Last night, thousands of fans and well wishers gathered in Ivory Coast's capital Abidjan to pay tribute to musician DJ Arafat. The 33 year old Ivorian, whose real name was Ange Didier Huon, died in a motorcycle accident earlier this month. Hundreds of Ivorian artists took part in a stadium concert, with President Alassane Ouattara among its attendees. His coffin was later brought to the stadium and then carried away to a local cemetery for burial.
The concert was organised after a successful online petition which called on the government to allow the use of Félix Houphouët Boigny stadium, which seats 35,000 people. The government also pledged $250,000 towards the event and said it would pay for Huon's funeral ceremony. DJ Arafat in his lifetime was one of the most popular African musicians in the Francophone world, and had been referred to as the "king" of coupé-décalé, an Ivorian form of dance music. 
The musical genre was born in the early 2000s during Ivory Coast's civil war and emphasised that young people still wanted to have fun despite the conflict. DJ Arafat came to symbolise the flashy, well-dressed lifestyle associated with the music, which features fast percussion, deep bass and hip-hop-style vocals. The singer was also known for his love of motorcycles and featured them in his most recent hit, Moto Moto, released in May, which has had more than five million YouTube views.
The post Thousands of fans troop out pay tribute to late DJ Arafat at his burial 'concert' (Photos) appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.
Thousands of fans troop out pay tribute to late DJ Arafat at his burial 'concert' (Photos)
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