo in any way?
I think it's something Ivory Coast can feel really proud of, you know. These days DJs frequently score a big hit playing Ivorian groups in local nightclubs. And that just goes to show what a rich musical heritage we have in our country - and how little people have explored it up to now! A lot of musical styles such as zuglu, logobi, nyakwa and mapuka draw inspiration from our musical traditions and that's what makes them so original.
But, no, I don't think zoblazo is under any kind of threat. We're all engaged in the same combat and I feel our actions are complementary, although I can't say I feel we're all necessarily evolving in the same 'division'. I'm not being big-headed here, but I think it's fair to say I'm still something of a leader in musical terms. And I have to say I deplore the lack of professionalism and discipline amongst certain young groups who seem to have fallen into music quite by chance. I feel my role is to try and encourage young musicians to view their early years as an apprenticeship.

So what does the future hold for you? Where do you go after "700 % zoblazo"? Well, if Eternel does OK, I may well end up performing at a major Parisian venue very soon. And who knows? Maybe even one of the really big ones! After that I think it's essential to start trying to expand my distribution network. But that's really up to my record company.
One of my greatest dreams right now would be to work with a really big-name star. And I'd like it to be a genuine collaboration on every level, not just something you do because it's fashionable. I'm not going to mention any particular name right now, because I feel things will all come in their own time. One thing's for sure, I'm not about to cut myself off from my roots to try and appeal to a wider audience. That's the sort of trap artists often fall into when they try and cross over onto the 'world' music scene. Personally, I'm extremely wary of that. I'm someone who's always played zoblazo - that's where I am right now, and that's where I plan to stay!